For a little less than a $6 bill, a waitress received $446 tip at the Steak ‘n Shake restaurant in Indianapolis on Wednesday, May 15, 2013.

Cece Bruce was “amazed” that one of her regular customers, whom they call Miss Jo, handed her the huge tip. According to Bruce, Miss Jo‘s bill is only worth $5.97. Bruce explained that previously, the usual tip she received from Miss Jo is half of her bill.

Bruce is reportedly a full-time student at the Martin University and has been working in the restaurant chain for two years. She said that what happened “restores your faith in humanity, makes you trust people, and shows you can never judge a book by its cover. You’ve got to treat everybody the same. I try to be friendly to everyone.”

In an interview with TODAY.com, Bruce said that Miss Jo “always tips me 50 percent of her bill, but her bill is usually only $5 and she leaves a $5 tip. She’s a very nice lady.” Bruce tried to return the tip, but the customer insisted on giving her the money.

The Steak ‘n Shake manager, Greer Gooley explained that he “was in the back on a food order, and Miss Jo wrote out the bill and then she ran out the door really quick. (Bruce) ran into the parking lot to thank her, and she just told her to take it and then spun off. (Bruce) is extremely deserving of that money. She works hard, and she will come in whenever you need her. She has more regulars than any of our other servers.”

The Beatles album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, was sold for $290,500 to an anonymous bidder at a Dallas auction on Saturday, March 30, 2013. The $290,500 album was one of several items on sale at the Heritage Auctions that also include other entertainment and music memorabilia.

All four members of the Beatles band had an autographed on the rare 1967 copy of the album. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr signed the album above their image.

Prior to the sale, Heritage Auctions listed the memorabilia at $30,000.

A letter of authenticity was published at the Heritage Auctions official website to prove that iconic album was really issued in 1967, the same year the record was released.

Perry Cox, a Beatles expert described the 1967 album as “extraordinarily special.” According to him,

I consider this to be one of the top two items of Beatles memorabilia I’ve ever seen — the other being a signed copy of ‘Meet the Beatles’ [the band's second album released in the U.S.].

The Beatles
Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Sgt. Pepper is the Beatles eighth album and contained songs such as “With a Little Help from My Friends“, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds“, and “A Day in the Life“.

“This t-shirt, to be fair, is made out of crocodile, hence its price. Literally, the entire shirt is just luxurious, beautifully sewn swaths of crocodile. This makes it possibly rather uncomfortable, and perhaps a little heavy, for a t-shirt. Seems like you might feel a little clammy in it?” A statement reads at TheAwl.com.

Nevertheless, the report noted that buyers of that luxurious Hermes T-shirt would still pay another $8,000 sales tax, which means a nice-looking man will be wearing a nearly $100,000 T-shirt. However, he may want to imagine first how people will react, if they will know that it is made of crocodile.

Meanwhile, The Awl said they could not take photos of the $91,500 Hermes T-shirt hanging inside the store due to a very strict no-photo policy. However, the photo of the price tag says it belongs to a Tee Shirt Crocodile Light, which matches the one the male model is wearing in a photo posted at Fashionista.com.

According to Fashionista on the same day, a Hermes associate told them that chiffon crocodile shirts, which were a lot of them in their store, has a price range of $60,000-$100,000 per piece. But for the “short sleeve crewneck” version, which was found at Madison Avenue store now costs “around $90,000.”

$91500 Hermes T-shirt price tag (Left), and male model wearing Hermes T-shirt made from crocodile skin
Image Credit: TheAwl.com and Imaxtree via Fashionista

A 1796 Napoleon Bonaparte and Josephine engagement ring was sold close to $1 million during an Osenat auction in Fontainebleau, France on Sunday, March 24, 2013. The auction of the gold ring was made in celebration of Josephine‘s 250th birth anniversary.

An anonymous bidder reportedly made a $948,000 final offer just before the hammer fell. The winning bid, which is way off the earlier estimate of $20,000, excludes commission and other fees.

Reports say that the 18th century ring has two pear-shaped gems, a blue sapphire and a diamond. The two tear-shaped stones, each weighing almost a carat, were placed in parallel but points in opposite directions.

Auction experts say that the cost of the ring went up too high due to its historical significance rather than the real worth of the jewelry.

Emily Villane of the Osenat auction house was very surprised about the outcome of the auction. She explained that “In my wildest dreams, I did not think we would outsell the estimate by more than 47 times. We based the estimates in our catalog on the actual market value of the ring, minus Napoleon and Josephine provenance. It is not our job to tell bidders how much they should pay for the historical premium.”

The 32-year-old Josephine was reportedly married to a younger Napoleon on March 9, 1796.

Sunday’s event at the Osenat auction house features the “Collection of Prince Victor Napoleon and Princess Clementine of Belgium.” It was personally attended by over 300 guests with 50 others followed the bidding over the phone.

Villane further explained that the event “was 15 minutes of relentless bidding. We opened at 10,000 euros, I raised it to 50,000 euros. From then on it was going up by 10,000. When the hammer went down at 730,000 euros there was a huge applause.“

Actress Tilda Swinton sleeps in a box during a public show at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York on Saturday, March 23, 2013.

The Swinton glass box act is part of an “art performance piece” by the Scottish actress entitled “The Maybe.” MoMA staff say that she will be inside the glass for the whole day. They explained that “Museum staff doesn’t know she’s coming until the day of, but she’s here today. She’ll be there the whole day. All that’s in the box is cushions and a water jug.”

Obviously, Swinton decided to take her day’s nap inside the glass box.

Swinton is known for her unconventional ways of expressing art that include her latest MoMA project.

Several museum guests curiously watched Swinton while she was sleeping in the glass box placed in the middle of MoMA. Reports say that the location of the glass box will be randomly transferred in other areas of the museum.

This will be Swinton‘s third performance of “The Maybe.” Her previous acts were made at London‘s Serpentine Gallery in 1995, and another one in Rome.

Canon EOS Rebel SL1, worlds smallest DSLR camera
Image Credit: USA.Canon.com

According to a press release at USA.Canon.com, the Canon EOS Rebel SL1 camera was designed to be an ideal camera for sightseeing or to capture everyday life, considering its small size and light weight. Its DIGIC 5 Image Processor allows users to capture photos with shooting speed up to four frames per second (fps).

“The EOS Rebel SL1 Digital SLR Camera represents a new era in DSLR versatility: ultra-portable, full-featured DSLR cameras.” Yuichi Ishizuka, executive vice president and general manager, Imaging Technologies & Communications Group, Canon USA, was quoted in the announcement.

“The EOS Rebel SL1 combines the high speed, high image quality, and expanded shooting range of a DSLR camera, with the easy and fun usability of a point-and-shoot camera.” Ishizuka added. This new Canon camera is approximately 25% smaller and 28% lighter than the EOS Rebel T4i digital camera.

Among the key features of EOS Rebel SL1 include having a new 9-point center cross-type autofocus (AF) system to help achieve fast and sharp focus; Movie Servo AF, which provides continuous AF tracking of moving subjects; and Scene Intelligent Auto Mode, which detects faces, colors, brightness, movement, among others.

In addition, its Touch Screen 3-inch Clear View LCD monitor II aims to provide a rich and expansive display, as well as providing intuitive touch panel operation. Zooming or changing images, accessing menu, and other major functions can be accessed using two-finger touch gestures (multi-touch).

The new Canon EOS Rebel SL1 Digital SLR Camera is set for release in the US this April with an estimated retail price of $649.99 for the camera alone, or $799.99 bundled with the new EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM kit lens. The complete list of product specifications is available at www.usa.canon.com/eos.

A 600-year-old coin was found in Kenya, as announced by the Field Museum in Chicago on Wednesday, March 13, 2013. The rare 600-year-old coin, made of copper and silver, was also known as “Yongle Tongbao“.

Scientists from the Sloan Williams museum of the University of Illinois unearthed the 600-year-old coin on the island of Manda in Kenya. The group of Illinois researchers, led by Chapurukha Kusimba, was joined by other scientists from Kenya, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Kusimba is reportedly the museum’s curator of African Anthropology.

In a statement, Kusimba explained that if “it turns out to be fake it is still extremely exciting. It speaks to the competition going on between merchants, the kind of competition that is still visible today.”

The center of the coin has a square hole for the purpose of wearing it on a belt.

Researchers say that the old coin was issued to Emperor Yongle of China since his name appeared on it. The emperor ruled from 1403 to 1425 during the Ming Dynasty.

Other items discovered by the joint exploration include human remains and other artifacts.

The recent coin discovery revealed the centuries old trade between China and eastern Africa.

The world record for the longest female legs belongs to Russian Svetlana Pankratova, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Her long legs reportedly measure about four feet and four inches.

Pankratova, a former Russian and Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) basketball player, is now an assistant coach for the George Mason High School girls basketball team. Her team reportedly won three of the last four state championships in Virginia A-Division 2, but lost in the semifinals on Friday, March 8.

Reports say that the six-foot-five-inch former hoopster, holds the VCU women’s season and career record in blocked shots.

She is reportedly married to Jack Gosnell and currently resides at Falls Church in Northern Virginia.

The 41-year-old Pankratova, was featured in the 2009 edition of the Guinness Book. Record officials reportedly took six years to document her world record legs.

Svetlana Pankratova poses her world record legs.
Credit: Guinness World Records

Huawei Ascend P2 4G LTE smartphone
Image Credit: Huawei.com

According to a press release at Huawei.com that day, the Ascend P2 smartphone, which runs on Android 4.1 operating system, sports a 1.5 GHz quad-core processor and has memory capacity of 1GB RAM and . 16GB ROM. It measures 136.2 mm x 66.7 mm x 8.4 mm; and weighs about 122 grams.

Among the other key features of this so-called world’s fastest smartphone include a 13 MP BSI rear-facing camera with HDR, a 1.3 MP CMOS sensor front-facing camera, and a 4.7-inch IPS HD in-cell touch display with second-generation Corning Gorilla Glass, with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels.

“Ascend P2 is the perfect combination of elegance and power, and further proof that there’s no need to compromise when desiring a perfect smartphone. It is evidence of the outstanding smartphone experiences and great technology that we are committed to bringing to consumers globally,” Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group, was quoted in the report.

“We’re pleased to be working with Huawei again to enable our customers to have easier and faster access to all their favorite content. We are impressed by the design and look forward to putting the Ascend P2 into the hands of consumers as soon as possible.” Yves Maitre, Senior Vice President, Mobile Multimedia & Devices, Orange, said.

This Huawei Ascend P2 smartphone, which will be available in black and white, will be on sale in France through Orange in June 2013 and worldwide around the second quarter of 2013. No price was mentioned in the announcement.

Worlds fastest smartphone Huawei Ascend P2 ad
Image Credit: Huawei.com

World’s first car backflip (showing car movement)
Image Credit: Guerlain Chicherit Facebook

As noted in the press release by BMW Group on Sunday, February 17, 2013, Guerlain Chicherit used the Mini Countryman John Cooper Works SUV, which was modified in order to fit the jaw-dropping stunt. The 4-time freestyle skiing world champion used an ideal ramp breakover angle to bring the vehicle upwards.

According to BMW, this is the world’s first car backflip without the aid of a special ramp with moving elements to improve the rotational movement of the car. The same stunt was previously been attempted by other drivers but this is the first time that the driver was able to make a perfect landing.

“When you attempt something nobody has ever achieved before, the stress is really high but the only way is to just try it. It wasn’t the craziest thing I’ve ever done but for sure it’s in the top three. It was sick – I just want to do it again.” Guerlain Chicherit was quoted at Daily Mail after that amazing stunt.

“Before the jump it was crazy. I was alone in the car before the start and I just had to do it, everything was ready. I had to arrive at 60kph (37mph) and be full throttle in the kicker to get the right rotation.” Chicherit, 34, added, noting that it took him four years to practice for that car backflip jump.

To achieve this, Chicherit should drive the Mini John Cooper towards a 25-feet high ramp and make it jump into air up to 75 feet. And amazingly, he performed that breathtaking act twice. First, in front of a private audience, just in case something goes wrong. And on Sunday night, he did it again in front of a huge crowd.