Joey

I'm trying to redo my W4 so that I get more money on each paycheck, without owing any taxes at the end of the year (and maybe getting a small, marginal refund).

I'm single, work one job, live with a roommate (in South Carolina), cannot be claimed as a dependent, and always file using a 1040EZ.

If I claim two allowances, with no additional witholdings, would I still get a refund? Or should I claim only one?

Recently, as temperatures outside have been rising, so have the temperatures inside my house. We keep our thermostat set to 70-72, but our air conditioner runs contentiously and never gets the house down to those temperatures.

I got a 24-hours temperature/humidity gauge, and throughout the day, temperatures reach about 80* and 60% humidity max, while over night it gets to about 72* and 52%. And that's just so far, it's looking to get worse over the course of July/August.

Our air conditioner has been checked by a technician and found to be properly functional. Furthermore, the ceiling is insulated as well.

Here's the issue though - the house is fairly old and not built to any energy efficient standards. Furthermore, it's a rental house, so our options in terms of modifications to the house are kinda limited.

Are there any options for non-permanent house modifications to increase the cooling efficiency? Not only is the heat starting to get unpleasant, but having an AC run continuously isn't doing wonders for the electricity bill either.

I live in the southeast US, where humidity is high and the temperatures won't stop getting higher. The central air conditioner on our house is fairly old and small, and it's unable to keep the house adequately cooled, and it's running practically 24/7 to try to keep up as best as it can.

Replacing it right now, however, is not an option, so I'm trying to find a way to either supplement it or increase its efficiency. Window ACs also are not an option, unfortunately.

I've read that higher levels of humidity can decrease an AC's efficiency, as it has to remove more moisture from the air. I'm wondering, if I got a dehumidifier and run that along side the air conditioner, would that help increase the AC's cooling ability?

Also, I know that dehumidifiers output heat, so if it would improve the performance of the AC, would it be enough to offset the additional amount of heat created by the dehumidifier?

I know that if I buy an FX/full frame lens for my Nikon DLSR with an APS-C sensor, then there's an approximately 1.5x crop factor applied, so that a 70-300MM FX lens attached to a DSLR would actually have a zoom range equivalent to about 105-450mm.

However, if I buy a 70-300mm DX format lens, which are specificly made for APS-C cameras, does the crop factor still apply (thus still producing a 105-450mm range), or is it a true 70-300mm?

I'm considering moving to South Carolina within the next few months to a year, but do not want to move (and leave my current job) until I have a job offer within the state.

I've noticed several departments of the State Government of South Carolina have openings that match my qualifications and career goals. Though since I'm not currently a resident, I'm wondering if I'd even be considered for employment?

Does South Carolina require applicants for state government jobs to be current residents of the state to be considered for employment, or do they allow a certain period of time to move to the state if offered employment?

I'd be able to relocate fairly quickly if offered a position.

Honestly, I hate shaving, and rather do it infrequently as possible. Usually I only shave two or three times a month, if even that much.

Of course, when I do, my facial hair tends to be thick, which makes it very difficult and time consuming to shave with a disposable razor. Is there any method to easily shave thick/long facial hair quickly?

Last week, I canceled my service with U.S. Cellular and switched to T-Mobile, as USC announced that they're going to be discontinuing service in my area.

However, when I'm at work, my T-Mobile phone has a very poor signal, making the phone practically unusable (and I can't use WiFi calling due to the company's firewall and content filter). So I need to return my phone to T-Mobile and switch to another carrier such as Sprint or Verizon.

I'm still within T-Mobile's return period, as I just got this phone less than five days ago, so I want to take it back and switch to a different carrier. But I've not done this before - if I take the phone back to T-Mobile, then how can I retain ownership of my number? Do I get new service first and then take the phone back immediately after, or is there a time period where the phone number will remain under my ownership, or what can I do?

My current cell phone carrier (US Cellular) announced that they're going to be discontinuing service in my area, so I'm looking at switching carriers. Most carriers are now offering unlimited talk+text plans, and seem to really be pushing those. However, I only use 30-50 minutes of talk and 50-100 texts each month, so I see little benefit in paying for such a plan when I won't utilize it.

However, I use a ton of data for email, web surfing, etc, and I would like to get tethering too for my laptop/tablet when I'm not near WiFi. I was wondering, are there any carriers who offer plans (contract or prepaid) that are catered towards data-heavy users, without forcing the cost of a ton of minutes/texts that will go unused?

I have dark brown hair. Recently, I've been wanting to dye it bright red (such as firetruck red). I've been doing some research, and have gotten a lot of mixed info. Some sites say there's no way to dye dark hair a bright color without bleaching, but other sites are saying that there's now products/methods that dye it without bleaching.

I was wondering what the best way to dye my hair would be? Which method would produce the brightest red color with the longest lasting results?

One of my widsom teeth started coming in a few days ago (lower left one). Since yesterday, I've noticed somewhat of a swollen feeling in my neck, about 5-6 inches away from where the tooth is growing. My neck gets a little bit sore if I turn my head left. Additionally, I can feel this swell whenever I swallow something. Is it likely that this is caused by the wisdom tooth coming in, or is it more likely to be unrelated?

I used to use iTunes and an iPod for purchasing and listening to music, however I eventually got eventually annoyed at both, so I converted all my iTunes songs to MP3 and switched to Windows Media Player, an Android phone, and Amazon MP3. Additionally, I have a few MP3 files that were ripped from my CD collection.

Somewhere along the line, some of the MP3 tags got screwed up, so my phone shows a number of songs as "Artist/Album Unknown", and some of the album art images got screwed up (either missing or completely wrong). Are there any tools available that can fix the tags an album art on my collection?

My 2002 Sable is somewhat unreliable, averaging about $2000-$2500 in repairs each year since I've owned it. I don't have the money to replace it with a new car, but I figured that if I get a scooter for most of my local driving, then my Sable wouldn't break as frequently.

However, I absolutely need to have one that is legal to drive on a freeway (speed limit: 45 min, 65 max), as there is a freeway very close to where I work and live that I use almost daily (mostly to go to class after I get off work).

At every freeway entrance, there's a sign that says "no motor driven cycles", yet motorcycles are perfectly legal. So what I'm trying to find out is, in Illinois, what is the distinction between a motorcycle and a motor driven cycle? Are there any minimum requirements (engine displacement, speed, etc) that will determine whether or not a scooter would legally be allowed on the freeway?

I got a new ceiling fan which I am planning on installing tomorrow. However, one thing I've noticed is that this new one is fairly heavy, with the main body (not including the blades) weighing around fifteen pounds. I'm concerned that this may put stress on my ceiling, and the last thing I want is a collapse. Is there any way to safely mount this ceiling fan while significantly reducing the risk of structural overload.

I've been wondering something, but couldn't find any definite A or B answer.

The Space Shuttle only has two flights left, and then it's retired, and the successor (The Constellation Project) has been defended by Congress in favor of having private, commercial companies such as Space X build spacecraft.

However, what I'm wondering is - after the private cooperations build the spacecraft, who will be flying and operating them? Will these companies simply be building the craft, and then NASA will buy them and send them into space, or will it be the private companies sending them into space and NASA is done with manned spaceflight, or a mix of the two, or what?

I have a gift card for Best Buy that will just about cover the cost of a 160Gb PS3. However, for $100 more, Best Buy is selling a PS3 bundle that includes the 320Gb PS3, a move controller, an eye toy, and the Sports Championships game, which is tempting, to say the least.

I owned a Wii before, but I used it so little that I ended up giving it to my sister. Graphics aside, is the Move any different than the Wii?

I'm not a hardcore gamer, and I'm not expecting to get more than 10-12 games for the PS3, nor am I expecting to use it as a media center (other than watch the occasional Blu-Ray), so the HD space doesn't matter much to me. Is the Move bundle worth the extra $100?

I have $300 worth of Best Buy gift certificates, and I'm looking into getting a digital camcorder. For that budget, usually standard definition camcorders are the only option, but they have a rather nice 1080p camcorder on sale for about $200.

Of course, that camcorder only has a 12x zoom, while the SD camcorders have up to a 72x zoom. So that's a pretty drastic difference. I need a general-use camcorder, so which generally would be a better bet?

Does anyone have any recommended models or brands of camcorders?

I currently use T-Mobile as my wireless carrier, and my contract expired in October. While I love T-Mobile (they have great support, there coverage is good where I need it), they recently changed their pricing structure, and for me to keep a plan similar to what I have now would cost me an extra $20 a month, which would end up costing me over $500 (post-tax) over the span of a two year contract.

So because of that, I'm really considering US Cellular. Their prices are extremely reasonable, and they offer plenty of data for smartphone usage. Furthermore, I understand that all their support is American-based, which sounds really appealing to me.

I've never actually switched carriers before and kept my cell phone number, however. If I wanted to, what would be the actual process for doing so? Do I transfer my number to USC, and then call T-Mobile after I have a USC account to cancel my T-mobile account? Or would I cancel my T-Mobile account first, and then have so many days to port the number to USC? Is there anything I need to do to avoid having to pay each carrier for the same month during the transition?

I've been using T-Mobile for a little over three years now. They're a great carrier, and I really like them, but recently their prices have gotten a little too high for me. I rarely talk on the phone, but I use Data and Messaging quite heavily. If I renewed my T-Mobile contract, I'd end up having to pay an extra $20 a month over what I currently pay to keep unlimited messaging and data.

US Cellular, however, is offering a much better deal for me, only $5 more than what I pay currently, which is a lot better than an extra $20. Plus they have some other nice perks too. I was wondering, out of the two companies, which is the better carrier to go with.

Also, I can't go with:

- Sprint, because I have a Sprint phone from work, and their coverage isn't great where I need it.

- Verizon, they're too expensive.

- AT&T, because I had them before I had T-Mobile, and their customer service is just awful. Plus they're expensive.

My contract with T-Mobile is up, and I'm planning on switching to an Android phone within the next few weeks. However, I'm torn between the MyTouch 3G Slide and the Samsung Vibrant. I'm wondering which phone will be the better phone to get.

Obviously, the Vibrant is a much more powerful phone spec-wise, however I also understand it comes with a lot of bloatware added, which will obviously consume a bit of the phone's additional resources.

I'm also debating about the keyboard. Every phone I've owned has had a physical keyboard, so I'm quite used to having one, thus making a disadvantage for the Vibrant. However, I'm particularly used to the more narrow keyboards such as the ones on Blackberries, so the MyTouch's wide keyboard would also be quite a change for me. Between the Vibrant and MyTouch, which one is easier to type on?

Finally, which phone is more durable? I need a phone that will just work and not break too easily. I've heard of problems with the Vibrant's GPS. Does the MyTouch have any similar issues?

I'd like to start using a graphics tablet to do some drawing, however I don't really have any programs to use for drawing? What is a good program to use to draw magna/cartoons with a graphics tablet? I'm particularly looking for one that can do line smoothing, as my tablet kinda produces jagged edges.