Tag Archives: the atlantic

From Town Hall Forums to Xbox LIVE, Microsoft Focuses on Involving Young People in the Political Process for 2012 U.S. Presidential Election

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Company’s latest efforts are part of an ongoing initiative to close the “opportunity divide” facing the next generation.

REDMOND, Wash. — August 23, 2012 — In the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, young people emerged as a force to be reckoned with. They canvassed neighborhoods, worked phone banks and, on Election Day itself, streamed to the polls in numbers eclipsed only by the 1972 election. But in 2012 it appears young people may be less engaged in the political process, even though the issues at the forefront — jobs, education, student loan debt — are ones that affect them directly.

Charles Hauser has heard all this firsthand. A student at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, N.C., he admits he doesn’t think his peers are as involved politically as they could be. “I have heard some young people say they don’t feel their votes count,” he says. “I also feel it is harder to be actively involved when there is so much turmoil economically.” (more…)

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Report Captures Picture of Global Opportunity Divide for Largest Youth Population in History

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*Youths echo findings from International Youth Foundation report, which urges actions to help young people succeed.*

REDMOND, Wash. — March 27, 2012 — The numbers are staggering: Our planet has the largest youth population ever, with more than 1 billion people aged 15 to 24, and the figure is racing to 1.5 billion by 2035, according to “Opportunity for Action,” a new report being released today from the International Youth Foundation (IYF). The report shows that while some youths are succeeding, millions of others are not because they don’t have access to the necessary education, skills and opportunities.

Microsoft commissioned the “Opportunity for Action” report to bring attention to the urgency of the global youth opportunity divide — the gap between those who have access to a good education and the technology, skills and connections to be successful, and those who do not. No region of the world escapes the unsettling picture captured by the report. In Brazil, approximately 40 percent of firms have difficulty finding qualified staff to fill job vacancies due to low-quality education. In Asia, 70 percent of working youths are engaged in the agricultural sector, where jobs are seasonal and offer no protections or access to safety nets. And in sub-Saharan Africa, youths are grossly under-employed, leaving 72 percent of young people living on less than two dollars per day. (more…)

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Newspapers and Magazines Coming to Amazon’s Buy Once, Read Everywhere Kindle Apps – Starting with Kindle for Android

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*All of the features customers love about Kindle newspapers and magazines coming to Kindle for Android, including convenience of automatic overnight delivery of subscriptions, buy once and read across multiple devices and platforms, full text search and instant Wikipedia and dictionary lookup*

SEATTLE, Dec 17, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Amazon today announced that Kindle for Android is the first Kindle app to receive an update that enables users to buy, read, and sync over 100 Kindle newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Newsweek, The Atlantic, and many more. Kindle for Android users can now buy a single issue or subscribe to the most popular newspapers and magazines, have them automatically delivered to their Android-powered device, and enjoy a full color reading experience optimized for the touch interface of Android-powered devices. Additional new features include the ability to seamlessly buy and download Kindle books and periodicals within the Kindle for Android app, share reading progress via social networks, and zoom closer to images and other graphics. Kindle for Android is the first major e-book app to offer periodicals on the Android platform. The new Kindle for Android app is available from Android Market. Customers who have already downloaded Kindle for Android will receive the update automatically. Learn more about Kindle for Android at www.amazon.com/kindleforandroid. (more…)

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