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I have a nice looking ornate Ludwig piano from the late 1800s to early 1900s. My wife wants me to refurbish it or replace with a digital piano. I want to keep it but I do not know if it is worth refurbishing what do people think is a reasonable price point for going with the refurbish option. Doing some research I found that I can buy a non refinished ones for only a few hundred dollars and the refurbished ones tend to cost 10+k but I have no clue that people are actually paying those amounts for this piano. I have also read that Ludwig did make very high quality award winning pianos when they were in business and that pianos from this period are normally higher quality than the ones being made now. Basically I would want to know is it worth refurb and at what cost. Thank you

I bought a sword at an antique store that I am trying to find more information on. Although I am far from an expert on swords based on examples of swords I saw online the sword appears to be from the early to Mid 1800's. Although the maker name is hard to make out, I believe that it is horstmann's PHLLA or something close to that. After some research I discovered Civil war swords war made by Horstmann in Philadelphia. What confuses me about the sword is that it does not look like a Civil war period sword. The size and shape of the sword is that of a late 18thC german hunting/Jagermeisters dagger. It has the traditional horn handle and bronze colored fittings and all. The blade is fairly thick as expected from early swords. Does any one know what this is? Although someone possibly could have possibly converted a civil war error sword that that would probably be way more work than I could foresee it ever being worth because not only would the handle and fittings need to all be replaced, the sword would probably have to be resized and shaped. Did they make german hunting daggers by this company in phili? If so does any one know when and if it is worth anything?

I recently started collecting European swords from the 16th-18th century and I was wondering the best way to clean and polish the swords without damaging them. I heard that flitz was a safe and good product for cleaning swords but I have also heard other than very minor cleaning could ruin the swords value.

Thoughts? Recommendations?

I am thinking about building a comic book site dedicated to information about collecting comics. I want to use images of comic book covers on the site and was wondering how copyright rules will apply. I know that comic book stores and other sites all use images of comic book covers and some times even images within a comic book. I was wondering if this is allowed and if so to what extent. I would assume action houses and other comic book shops would not place images online of there merchandise if they were violating a copyright, but where is the line drawn between what is acceptable use of an image and what is a violation of a copywrite.

I will be driving from San Diego to San Fransisco and was wondering if someone could recommend fun cities to stay the night around half way between. Although I will stop by LA, I do not want to be more than 4 hours from San Fran when I stop for the night. I will probably be driving down the coast, thanks.

I one a T-shirt from a charity auction last year that I am trying to write-off on my taxes. The receipt states that $280 of the price was going directly to the Japanese relief fund. When I investigated further the proceeds actually were split between 5 different international charities. What is the best way to write this off, with turbo tax I am required to enter the name, address of the charity but I do not know what % went to what organization. What is the legit way to report this?

I recently started running and working out in a gym and I would like some recommendations on good earphones. I purchased the Philips SHQ3000 and hated them. The biggest problem I have is that they do not fit comfortably in my ear. There is something about sticking plastic/rubber down my ear that just does feel right for me and the sound quality was horrible unless you are able to move then perfectly in position which made them even less comfortable. What I am looking for is something that is small and will hold comfortable on my ear without falling off when running. Having good sound and some base is also a must. Any recommendations would be helpful. Although I am not on a tight budget, my preference would be to stay under $50. I am thinking about getting the apple ear buds with the over the ear attachment but any recommendations would be great.

My receiver is no longer putting out sound. The system as been working fine for over two years and recently has been having problems. I here the change over clicks when changing the receiver from Blu ray to TV ect.. but not voice or music. When I run the speaker Calibration the screen freezes on Please Wait. Using the calibration however had fixed the speaker problem in the past. I have tried unplugging all of the components and currently only have the TV connected VIA HDMI. I have also switched out the HDMI cables with new ones. I have also checked all of the speaker connections. Any thoughts or ideas? One set mentioned updating the firmware, however I could not find any official firmware for this model on the onkyo web site.

Thank you

I am thinking about purchasing tickets for the 2012 Olympics in London. From my understanding it is illegal to scalp tickets in England. Are there legal ways to purchase tickets tickets from other people or none "official sources". For example are people allowed to sell tickets at cost without it being scalping or are there licensed 3rd party sources to purchase tickets? Although I can purchase tickets now by purchasing a hotel package. I would rather be able to arrange hotel and schedule things myself vs buying a set pre-package.

I am a noob when it comes to scooters and mopeds which is why these questions are going to sound stupid. A few days ago I purchased a 49cc scooter and I have ran in to two problems so far.

1. What is the best way to fill the tank. It appears there is a metal plate that blocks a gas pump from allowing the nozzle to fit more than an about 1/2 inch down the tank. Is it safe to pump gas with so little clearance or do I need to fill using a can of gas?

2. Today when going up a steep road the scooter stalled before getting to the top. At full throtle the bike was doing around 25MPH. After the bike stalled it would not restart for a few minutes.. Does any know what is going on? Can this be expected when going up a steep hill? The scooter was purchased new and currently has about 10 miles on it.

I have a friend who just wrote and illustrated a kids book. She has placed the book on kindle, but my concern is that she will not be able to get much of an audience on kindle for a kids books. What I would like to know is what is the cheapest way to get the book printed and about how much would it cost to have a prototype made. The books would not have to be hardbound, but I would at least like it to be in color and on glossy paper. Also if someone can recommend place in the DC area that could do it for a good place let me know. The book is about 20 pages.

Thank you

I have a bunch or really nice looking art prints from Artistic Picture Publishing company toulouse lautrec. Although I know these are not original, the are old (ie probably atleast 30-40+ years old), they are about the size of a medium poster. I was wondering if they are worth anything? Although they are prints, they appear to be very hard to find, and they appear to be much nicer quality than the newer prints one can find today. From what I could find online a lot of the prints from this company go for around $50-100 but none of them were from famous artists like Lautrec. Any info would be nice, thanks

I have twice gone to a japanese restaurant that had a selection of 3-4 really good dipping sauces for Japanese Kobe Beef. One place was the hump in Santa Monaco airport and the other was at the Sekishin-tei restaurant at the Otani hotel in tokyo. I know one of them is a garlic sauce and I think one of them is some kinda of soy based sauce. I was wondering if any one knew what these sauces are because I would like to try and make them at home. If any one has any idea please let me know, thanks.

I have been to sushi Taro, Kaz and other that are great, but I was wondering what else is around that is very good. I would love to find places that serve the high end dishes, ie japanese kobe, Fugu, fresh, blue fin oh toro ect.. Also I am taking a trip to Japan, if any one has any recommendations for the best sushi I would love to hear about them.

I am considering getting my next computer from cyberpowerpc. I am wondering if I can get feedback on any of the following questions I have below.

1. They offer 4 different liquid cooling options that are all overclock certified, I am planning on having them overclock the system by 20%. Is it worth the extra money to get one of the upgraded cooling systems or should stick with the base liquid system? If I should upgrade what one would you recommend and why?

2. Is it worth the extra $70 to get the 1600hz kingston HyperX memory or should I stick their genaric 1333hz memory?

3. Does the CoolerMaster 690 case come with the thermal display as pictured or does that cost extra?

4. I am going to start out with a single Nvidia 250gs 1gig card, but I may eventually add a second card or upgrading that card when needed. Currently I am considering the 850 Watts Power Supply (CoolerMaster Real Power). Any thoughts on this for a PSU or recommendations?

I want to spend a max of $1400-$1500 and get a i7 930 so I cannot go top of line for all of the parts, but I would like to get a stable system that is easily upgradable when needed. Any recommendations I would greatly appreciate it.

thank you

I am looking in to buying a new computer. I am thinking about getting a system through cyberpowerpc or ibuypower. I an considering getting a fairly beefy computer, i7-930, 240mm liquid cool, and a Mboard with built in USB3. Both vendors sell overclock options were they will overclock your PC. All of the motherboards I am considering also have software that will overclock options ie turboV and Quick Boost. The question is, should I pay extra money to have the vendor overclock the system or should I use one of the free utilities that comes with the system? One of my concerns with overclocking the system myself is overheating or breaking the system warrenty. Any thoughts? In the end I would like my system to be overclocked between 20-30%. Thank you

I Sold a US I Bond last year and received a 1099-INT. When I entered the interest received from the I bond the amount of federal taxes owed for 2009 increased. According to the US Gov't I thought I bonds, E/EE bonds were exempt, but when I fill in the 1099-INT Box 3 as provided to me for the sale I am getting taxed. If I also fill in the form in for my state taxes for the sale I get taxed a second time on my state taxes! Am I not suppose to complete the 1099-INT box for the bond sale, although the amount was provided to me by the bank?

Please do not guess at the answer, only provide it if you know it. Thank you

I am currently thinking about getting a new center channel speaker. My current Receiver is the Onkyo TX-SR707. My understanding the center channel on the receiver is 100Watts. With that said, what impact does the power rating have. For example would it do me any good to spend the extra money on getting a center channel with the power rating of 300Watts or should I save money and stick with a low end center channel with a max power rating of around 100Watts? Basically if my center channel is 100Watts, what is the value added of getting a center channel speaker that has more than 100W or is there none?

Also With that said which of these speakers would probably give me the most bang for the money and why?

Polk Audio CS10

Polk Audio CS2

Polk Audio CS20

Polk Audio CSI A4

Thank you

In order to turn on my TV, I have to turn off the cable box first. Once the cable box is turned off I can than power up both the TV and than the cable box. This problem started happening after I had work done on my cable because of issues with on demand, but I am not sure if the work done was related. At first I thought the TV was was dying, but then released it worked fine when the cable was not powered on. The problem does not appear to be related to the amount of power going to the outlet because even if I unplug everything else including a high power receiver with power subwoofer and computer I still have the same problem and it does not make a difference where I plug things in. It appears that the cable box itself is some how interfering with the TV.

Any thoughts?

Up until 2 years ago I use to get about a $1200 tax refund. This year and last year I have ended up owing over $4k and I do not understand why that happend. I am a full time saleried employee, I do not work a second job, nor do I make a significant amount in investments (ie < $500). The only exemption I claim is myself. I have spoken with my employer and was told that they were withholding the correct amount on my taxes. Basically, WTF? The only thing I can attribute to the change would be getting married. My wife's withholdings however are correct. In terms % of income, she is actually having more withdrawn from her paycheck for taxes then I am. The only thing I can think of is that I am not having enough money withheld, this however seems odd because I am only claiming myself and I do not have any significant outside income. Any thoughts?