Viacom Incorporated and Time Warner Cable Incorporated allowed the federal court of New York decide on their dispute regarding iPad applications on Thursday. Both companies filed lawsuits against each other because Time Warner placed about a dozen of its cable channels in Apple’s iPad.

Four Networks, including Viacom Inc., News Corporation, Discovery Communications, and Fox Cable Networks, have requested Time Warner to pull out their programming from the iPad application they own, that was launched a month ago. The networks said that Time Warner is violating their contracts by putting their programs in their application. They further said that Time Warner should pay extra if they put their shows on air other than the television.

Time Warner insisted that their current contracts provided them with those rights. However, they decided to take off all 12 shows from the iPad application, April. But Viacom still thinks it is necessary to get a court order to make sure Time Warner won’t return the shows in its application. Furthermore, Viacom is asking for a $2 million fee for each area of the contract violated by the company.

Time Warner is steadfast in their stand that their customers should view the programs in their cable system in whatever platform, and should not be asked to pay extra for it. Now, the cable company wants the court to confirm what they originally think is correct, said Marc Lawrence Apfelbaum, Time Warner general counsel.

Possible theft through email addresses is expected, huge companies warned on Monday. They told their clients that they should expect to receive an email coming from a seemingly official account coaxing account owners to give their account name and passwords.

About twelve large companies announced over the weekend that hackers may have gained access to their email addresses due to a security breach in Epsilon. Epsilon is a company located in Dallas that manages email communication of many companies.

Some of the companies in question are Barclays Bank, Capital One Financial Corporation, JPMorgan Chase & Company, and Best Buy Company. These are major players with very important client data base.

Epsilon already confirmed Friday that their security system had been breached and email addresses of customers were exposed. They, however, reassured the public that no information – other than email addresses – were accessed by hackers.

However, email addresses are very important tool for spammers, hackers, and thieves. They can use this information to contact bank clients and trick them in to giving up their log-in details. Hackers can also make it seem like those emails are official and are from your bank. If not stopped, you can unknowingly handing these hackers your money.

That breach in security can make the phishing attacks more proficient because email recipients actually have an account with the bank or the company. Phishing is a hacker’s way to acquire sensitive data like credit card details and passwords.

The said incident also caused Epsilon, which has over 2,500 clients, tons of money after their shares fell by 4.45 per cent Monday.

The United States fell to the third spot in the clean-energy investment last year, based on the report released by the Pew Charitable Trusts on Tuesday. It appears that lack of national energy policy displaced the country from its previous position in terms of investment.

The US, which held the top place in 2008 and the second place in 2009, was overpowered by China and Germany. The report showed that the United States made a total of $34 billion in private investments in clean energy last year.

Although it rose 51 percent from the preceding year, it was still lower than the $54.4 billion worth of investments made by China and $41.2 billion placed by Germany.

It shows that United States fell behind when there were increased appeals to justify investments in clean energy. Last July, a comprehensive energy bill also vanished in the U.S. Senate. Washington, as well, was not able to pass mandates for utilities that wold mandate a minimum quantity of clean power.

Some analysts and environmentalists say it would have had increased the confidence in alternative energy companies to investment within the country. These deficiencies in national energy policy impaired purchases of solar and wind power, including other technologies.

Still, the United States acquired the top spot in terms of energy efficiency with a total of $3.3 billion investment.

Also, the good news is that the overall clean-energy investment reached a record high of $243 billion. This shows that global investment in clean energy has improved from recession.

After what happened to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan following the tsunami that hit their country March 11, more and more Americans are concerned about nuclear plants near them. The biggest question in their minds – is it safe? Do we really need it?

The need for nuclear power depends mainly on the available natural resources of a country. At present, the United States has 104 commercial nuclear reactors and they supply 20% of our electricity needs as confirmed by the United States Energy Information Administration. That percentage is lower than Japan’s dependence to nuclear energy which supplies for 27% of their nuclear energy needs.

Experts said that Japan will have a hard time shutting down its nuclear plants because they do not have natural resources to compensate for the possible electricity loss. Moreover, fuel cost of nuclear energy is low.

Aside from the possible risks should another natural calamity strike such as the Tsunami in Japan, one other growing concern about nuclear energy is its tendency to be used for nuclear weapons. That is the reason why Professor Frank von Hippel of Princeton University said that nuclear power should only be used as a last option.

He further said that instead of looking for more ways to generate energy, we should focus on energy efficiency instead. We should look for ways to reduce electricity usage so that whatever natural energy source we have, it will be enough for our day to day electrical consumptions.

After the Tuesday night’s drawing, the Mega Millions jackpot soared to $304 million with a cash prize of $193.6 million and a 4.04 percent yield.

The winning numbers for the Mega Millions draw on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 were 1, 14, 35, 50 and 53. The Mega Ball number was 43 and the Megaplier number was 4. However, no players any where the country matched all six numbers to win the March 22 jackpot.

Last Friday, the Mega Millions jackpot was up to $244 million after 13 successive drawings without a winner.

The jackpot has been escalating since February 4 when the $12 million jackpot went unclaimed. On February 1, a group of Michigan workers and a Northwestern Indiana family divided the $93 million jackpot.

Previously, newyerseynewsroom.com said each lottery ticket has a 1 in 172 million chance to win the jackpot.

Although there was no lucky winner for the Tuesday jackpot, 26 players were able to match the first five numbers equivalent to a $250,000 prize. There were 9 winners from New York, 5 winners from California, and 2 winners from Georgia, Michigan and Texas. Also, there was 1 winner each from Arizona, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska and Pennsylvania.

The five winners from California will get $297,525 because awards in the state are given in a pari-mutuel formula. It calculates the prize based on the number of lottery tickets sold, as well as the number of winners in each category.

Even though the jackpot prize is not the largest in the history of Mega Millions, it will surely drive people to try their luck. The jackpot is one of the largest lottery prizes recently.

The Sahara Hotel & Casino, located on the busy strip of Las Vegas, is closing after almost six decades of business.

Many other casinos established from the early days of gambling in the city of sin have already been rebuilt into top megaresorts. However, owners of Sahara Hotel & Casino have no plans yet for the aging establishment.

According to CEO Sam Nazarian, owner of SBE Entertainment group, the continued operation of the Sahara property is not feasible anymore in terms of cost-efficiency.

The officials said the establishment will close on May 16.

The Sahara opened in 1952. In the 1960s, it was featured in the movie “Ocean’s Eleven” as one of the casinos that was robbed by a group of veterans from World War II.

However, the company might consider Sahara’s complete renovation or reposition, Nazarian said.

He also informed that MGM Resorts International is assisting affected workers to get new jobs. Guests who have reserved for rooms after the date of closure will be given accommodations to the establishment as well.

CEO Jim Murren of MGM Resorts said that closure of establishments or properties is already part of the life cycle in the Sin City. Yet, the property still holds a brighter future, Murren said.

MGM Resorts and SBE Entertainment group have an established relationship in marketing.

Las Vegas’ Treasure Island owner Phil Ruffin said improvement of the Sahara property would do well for the Las Vegas strip. But, he thinks SBE might find a difficult time to get financing since Sahara’s neighborhood appears pretty bad.

But, Nazaria believes Sahara and the northern part of the Strip is the future of Las Vegas. He is confident that they will find a comprehensive and creative solution for the historic establishment.

The Obama administration is thinking of tapping into the United States Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help ease escalating prices on oil, said William Daley, the White House Chief of Staff on Sunday.

The Congress has placed pressure on the administration to search for emergency oil supply to relieve fears of consumers over soaring gasoline prices. In fact, it is already threatening to increase $4 per gallon at many gasoline stations in United States.

Elevated oil prices could significantly affect the currently weak U.S. economic recovery. It could also politically harm the status of President Barack Obama as he shifts towards his re-election bid in 2012.

The White House previously stated that administrations all over the world have options that could be utilized to avoid economic inflation because of disruptions in the oil supply. These options include oil reserves. However, none has yet taken the unusual step of using the reserves.

On Friday, oil prices in United States increased by more than $3 a barrel putting it to $105.17, the highest since September 2008. This occurred as war in Libya and protests in Middle East worsened.

The mutiny in the third largest oil producer in Africa had blocked around 60 percent of Libya’s oil output, which is 1.6 million barrels per day, the International Energy Agency said. The downfall occurred mainly because most of Libya’s foreign oil workers departed the country.

However, Timothy Geithner, U.S. Treasury Secretary, said on Thursday that there is still considerable extra oil production capacity, as well as reserves on hand around the world.

The average new credit card interest rate is now 14.72%. Although, credit cards marketed to those with bad credit can top out at 59.9% interest.

Congress passed the CARD act to combat fees that credit card companies can charge, unfortunately capping interest rates was not part of that package. Banks may not retroactively raise customer rates, but that does not stop them from raising rates for new customers applying for a new card.

According to credit card expert Beverly Harzog, the banks are making initial interest rates high right now because they know they cannot raise them down the line. They need to protect their bottom line.

The past 2 years has seen record increases to APRs which have gone up 20% and then some. There are some proposals in congress right now that attempt to cap credit card interest, including one from Maurice Hinchey a NY Congressman. So far nothing has been passed into law.

Beverly Harzog recommends that those wanting to improve credit start with a secured card. This is essentially a pre-paid credit card, but will still get reported to the credit agencies, thus building a credit history. This is essential to people who want to have hopes of getting a decent rate in the future. Orchard Bank was mentioned by Harzog as having such a card.

February is proving to be possibly one of the best months of 2011 for balance transfers. This is because Discover is offering two limited time promotions for the month of February. The first offer, which is a no balance transfer fee card, is 0% interest for 12 months on balance transfers and purchases. This is probably one of the best deal for consumers and many are taking advantage.

Discover is also offering a 24-month interest free balance transfer. This card, however, requires a 5% balance transfer fee. This may be the best option for consumers who will require more time to pay off their balances.

Consumers can get 0% interest for 18 months with a 3% balance transfer fee by using the Cit Platinum Select Card.

Many credit card companies, including Bank of America, are making competition fierce. However, Discover’s two limited time offers, which expire in February, are the main reason the balance transfer market is so strong for the month of February. If you were to take the offers from Discover and Citibank out of the equation, you would see that the overall market for balance transfers is surprisingly weak. This is because the average balance transfer deal is only 9 months long which doesn’t give consumers the confidence that they can pay their balances within that time frame.

The Chase Slate credit card offers great balance transfer terms, up to 18 months. However, consumers with less than perfect credit may only be offered 6 months to pay their balances. Those with perfect credit can expect the appealing 18 month terms.

Other banks such as Bank of America, Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank also offer balance transfer deals. However, these are usually unpopular due to the short terms, some lasting only 9 months to pay balance transfers. Transfer fees are also relatively high for these banks making these offers less appealing to consumers.

Former dealers of the Chrysler group sued the government of United States last Thursday. The sixty four dealers said the administration of President Obama violated their rights since they did not give any compensation when it closed their stores at the time of the automaker’s bankruptcy.

The dealers filed a complaint at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims located in Washington. Based on the given complaint, the government owes the dealers a minimum of $130 million in damages as a result of the stores’ shutdown.

In April 2009, the Chrysler group filed for bankruptcy and in May 2009, it sent closure notices to its 789 stores, or 25 percent of its dealers. It was part of the government-funded restructuring in United States.

The Treasury Department said in May 2009 that the store closures were essential to assist Chrysler recover from its near-collapse and that it took no part in deciding which dealers and how many of them would close. This time, the Treasury Department refused to comment.

From the given court papers filed last Thursday, the dealers said the Obama administration furnished its authority under the control of the Troubled Asset Relief Program to evade franchise laws in the state that is intended to protect dealers.

Chrysler dealers said they had millions of expenditures on training, inventory, as well as marketing to aid sell Chrysler vehicles. The sixty-four dealers came from several states across the country such as Texas, New York and California. Today, 25 percent of the company is managed and owned by Italy’s Fiat SpA.