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Beijing (CNN) — Demonstrators braved a heavy police presence and the threat of arrest by massing Thursday in the streets of Kunming, China, to protest the planned construction of a chemical plant, they said.

“It was mostly a peaceful protest,” said an activist who asked to be identified only by his family name, Young. “We were singing the national anthem, shouting ‘Get out, refinery!’ together.”

He added, “We were scattered by the heavy police force in the area. I saw locals scuffling with police, people getting arrested and pulled away.”

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(CNN) — No sooner had Ruganzu Bruno and his troupe of fellow eco-artists arrived at Kampala’s Kawempe area than their presence stirred up questions within the local community.

“What are you doing?” the startled residents asked. “Why are you using all this plastic?” they continued, baffled by the piles of waste bottles that were gradually filling a dusty compound yard in the northwestern suburb of the Ugandan capital.

What the group of artists was doing was creating “The Hand That Speaks,” an enormous structure made of recycled materials to raise awareness about environmental degradation.

“We were trying to bring out the message that the hand is the one which is throwing this trash into the environment and at the same time it could be used to collect [them] and save the environment,” says Bruno.

And once the nine artists started assembling their futuristic creation, using more than 20,000 bottles collected in the slums of Kampala, the local crowds also decided to lend a helping hand.

“At first, the community were confused but then they really loved it,” says Bruno. “They were always getting us bottles.”

Eco Art

That was about four years ago, when Bruno was still a student at the Kyambogo University fine art school. During that time, the talented painter and sculptor discovered that he wasn’t interested in just crafting artworks that would only satisfy his creative needs.

Instead, he wanted his art to have a positive impact on his community.

“When we are trying to achieve things in life we are self-centered, and as artists we tend to make work for ourselves,” explains Bruno, 30.

“I kind of felt a change within myself to think about others,” he adds. “From then on I could not only paint — I decided to work on work that was beneficial to my community.”

Driven by a desire to influence his surroundings, Bruno then became involved in eco-art projects, devising innovative ways to deal with Kampala’s acute waste management problem.

In 2010 he founded Eco Art Uganda, a collective of artists promoting environmental awareness by transforming anything from discarded bottles and cast-aside metal to broken TVs and computers into contemporary and functional pieces of art.

Read this: Specs ‘give trash a second chance’

“I was looking for materials that were not expensive and easily available,” says the soft-spoken artist, who hails from southwest Uganda.

“I really found that this trash and rubbish could actually become a really positive way of communicating to people,” adds Bruno, who’s won several accolades for his work, including the Ugandan Young Achievers award 2011.

Amusement park

In April last year, Bruno also won the $10,000 City 2.0 Award at the TEDx summit in Doha, Qatar, for his idea to create an amusement playground for children living in Kampala’s congested slums.

Using an array of recycled materials, Bruno went on to transform a school yard in Kampala’s Kireka community into a fun and safe place where children can play and learn.

The eco-park, which was completed last September, is dotted with whimsical structures attracting dozens of children each day — from a colorful helicopter and life-size board games made of bottles to recycled swings and climbing frames crafted from old tires.

Bruno says the entire community, which lacked a recreation facility, embraced the project wholeheartedly.

Read this: Boy’s flashy invention scares off lions

“I talked to the head of the school, and together with the parents and the students, they are the ones who collected the bottles,” says Bruno, who is also a lecturer in the department of Art Design at Kyambogo University.

“So we built the playground together as a team and they know how to repair it — this is very important in terms of sustainability.”

But more importantly, Bruno, who was orphaned at a young age, says the project has had a positive impact on the children.

“The attention of children in class has improved; the number of children who are dropping out [is falling] because now they have something to keep them busy there, ” he adds. “There is a really good progress and it has also helped them to express themselves in class.”

Legacy

Bruno says his goal is to recreate “as many as 100″ similar amusement parks in other parts of Uganda.

He is also using the prize money to grow an eco-artist loan scheme he’s developed, aimed at supporting the business endeavors of creative women in Kireka.

It’s all part of his continuous efforts to be an artist whose work will serve his community’s needs.

“I think a man will always be remembered by his work, “says Bruno. “I’m an advocate now of the environment; I’m an advocate for play for children; I’m an artist …who wants his work to have an effect on the people.”.

(CNN) — No sooner had Ruganzu Bruno and his troupe of fellow eco-artists arrived at Kampala’s Kawempe area than their presence stirred up questions within the local community.

“What are you doing?” the startled residents asked. “Why are you using all this plastic?” they continued, baffled by the piles of waste bottles that were gradually filling a dusty compound yard in the northwestern suburb of the Ugandan capital.

What the group of artists was doing was creating “The Hand That Speaks,” an enormous structure made of recycled materials to raise awareness about environmental degradation.

“We were trying to bring out the message that the hand is the one which is throwing this trash into the environment and at the same time it could be used to collect [them] and save the environment,” says Bruno.

And once the nine artists started assembling their futuristic creation, using more than 20,000 bottles collected in the slums of Kampala, the local crowds also decided to lend a helping hand.

“At first, the community were confused but then they really loved it,” says Bruno. “They were always getting us bottles.”

Eco Art

That was about four years ago, when Bruno was still a student at the Kyambogo University fine art school. During that time, the talented painter and sculptor discovered that he wasn’t interested in just crafting artworks that would only satisfy his creative needs.

Instead, he wanted his art to have a positive impact on his community.

“When we are trying to achieve things in life we are self-centered, and as artists we tend to make work for ourselves,” explains Bruno, 30.

“I kind of felt a change within myself to think about others,” he adds. “From then on I could not only paint — I decided to work on work that was beneficial to my community.”

Driven by a desire to influence his surroundings, Bruno then became involved in eco-art projects, devising innovative ways to deal with Kampala’s acute waste management problem.

In 2010 he founded Eco Art Uganda, a collective of artists promoting environmental awareness by transforming anything from discarded bottles and cast-aside metal to broken TVs and computers into contemporary and functional pieces of art.

Read this: Specs ‘give trash a second chance’

“I was looking for materials that were not expensive and easily available,” says the soft-spoken artist, who hails from southwest Uganda.

“I really found that this trash and rubbish could actually become a really positive way of communicating to people,” adds Bruno, who’s won several accolades for his work, including the Ugandan Young Achievers award 2011.

Amusement park

In April last year, Bruno also won the $10,000 City 2.0 Award at the TEDx summit in Doha, Qatar, for his idea to create an amusement playground for children living in Kampala’s congested slums.

Using an array of recycled materials, Bruno went on to transform a school yard in Kampala’s Kireka community into a fun and safe place where children can play and learn.

The eco-park, which was completed last September, is dotted with whimsical structures attracting dozens of children each day — from a colorful helicopter and life-size board games made of bottles to recycled swings and climbing frames crafted from old tires.

Bruno says the entire community, which lacked a recreation facility, embraced the project wholeheartedly.

Read this: Boy’s flashy invention scares off lions

“I talked to the head of the school, and together with the parents and the students, they are the ones who collected the bottles,” says Bruno, who is also a lecturer in the department of Art Design at Kyambogo University.

“So we built the playground together as a team and they know how to repair it — this is very important in terms of sustainability.”

But more importantly, Bruno, who was orphaned at a young age, says the project has had a positive impact on the children.

“The attention of children in class has improved; the number of children who are dropping out [is falling] because now they have something to keep them busy there, ” he adds. “There is a really good progress and it has also helped them to express themselves in class.”

Legacy

Bruno says his goal is to recreate “as many as 100″ similar amusement parks in other parts of Uganda.

He is also using the prize money to grow an eco-artist loan scheme he’s developed, aimed at supporting the business endeavors of creative women in Kireka.

It’s all part of his continuous efforts to be an artist whose work will serve his community’s needs.

“I think a man will always be remembered by his work, “says Bruno. “I’m an advocate now of the environment; I’m an advocate for play for children; I’m an artist …who wants his work to have an effect on the people.”.

(CNN) — No sooner had Ruganzu Bruno and his troupe of fellow eco-artists arrived at Kampala’s Kawempe area than their presence stirred up questions within the local community.

“What are you doing?” the startled residents asked. “Why are you using all this plastic?” they continued, baffled by the piles of waste bottles that were gradually filling a dusty compound yard in the northwestern suburb of the Ugandan capital.

What the group of artists was doing was creating “The Hand That Speaks,” an enormous structure made of recycled materials to raise awareness about environmental degradation.

“We were trying to bring out the message that the hand is the one which is throwing this trash into the environment and at the same time it could be used to collect [them] and save the environment,” says Bruno.

And once the nine artists started assembling their futuristic creation, using more than 20,000 bottles collected in the slums of Kampala, the local crowds also decided to lend a helping hand.

“At first, the community were confused but then they really loved it,” says Bruno. “They were always getting us bottles.”

Eco Art

That was about four years ago, when Bruno was still a student at the Kyambogo University fine art school. During that time, the talented painter and sculptor discovered that he wasn’t interested in just crafting artworks that would only satisfy his creative needs.

Instead, he wanted his art to have a positive impact on his community.

“When we are trying to achieve things in life we are self-centered, and as artists we tend to make work for ourselves,” explains Bruno, 30.

“I kind of felt a change within myself to think about others,” he adds. “From then on I could not only paint — I decided to work on work that was beneficial to my community.”

Driven by a desire to influence his surroundings, Bruno then became involved in eco-art projects, devising innovative ways to deal with Kampala’s acute waste management problem.

In 2010 he founded Eco Art Uganda, a collective of artists promoting environmental awareness by transforming anything from discarded bottles and cast-aside metal to broken TVs and computers into contemporary and functional pieces of art.

Read this: Specs ‘give trash a second chance’

“I was looking for materials that were not expensive and easily available,” says the soft-spoken artist, who hails from southwest Uganda.

“I really found that this trash and rubbish could actually become a really positive way of communicating to people,” adds Bruno, who’s won several accolades for his work, including the Ugandan Young Achievers award 2011.

Amusement park

In April last year, Bruno also won the $10,000 City 2.0 Award at the TEDx summit in Doha, Qatar, for his idea to create an amusement playground for children living in Kampala’s congested slums.

Using an array of recycled materials, Bruno went on to transform a school yard in Kampala’s Kireka community into a fun and safe place where children can play and learn.

The eco-park, which was completed last September, is dotted with whimsical structures attracting dozens of children each day — from a colorful helicopter and life-size board games made of bottles to recycled swings and climbing frames crafted from old tires.

Bruno says the entire community, which lacked a recreation facility, embraced the project wholeheartedly.

Read this: Boy’s flashy invention scares off lions

“I talked to the head of the school, and together with the parents and the students, they are the ones who collected the bottles,” says Bruno, who is also a lecturer in the department of Art Design at Kyambogo University.

“So we built the playground together as a team and they know how to repair it — this is very important in terms of sustainability.”

But more importantly, Bruno, who was orphaned at a young age, says the project has had a positive impact on the children.

“The attention of children in class has improved; the number of children who are dropping out [is falling] because now they have something to keep them busy there, ” he adds. “There is a really good progress and it has also helped them to express themselves in class.”

Legacy

Bruno says his goal is to recreate “as many as 100″ similar amusement parks in other parts of Uganda.

He is also using the prize money to grow an eco-artist loan scheme he’s developed, aimed at supporting the business endeavors of creative women in Kireka.

It’s all part of his continuous efforts to be an artist whose work will serve his community’s needs.

“I think a man will always be remembered by his work, “says Bruno. “I’m an advocate now of the environment; I’m an advocate for play for children; I’m an artist …who wants his work to have an effect on the people.”.

(CNN) — The parents of American Shane Todd, found hanging in his Singapore apartment last June, tell CNN they may exhume their son’s body to conduct an autopsy in the United States.

Todd’s mother Mary says an exhumation may be the only way to prove “for sure” the family’s contention that he was murdered.

The Todds walked out of the Singapore inquiry into their son’s death earlier this week, saying, “We’ve lost faith in the process” and Singapore’s inquiry process was “pre-determined” to conclude their son’s death was a suicide, and that police and investigators never considered evidence that may suggest Todd was murdered.

“We told the police at the very beginning. We talked to Shane every week for three months at least, all the way up to June when he passed away, (and he said) that he was in fear for his life,” Todd’s father Rick told CNN. “You would think they would look into it. But none of that happened.”

The inquiry into the death of Todd, found hanging in his Singapore apartment on June 24, comes after Singapore’s medical examiner concluded that Todd committed suicide. State attorneys said during the hearing that Todd’s laptop shows he accessed suicide-related web pages in the months before his death, with a search in March on how to tie a hangman’s noose. But Todd’s parents — who had flown from their home in Montana to attend the hearings — claimed there was evidence that his death was a homicide.

The Todds claim their son was murdered because of sensitive knowledge he had of a project using gallium nitride (GaN) between the Institute of Microelectronics (IME) — a Singapore government-backed research agency — and the Chinese telecom giant Huawei.

GaN is material that can withstand high temperatures and can be used in power amplifiers with a range of applications from light emitting displays to radar communications.

Documents found on Todd’s laptop after his death reportedly indicate IME may have had plans with Chinese telecom giant Huawei to co-develop an amplifier using GaN. Such a device could have both military as well as civilian uses. The 31-year-old Todd had been working for 18 months at IME when he decided to quit his job and return home to the United States shortly before his death.

Employees of IME have testified that there were several meetings held with Huawei, including a meeting with their senior level employees that Todd attended, but both IME and Huawei assert no project agreement was concluded, according to testimony.

Patrick Lo, deputy executive director of research at IME and Todd’s supervisor, testified that his agency does not conduct any classified military research.

The Todds say they have evidence to show their son had been instructed to hand copy a GaN “recipe” or formula from a U.S. vendor where Todd had been sent for training.

The family says he had been left alone in a room to hand copy formulas, and say evidence from Shane’s computer shows he had handwritten “highly sensitive recipes.”

Lo denied in court that he had instructed Todd to hand copy recipes and said hand copied recipes would be inaccurate and therefore “useless.”

The Todds stood up in the middle of the inquest proceedings Tuesday and walked out in objection to a witness they were unfamiliar with — a friend and former work colleague of their son’s who testified he’d had a beer with him the night before Todd was found hanging on June 24.

“We’re getting sprung stuff at the last moment,” Rick Todd said outside court. He said the state had given them no prior notice of the witness Frenchman Luis Alejandro Andro Montes.

The Todds said they had been “told from the beginning that this will be honest and open” and pointed out that their own lawyers had just hours before been chastised by Singapore’s judge Chay Yuen Fatt for introducing last-minute documents.

Singapore Senior Counsel Tai Wei Shyong referenced Montes in his May 13 opening statement and at that same time said the state would try to bring Montes in as a witness.

Just hours before, a key witness for the Todd family, American medical examiner Dr Edward Adelstein, retracted his original assertion that Shane Todd had been strangled by a cord and hanged. Testifying via video link, Adelstein agreed with other forensic pathologists in the case including two U.S. medical examiners, who reviewed the case at Singapore’s request, that there would need to be evidence of internal neck injuries if Todd had been “garroted.”

However, Adelstein continued to assert that Todd had been murdered and speculated that he had been killed and then hanged to make it look like suicide.

“I have to assume that people who know how to kill you can do it in a way that is difficult to detect,” Adelstein added.

He did not examine Todd’s body and came to his initial conclusions on the basis of photographs taken by the family just before the funeral and Singapore’s autopsy report.

His new opinions come after the family provided him with a series of photos obtained from Singapore police and forensic officials.

Questioned about the photos by a lawyer for the state, Adelstein admitted, “The cause of death is difficult for me to say.”

(CNN) — In this era of ever-accelerating technological development, we all tend to be so fixated on the gizmos of the future that we rarely take the time to think about the glorious technology of the past.

Fortunately, a treasure trove of rarities, oddities and tech “firsts” has been brought together — including an experimental 17th century mechanical calculator, a hundred-year-old telephone and an incredibly rare, headline-grabbing Apple 1 computer — to be sold at auction Saturday in Cologne, Germany.

Silent success of BLUMOTION hinge

Math whiz masters machine translation

Divine inspiration behind Post-it Notes

Read: Ex-cop builds robot from household goods

The Apple 1 was the first computer built by the California technology company. The computer was hand-assembled by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, who, according to legend, financed the device’s construction by selling his HP-65 calculator (co-founder Steve Jobs also sold his VW campervan).

Approximately 200 of the devices were made, of which fewer than 50 are thought to remain — and only six in working order.

Company founder Uwe Breker said the sale is “unique in presenting masterpieces from the spectrum of antique technology, from the 17th century to the 21st.”

Long before the current era of computers, the inventor Blaise Pascal designed a mechanical calculator in 1642 — regarded by many as the first decisive step toward modern microprocessors.

The “Pascaline” was operated with a stylus to turn digit-wheels. These wheels connected to a “display” on the top of the device which showed the result after each equation. A sliding rule could be shifted to change the function of the device from addition to subtraction. Multiplication and division were also possible (though very difficult to execute).

The Pascaline was a significant breakthrough at the time of its invention, demonstrating, as it did, how complex arithmetic could be carried out by a machine. Its introduction led to the development of mechanical calculators across Europe.

Only a handful of the original Pascaline machines still exist today — most of which are held in museums. At auction Saturday will be a 20th-century reproduction, valued between $30,000 and $50,000.

Read: How USB turned engineer into ‘rock star’

Alongside the Apple 1 and the Pascaline will be an original Apple Lisa, one of the earliest computers to feature a graphical interface and mouse — technologies which paved the way for desktop computing as we know it today. The Lisa was a commercial failure, in part due to its inordinately high price. Retailing at $10,000, it was significantly more expensive than rival IBM PCs.

Apple, for its part, owes much of its success to some of the early pioneering personal computers such as the SCELBI-8H — a kit computer which was released in 1973. Its 8-bit Intel microprocessor was incredibly powerful at the time (though only a tiny fraction of contemporary processor power).

Just 200 or so SCELBI-8Hs were made, making them quite valuable. The SCELBI-8H up for auction tomorrow is expected to go for $20,000 to $25,000.

As well as early artefacts from computing’s prehistory, the auction will feature a number of historical typewriters. A patent was lodged by Henry Mill for a typing device as early as 1714, but typewriters didn’t go into mass production until the 1860s. Today it is difficult to see them as anything but antiquated, yet the invention of typewriters caused a revolution in writing.

A range of early typewriters will be sold, including an extremely rare 1895 Ford typewriter with a filigree copper grille valued between $13,000 and $20,000, an 1879 Crandall with gold-gilt highlights and mother-of-pearl inlay, and a rather more functional-looking 1994 Crown, with an unusual keyless design, which is expected to fetch between $11,000 and $15,000.

Another “first” to go under the hammer is a portable copying press devised by the legendary English inventor of the steam-engine, James Watt. The laptop-sized invention allowed multiple copies of a document to be produced, something like a photocopier, with ink transferred from the original to moistened copying paper below via a pressure plate. The portable device was said to be a favourite of U.S. president Thomas Jefferson.

(CNN) — The parents of American Shane Todd, found hanging in his Singapore apartment last June, tell CNN they may exhume their son’s body to conduct an autopsy in the United States.

Todd’s mother Mary says an exhumation may be the only way to prove “for sure” the family’s contention that he was murdered.

The Todds walked out of the Singapore inquiry into their son’s death earlier this week, saying, “We’ve lost faith in the process” and Singapore’s inquiry process was “pre-determined” to conclude their son’s death was a suicide, and that police and investigators never considered evidence that may suggest Todd was murdered.

“We told the police at the very beginning. We talked to Shane every week for three months at least, all the way up to June when he passed away, (and he said) that he was in fear for his life,” Todd’s father Rick told CNN. “You would think they would look into it. But none of that happened.”

The inquiry into the death of Todd, found hanging in his Singapore apartment on June 24, comes after Singapore’s medical examiner concluded that Todd committed suicide. State attorneys said during the hearing that Todd’s laptop shows he accessed suicide-related web pages in the months before his death, with a search in March on how to tie a hangman’s noose. But Todd’s parents — who had flown from their home in Montana to attend the hearings — claimed there was evidence that his death was a homicide.

The Todds claim their son was murdered because of sensitive knowledge he had of a project using gallium nitride (GaN) between the Institute of Microelectronics (IME) — a Singapore government-backed research agency — and the Chinese telecom giant Huawei.

GaN is material that can withstand high temperatures and can be used in power amplifiers with a range of applications from light emitting displays to radar communications.

Documents found on Todd’s laptop after his death reportedly indicate IME may have had plans with Chinese telecom giant Huawei to co-develop an amplifier using GaN. Such a device could have both military as well as civilian uses. The 31-year-old Todd had been working for 18 months at IME when he decided to quit his job and return home to the United States shortly before his death.

Employees of IME have testified that there were several meetings held with Huawei, including a meeting with their senior level employees that Todd attended, but both IME and Huawei assert no project agreement was concluded, according to testimony.

Patrick Lo, deputy executive director of research at IME and Todd’s supervisor, testified that his agency does not conduct any classified military research.

The Todds say they have evidence to show their son had been instructed to hand copy a GaN “recipe” or formula from a U.S. vendor where Todd had been sent for training.

The family says he had been left alone in a room to hand copy formulas, and say evidence from Shane’s computer shows he had handwritten “highly sensitive recipes.”

Lo denied in court that he had instructed Todd to hand copy recipes and said hand copied recipes would be inaccurate and therefore “useless.”

The Todds stood up in the middle of the inquest proceedings Tuesday and walked out in objection to a witness they were unfamiliar with — a friend and former work colleague of their son’s who testified he’d had a beer with him the night before Todd was found hanging on June 24.

“We’re getting sprung stuff at the last moment,” Rick Todd said outside court. He said the state had given them no prior notice of the witness Frenchman Luis Alejandro Andro Montes.

The Todds said they had been “told from the beginning that this will be honest and open” and pointed out that their own lawyers had just hours before been chastised by Singapore’s judge Chay Yuen Fatt for introducing last-minute documents.

Singapore Senior Counsel Tai Wei Shyong referenced Montes in his May 13 opening statement and at that same time said the state would try to bring Montes in as a witness.

Just hours before, a key witness for the Todd family, American medical examiner Dr Edward Adelstein, retracted his original assertion that Shane Todd had been strangled by a cord and hanged. Testifying via video link, Adelstein agreed with other forensic pathologists in the case including two U.S. medical examiners, who reviewed the case at Singapore’s request, that there would need to be evidence of internal neck injuries if Todd had been “garroted.”

However, Adelstein continued to assert that Todd had been murdered and speculated that he had been killed and then hanged to make it look like suicide.

“I have to assume that people who know how to kill you can do it in a way that is difficult to detect,” Adelstein added.

He did not examine Todd’s body and came to his initial conclusions on the basis of photographs taken by the family just before the funeral and Singapore’s autopsy report.

His new opinions come after the family provided him with a series of photos obtained from Singapore police and forensic officials.

Questioned about the photos by a lawyer for the state, Adelstein admitted, “The cause of death is difficult for me to say.”

(CNN) — In this era of ever-accelerating technological development, we all tend to be so fixated on the gizmos of the future that we rarely take the time to think about the glorious technology of the past.

Fortunately, a treasure trove of rarities, oddities and tech “firsts” has been brought together — including an experimental 17th century mechanical calculator, a hundred-year-old telephone and an incredibly rare, headline-grabbing Apple 1 computer — to be sold at auction Saturday in Cologne, Germany.

Silent success of BLUMOTION hinge

Math whiz masters machine translation

Divine inspiration behind Post-it Notes

Read: Ex-cop builds robot from household goods

The Apple 1 was the first computer built by the California technology company. The computer was hand-assembled by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, who, according to legend, financed the device’s construction by selling his HP-65 calculator (co-founder Steve Jobs also sold his VW campervan).

Approximately 200 of the devices were made, of which fewer than 50 are thought to remain — and only six in working order.

Company founder Uwe Breker said the sale is “unique in presenting masterpieces from the spectrum of antique technology, from the 17th century to the 21st.”

Long before the current era of computers, the inventor Blaise Pascal designed a mechanical calculator in 1642 — regarded by many as the first decisive step toward modern microprocessors.

The “Pascaline” was operated with a stylus to turn digit-wheels. These wheels connected to a “display” on the top of the device which showed the result after each equation. A sliding rule could be shifted to change the function of the device from addition to subtraction. Multiplication and division were also possible (though very difficult to execute).

The Pascaline was a significant breakthrough at the time of its invention, demonstrating, as it did, how complex arithmetic could be carried out by a machine. Its introduction led to the development of mechanical calculators across Europe.

Only a handful of the original Pascaline machines still exist today — most of which are held in museums. At auction Saturday will be a 20th-century reproduction, valued between $30,000 and $50,000.

Read: How USB turned engineer into ‘rock star’

Alongside the Apple 1 and the Pascaline will be an original Apple Lisa, one of the earliest computers to feature a graphical interface and mouse — technologies which paved the way for desktop computing as we know it today. The Lisa was a commercial failure, in part due to its inordinately high price. Retailing at $10,000, it was significantly more expensive than rival IBM PCs.

Apple, for its part, owes much of its success to some of the early pioneering personal computers such as the SCELBI-8H — a kit computer which was released in 1973. Its 8-bit Intel microprocessor was incredibly powerful at the time (though only a tiny fraction of contemporary processor power).

Just 200 or so SCELBI-8Hs were made, making them quite valuable. The SCELBI-8H up for auction tomorrow is expected to go for $20,000 to $25,000.

As well as early artefacts from computing’s prehistory, the auction will feature a number of historical typewriters. A patent was lodged by Henry Mill for a typing device as early as 1714, but typewriters didn’t go into mass production until the 1860s. Today it is difficult to see them as anything but antiquated, yet the invention of typewriters caused a revolution in writing.

A range of early typewriters will be sold, including an extremely rare 1895 Ford typewriter with a filigree copper grille valued between $13,000 and $20,000, an 1879 Crandall with gold-gilt highlights and mother-of-pearl inlay, and a rather more functional-looking 1994 Crown, with an unusual keyless design, which is expected to fetch between $11,000 and $15,000.

Another “first” to go under the hammer is a portable copying press devised by the legendary English inventor of the steam-engine, James Watt. The laptop-sized invention allowed multiple copies of a document to be produced, something like a photocopier, with ink transferred from the original to moistened copying paper below via a pressure plate. The portable device was said to be a favourite of U.S. president Thomas Jefferson.