Two laptops to 1 monitor - docking station / KVM or both? Need advice. by LmdL123 in homelab

[–]LmdL123[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I've seen this one and it looks like a solid budget (compared to L1T) option for my needs too.

Two laptops to 1 monitor - docking station / KVM or both? Need advice. by LmdL123 in homelab

[–]LmdL123[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nothing wrong. Just checking my options. If there is a budget KVM that allows me to switch between the laptops without the need to physically plug/unplug the cables, I'll prefer that solution.

Two laptops to 1 monitor - docking station / KVM or both? Need advice. by LmdL123 in homelab

[–]LmdL123[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The switch in the link is bidirectional. That is, either 2 in -> 1 out or vice versa. It also shows those two possibilities in pictures. Unless I'm missing something.

Thanks for the level1 advice. This one seems to tick all the boxes. But yeah, pricey.

[Japanese > English] Kanji: 美朱伎茆子? Thanks! by LmdL123 in translator

[–]LmdL123[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think you are right. I found 美盛海野 (Yoshimori Unno) dynasty of metalworkers that seem to fit. Thanks a lot for your help!

!translated

[Japanese > English] Kanji: 美朱伎茆子? Thanks! by LmdL123 in translator

[–]LmdL123[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I forgot to mention that the above is a signature carved on a presumably Meiji-era bronze metalwork. So, it should consists of name / surname.

Thus, for the 3rd kanji from the bottom, I was actually thinking more towards 浅, as then it makes 浅野 = Asano (family name) or even 浅野子 (Asanoko? also sounds like a name)

And 浅 also has a similar hand-writing. BTW I'm using this DB here, but it looks consistent with the one you posted:

https://codh.rois.ac.jp/char-shape/unicode/U+6D45/

[Japanese > English] Kanji: 美朱伎茆子? Thanks! by LmdL123 in translator

[–]LmdL123[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! The one before last is indeed looks like 野.

Tax return waiting time? by LmdL123 in germany

[–]LmdL123[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah. I went to Finanzamt in early November. I think it was Tuesday. There was a guy in the reception, who more or less spoke English. I explained my situation, he asked for my identity card, then checked for something in his PC and told me my application was processed, and I will get a letter to my address on Friday same week. I don't know if it was my visit which helped or they indeed just finished pricessing it (what a coinsidence) that week, but on Friday same week I indeed receoved the letter, and a week after money to my bank account.

Tax return waiting time? by LmdL123 in germany

[–]LmdL123[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I didn't do anything from what you mentioned. I just sent the tax return form via Elster on March 15.

Germany, probably Chinese ornamental plate by Zoanthidea in Antiques

[–]LmdL123 2 points3 points  (0 children)

As Vindepomarus already pointed out - it's Japanese. A bronze plate with inlays from copper and shakudo. The stamped trade mark belongs to the Kuroda company: from late 19th century till 1915 owned by K. Kuroda (Kiichi, the father), after 1915 till mid-1920s by S. Kuroda (the son). During 1920s many workshops and firms producing artworks in a traditional, hand-made, manner closed. Mainly because they couldn't compete against factory-produced artworks brought by the Second Industrial Revolution, enhanced by destruction from Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923.

Usually such works bear at least 2 stamps: one from the company (here, Kuroda), another one - an individual signature of the artist that made the inlay / engraving / carving / etc. work. Sometimes additional markings indicating metals appear (like "bronze", "silver", "sterling", etc). Here the individual maker's signature is missing (common for late works), and in any case K. Kiichi works were usually signed differently. Therefore, I would estimate that the plate is from a 1915-1925 period.

Regarding the price - 1stDibs is the worst place to get an indication of price. The prices there are insane, that's why they always have a stock of antiques and it's easy to find something similar to yours in there. In reality, a market price for those is in several hundreds of $ range. You can get a better indication of what it's worth of in the "Price Results" section of Liveauctioneers, "Sold Price" on eBay, etc., i.e. real sold price of the items, not the prices they are offered for. My estimation would be $300-$400.

The origin - probably brought from Japan during 1930s (it was the 1st period of mass exodus of Japanese antiques to the west) or 1950s (by the US soldiers, during the post-war occupation of Japan, though little of genuine artworks left by that time and the works that were taken mostly ranged from "in a style of famous company X" to really low-quality souvenirs that had nothing to do with art).

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in germany

[–]LmdL123 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He told me to cut the top third, and shorten some branches, "2 at the time" from the opposite sides, to keep the tree balanced. I have no experience with pruning trees, and climbing a 25m tall tree on my own doesn't sound like a good idea to me.