Alley answers:

I have been supporting Dell Customer for technical issues for 2 years now. Believe me … No body is like Dell. Their products are indeed cheaper and good. I would agree the laptops are not as good as compared to desktops, but if you go for the XPS series of laptops they are awesome. And yes they are costlier. Technical support is good. I’ve worked with HP as well. Every support team gives a way around.. So does Dell, but comparitively… They are better. Customer support may not be that good because of the dell direct model concept, but that’s one thing which makes it cheaper. If you can handle with the initial customer relationship issue which is a pain at times only in special scenarios, then i would say DELL Dell dell

Alley answers:

Stock seems to be in a steady decline. Apparently big money agrees with your assessment of Dell as well!

Personally, I’d pick up AAPL. Today’s it’s at 72. I think it’ll do nicely through year end.

Alley answers:

Dell computers are not bad. What matters is not usually the brand, but whats in it.

Here is a pretty decent computer built on the Dell website. You can view it by clicking on the link below. Its about $599. Just click on “review and continue”

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=DDDWFD2&s=dhs

Alley answers:

Click on the “start” menu – then click on “turn off computer”. I hope you are not serious.

You don’t need access to the welcome menu, you need access to the start menu. Might I suggest you sell the computer and start playing checkers?

Alley answers:

Dell does not restrict what mouse or keyboard you can use. Any mouse or keyboard, as long as its USB, should work fine. They are not like Apple, where they restrict what you can plug in.

If you are trying older PS/2 mice hooked to a USB port via a USB to PS/2 adapter, that will not work with just any PS/2 mouse. The mouse has to be specifically manufactured to be able to use the PS/2 *or* USB connection. You can’t just plug any old PS/2 mouse into a USB to PS/2 adapter and expect it to work on a USB-only computer. Buy a genuine USB mouse and try it.

Alley answers:

There are grants, but they are not easy to get. Grants are mostly given to very poor folks living in rural areas or Indian reservations, or senior citizens.

You can go to the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) http://www.cfda.gov and Grants.gov http://www.grants.gov – these are two sites created by the federal government to provide transparency and information on grants. Browse through the listings and see if you can find any grant that would support your purposes. Once you find a grant where you can qualify, apply for it at Grants.gov

Even if you buy books on “how to get grants” or list that supposedly has information on grants — all of them are mere rehash of what CFDA has, albeit packaged differently.

Here is a complete list of federal home improvement grants — find one where you can qualify

http://12.46.245.173/pls/portal30/CATALOG.FUNCTIONAL_PROGRAM_TXT_RPT.SHOW?p_arg_names=func_cat_cd&p_arg_values=MM

Note though that these grants generally support non-profit organizations, intermediary lending institutions, and state and local governments. Most of the federal grants are given to specific target groups with specific requirements (e.g. Minority business owners involved in transportation related contracts emanating from DOT – Grant#20.905 Disadvantaged Business Enterprises Short Term Lending Program. Individuals especially for personal purposes are not eligible for federal grants.

Grants are also often given to non profit groups or organizations involved in training or other similar activities (grant 59.043 Women’s Business Ownership Assistance that are given to those who will create women’s business center that will train women entrepreneurs

Alley answers:

You may want to check with your nearest “Habitat for Humanity” orginization. I know in my town they operate a builders surplus store named “Restore” the inventory of fixtures.doors,plumbing ,electrical and everything else you can think of is never the same from week to week and the prices are rock bottom,even lower them garage sales at times. Also try swap meets (flea marts) and garage sales

Alley answers:

FIRST OF ALL WHAT DO YOU NEED.I AM SURE THERE IS PEOPLE LIKE ME THAT WANTS TO HELP.. TRY YOUR CHURCH.THE MEMBERS WILL TRY AND HELP YOU .OR FRIENDS AND FAIMLY.GOOD LUCK .

Alley answers:

It depends on how low the interest rate is and what type of a loan you have. Compare the after tax interest on the loan with an after tax interest you can earn on a guaranteed investment, like a CD. If it’s a home equity loan that you used to make improvements, the interest should be tax deductible. That means you could compare your loan’s rate with the rate on the investment directly. If the loan is not tax deductible, make sure you reduce the investment interest rate by your marginal tax rate to make the comparison.

Alley answers:

You can often find some good deals at home improvement stores, but they are not common. You need to find out what time of the month or year they do complete restocking.

They will usually close out at drastic reduce prices at certain times of the year. If you explained your situation you may be able to get a notice when they have material available.

You might also contact some local builders to see if they would ever have any extra supplies a left over that they would be willing to throw your way.

Churches are also an avenue you may consider.

Alley answers:

I cant write it all down so here a link that might help

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Energy

Alley answers:

1. Cost well it depends on how big the solor pannels are.
2. No.
3. It really depends on what the sizes are and what things are
included.
4. When a solor pannel is outside the sun shines on it. The
pannel then soaks up the heat energy and converts in into
what ever energy that you wish. Basically it takes the sun
energy (or heat energy) and changes its chemical ballance
to another form of energy like electricity. It’s a cheap way
to use electrical things without a bill (LOL) !!!!!!
5. An advantage is that it’s a good way to conserve energy
and it’s environment friendly. Some disadvantages are
that if there’s no sun that day then depending on how much
energy your solor pannel can hold you might not have
enough energy that day.
7. You can power almost anything using it.
8. I prefur big pannels but if you’re not much of a big spender
than i would go with individual pannels.

Alley answers:

Energy built up by turbulating water eg a paddle boat.
Windmills use the wind to turn the paddles. This energy is then converted to power
solar energy relies on the sun. Solar panals absorb uv rays and convert them to usable power

as for geothermal energy, i’m sorry, but i can’t help you here

Alley answers:

Solar energy is used to provide electricity, water and home heating, and day-lighting. It is a renewable source (meaning that it is inexhaustible) and it provides little or no greenhouse gases emission or other pollutions to the environment.

A good resource to learn about solar energy is the following website:

http://www.environbusiness.com/AEEE/solar.html

From the same page you can follow links to other pages on Solar Electricity, Solar Heating, Day-lighting and other external sites.

Hope these helped. Cheers

Alley answers:

Simplified version.

There’s an internal wall that lets electrons through easier going one way than the other. The Sun shines on one side of the wall and knocks electrons over the wall. But they can’t get back.

So an electric charge builds up. Wires take the electrons away as electricity.