Functioning Apple 1 computer of Bygone Days sells for $668,000

Collectors can go to any extent in adding rare and historical artifacts, coins, match boxes, stamps, record jackets, labels - and even vintage machines like first gen computers of bygone days.


And here comes Apple 1 - one of Apple's first computers marketed in 1976 and completely functional - that an auctioneer in Berlin says has been sold for a record 516,000 euros ($668,000), reports CTV News.

German auction house Breker said Saturday an Asian client, who asked not to be named, bought the so-called Apple 1, which the tech company's founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak built in a family garage.

Breker claims it is one of only six known remaining functioning models in the world. Breker already sold one last year for 492,000 euros.

Do you have something lying in your collection which you would like to put on sale and be a half millionaire just by the last stroke of the hammer in an auction house?

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Explosion on moon visible from earth

I do not know whether the hobbying astronomers watched this or not, but NASA did notice a bright explosion on moon which was visible from the earth.

Explosion on the moon, reported by NASA May 17, was caused by a meteor hitting the surface and was visible on earth to the naked eye

The explosion was caused by a meteoroid that struck the moon surface recently, says NASA on Friday. The impact caused an explosion that was visible on Earth without the aid of a telescope. But don't be alarmed if you didn't see it; it only lasted about a second.

"It exploded in a flash nearly 10 times as bright as anything we've ever seen before," said Bill Cooke, of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office.

NASA's lunar monitoring program has detected hundreds of meteoroid impacts. The brightest, detected on March 17, 2013, in Mare Imbrium, is marked by the red square

NASA says the meteoroid was about 40 kilograms and less than a meter wide, and it hit the moon's surface at 56,000 mph. It glowed like a 4th magnitude star, NASA says, thanks to an explosion equivalent to 5 tons of TNT.

However there is one question which may or may not have come to your mind. But if you're wondering how there can be an explosion on the moon, without oxygen, NASA has the answer for you. It says the flash of light comes not from any type of combustion - as we typically think of explosions - but rather by the glowing molten rock at the impact site.

So this is the answer which may add to your knowledge if you are a hobbying astronomer. So keep watch moon more  - you may find another explosion too if you are lucky.

(via CNN - NASA )
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United States returns stolen remains of 70 million year old Tyrannosaurus skeleton Mongolia

Collecting rare artifacts and other historical objects is one of the major hobbies of the rich around the world. But sometimes a costly auction may land a collector into trouble. And this is exactly what happened to a collector who landed up in jail for 17 years and also the remains of very unique and rare skeleton returned to country to which it belonged.

Tyrannosaurus [Photo: My Jurassic Park]

In what is being termed as a rare cultural return, the United States has returned the fossilized remains of a 70 million year old Tyrannosaurus skeleton stolen from the Gobi desert in Mongolia.

The remains which were sold at auction in New York last year for more than a million dollars, the near complete skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus Bataar - a cousin of the better-known T-Rex - is being repatriated at Mongolia's request.

Skeleton of Tyrannosaurus [Photo: Wikimedia Commons]

In the meantime, collector Eric Prokopi pleaded guilty last December to smuggling the remains and faces up to 17 years in jail.

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Reputed "Titanic violin" likely to be Auctioned

Are you a collector? If so get ready to add a rare violent to your collection.

The violin is not ordinary but it made headlines when it was played on that fateful night when the mighty luxury liner Titanic was sinking.

Scene from 1958 film: A Night to Remember

The scene has been immortalized in movies like 1958's "A Night to Remember," in which the band played on to calm the Titanic's passengers as chaos and icy waters swept over and sank the so-called "unsinkable" ship. It's a scene later revisited in James Cameron's film version. The story is real by survivors' accounts, and unlike the fictional Jack and Rose, bandmaster Wallace Hartley was a real-life star.

And how the violin survived. Well it is presumed that in the final moments, Wallace used a bag to protect the one thing that he valued most to him, his violin. He strapped the bag around his shoulders, above his life jacket, in the hope that he and his violin would survive.

The 34-year-old musician's body was found floating in the icy water 10 days after the shipwreck, among 1,500 people who perished.

Although some personal belongings were noted in the paperwork for "Body #224," initially, there was no mention of a violin among his possessions. But in the days that followed, newspapers reported that Wallace had been found with the instrument. And in her diary, Mariah Robinson thanked Canadian authorities for its return to Britain.

(via CBS This Morning)

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Top Rare Photos from History

Photographers catch some of the rare photos that become history one day. And sometimes ordinary photos of people when they are just ordinary become a rarity when decades after these people or places assume a place among people's hearts.

Herein under are some of such photos that reminds us of the beginning of history.  Find out yourself:

The first computer

Beginning of the Brazilian Capital

 Fall of the Berlin Wall

 Che Guevara and Fidel Castro

 Elvis Presley on conscription

 Beatles in their infancy

Beatles in 1957

 John Lennon  giving his last autograph to his 'murderer' 

 Titanic - Before (above) and after sail (below)

All phots above are courtesy: Today's Whisper
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Play Video Games with 3D Headset and Treadmill Combo - and Exercise Too

This is about video games and gamers who have so far been playing video games while sitting or lying on a coach with a hand held console with various buttons on.

These consoles have made gamers rather static and motionless - something that take s aheavy toll due to lack of any physical activity.

But not anymore: Here is an innovative 3D Headset and Treadmill Combo called Omni that is a treadmill-like "natural motion interface for virtual reality applications" that enables a user's in-game avatar to mimic his or her real-life movements.

The video below shows it being used along with the Oculus Rift virtual-reality headset.

Now you can can walk, run, jump, step sideways and crouch (by bending over) in any direction on Omni's circular treadmill.

Check out the video below to see the immersive action:

(via Mashable)
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Pakistan Post Commemorates Centenary of Kinnaird College for Women - Lahore (1913-2013)

Pakistan Post has issued a commemorative stamp of Rs.15 to commemorate the centenary of the famous Kinnaird College for Women, Lahore. A First Day Cover was also issued simultaneously. The stamp was issued on 11th April and is horizontal layout with 13 perforations.

Established in 1913 by the Zenana and Bible Medical Mission, now called Interserve, the college initially had intermediate level of education for the women. The BA classes commenced in 1917. After partition, the college was upgraded to have classes of Masters / M.Phil level.

The college was initially housed near Kinnaird High School. However it was moved to Jail Road in 1926.  In 1933, the college acquired land near Lahore's canal and new buildings were constructed to house the increasing numbers of girls studying at the college. By 1939 the college had grown into a 20-acre campus.

As of now, Kinnaird College is a premier institution exclusive for women. The college has its won Campus radio which started its test transmission in June 2010 and was officially inaugurated on 31st January, 2011.

[Photo: Kinnaird College/Facebook]

Some of the notable graduates of Kinnaird College include Bano Qudsia (author), Faryal Gohar (journalist), Kashmala Tariq (politician), Hina Rabbani Khar (politician), Ayesha Saddiqa (writer), Bapsi Sidhwa Writer/author), Nasira Iqbal (former Lahore High Court Judge) and Hadiqa Kiyani (pop singer).

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