Hasta La Gadget!

NEW YORK — If all goes according to plan, Grand Canyon University’s teams will play in a Division I athletics conference and its campus will maintain a hub of academic research. But it won’t be easy for the Phoenix-based for-profit college, as its entire industry is under heavy scrutiny from the Obama administration and members of Congress, and since GCU was singled out in a U.S. Senate report just a few months ago.

A Senate investigation lead by Iowa Democrat Tom Harkin, chair of the Education, Labor and Pension committee, revealed that students at for-profit schools take out higher-than-average student debt loads, have a poor job placement record and most of them fail to graduate — but the schools collected $32 billion in taxpayer dollars last year alone. Grand Canyon was one of the schools profiled, and the school was shown to have a significant growth in profits, correlating with a rise in enrollment over the past decade. However, GCU had a very low completion rate and spent more per student on marketing than on academics in 2009.

Brian Mueller, CEO and director of Grand Canyon University, who came on board in mid-2008, insists the report doesn’t reflect the reality under the school’s current leadership. But Mueller also isn’t trying to block all the regulations that are being proposed to remedy the issues found in the Senate report.

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Most of us would like our phones to run on a lean and mean manner – and this would mean having as little bloatware as possible, especially when your device is tied down to a carrier with a 2-year contract. Well, most of the apps would not come across as something that you need, but for sure there is no denying the fact that Bing Translator on Windows Phone 8 would come across as pretty useful. While the app itself rolled out on Windows Phone 7 a while ago, it was one of the more popular apps due to its slick operation and advanced features, and has carried a similar reputation with the new update to play nice with Windows Phone 8 devices.

This new version allows you to initiate the augmented translation mode through the use of the new lenses feature. Not only do you have options to translate text by using just the keyboard input, but you can also speak straight into the app itself, receiving speech to text translation. Apart from that, you can download full offline translation packs for the following languages – Simplified Chinese, English, French, German and Italian, making them ideal to have on your device before you step on that plane. It will also help you save a chunk of dough off data roaming fees, too.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Meizu MX2 Is Now Official, Nokia Lumia 920 Has Double The Galaxy S3’s Backlog,

Brad Pitt has never been one to shy away from voicing his socially progressive ideals for society, including his support for gay marriage and the legalization of marijuana. In a recent interview, the actor explained that equality is what “defines us” and fleshed out the problem of linking pot legalization to same-sex marriage.

Pitt sat down with MTV News while promoting his upcoming film “Killing Them Softly.” During the interview, he discussed these personal beliefs.

“Equality, absolutely. That’s what defines us. It’s what makes us great,” Pitt said about his support of gay marriage. “Listen, if it doesn’t sit well in your religion, let your God sort it out in the end. But that’s us, we’re equal.”

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About a month ago, we told you about a new initiative from a start-up company called Memoto that aimed to bring their new Lifelogging Camera to the masses with the hopes of raising money on Kickstarter. The company’s goal was $50,000, but they ended up raising over $500,000 so far, with a little over two days left to go.

The Swedish start up announced today that it surpassed $500,000 in donations from over 2,700 backers so far. They actually ended up reaching their $50,000 goal in just five hours, and have already met two stretch goals, with a third stretch goal currently being worked on. The company wants to raise $700,000 in order to bring “some really nice” hardware add-ons to the Lifelogging Camera. This includes a WiFi dock, waterproof case, and a wide-angle lens.

The Memoto Lifelogging camera is about the size of a postage stamp, and it’s an “intelligent micro-device” that captures every moment of your life in photos. Obviously, the camera will take tons of photos over the course of a period of time, so the archives can be easily searched, shared, and revisited using Memoto’s web service and mobile app.

The camera connects to your clothing using a small metal clip on the back, and you can grab one right now for $249 if you hurry — the early-bird special of $199 is already sold out. After that, the price will shoot up to the full $279, and will be available in April 2013, but early backers will receive their units a couple months early.

Memoto Lifelogging Camera shatters original Kickstarter goal is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
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A new gym in U.K. is ingenious enough to convert workouts into electrical power. The gym is located in a city park in Hull, England and so far it has generated over 40,000 watt hours or 40 kilowatts. The gym is made by The Great Outdoor Gym Company, a company that has already installed more than 350 public gyms in the U.K. And because the local councils are paying for the gym, it’s free to use as long as you are a local resident. According to the company, this is their first time for them to build a gym that can convert human energy into electricity.

For now, the gym is only supplying power to its own lighting system. The end goal will be to one day supply surplus energy into the national grid. Georgie Delaney, Ceative Drector at The Great Outdoor Gym Company, says that the prototype gym costs $100,000 to install. Although it’s a bit expensive, Delaney adds that they are also working on a cheaper $32,000 model which can re-charge mobile phones and tablets. “We truly believe that in the western world we consume too much energy both in terms of food and electricity. What we’re trying to do with the green energy gyms is give councils and communities a tool, with a facility like this, so people can actually offset their consumption of both food and electricity,” Delaney said.

Image Courtesy of CNN.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Clip apartment generates own energy and uses recycled waste water, IBM, Honda and PG&E Create Smart Charging System for Electric Cars,