Microsoft is doing its part to assist their efforts through the Technology for Good program. As part of this initiative, the company will be donating Office 365  including Office applications, e-mail, calendar, HD video conferencing, and collaboration tools, to non-profits worldwide.

The new program recently kicked off in 41 countries and will be offered in 90 countries by July 2014. There is already an array of nonprofits using Office 365 including the Boys & Girls Club of America and PATH, and now more can get it for free. 

Office 365 will help organizations streamline IT needs with access to the cloud, where staff can view calendars, hold meetings and share documents. Office 365 means access is everywhere – nonprofits with multiple locations are connected with ease whether at home, at work or on location.  

Nonprofits of all sizes are welcome to apply for the program. Watch the video here to learn more and don’t forget to pass it on to your favorite nonprofit group.

Recently, Bing launched it’s first-ever Bing Hometown Homepage Contest, where anyone with a camera could submit a photo to be used as the background of the new Bing Homepage.

After several weeks and thousands of breathtaking submissions, the top 10 finalists have been chosen and now it’s your turn to get in on the action. Just “Like” the Bing Homepage Photo app on Facebook and vote today.  The finalists hail from Illinois, New York, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, North Carolina, and Virginia. 

In addition to their photo being displayed October 1 on the Bing Homepage, one of the 10 finalists will win several prizes, as well as having the Bing team visit their hometown for a day of service with the local Nature Conservancy.

Public voting ends September 20^th, so don’t wait. Visit the app now to vote for the photo that best captures your heart, or the heart of your favorite city.

• How many students have participated in the Microsoft Imagine Cup competition?
• How many photos have been stored on SkyDrive to date?
• How many pizza slices are consumed in the Microsoft cafeteria every year?

Give up? You can find the answers to these questions and more on the new Microsoft by the Numbers website. The hub features a Windows 8 style interface with interactive live tiles detailing the numbers behind some of your favorite Microsoft products, campaigns and features.

The tiles are updated frequently with new statistics, making the site a great destination for fun facts about Microsoft. The simple format is eye-catching, easy to navigate and designed for everyone from students and employees to media and customers.

Still wondering how your latest vacation photos measure up against the total number of photos added to Skydrive? You’ll just have to visit Microsoft by the Numbers to find out. Once you’ve had a chance to find the answers, we encourage you to share your thoughts in the comment section below.

For those in need of a getaway, there is a great, easy-to-use product that will help with planning a final summer vacation.  Microsoft OneNote helps organize links, maps, travel arrangements and documents in one location so nothing gets lost and no attraction gets missed. So, when a quick search on Bing turns up a list of must-see places - like the famous local rib joint or tucked away beach, you can keep track of all the details with ease.

Best of all, OneNote travels with you through a handy app that’s available on the most popular smartphones. Dreaming of a camping trip where there’s no phone service or Wi-fi? No problem. OneNote lets you access all your maps, notes and other important details without the need for smoke signals. Or, if you're using a browser, just open the OneNote Web App to find your vacation hot spots in an instant.

And if you’re booking a trip with friends out-of-state, don’t worry. All your notes are automatically saved online on SkyDrive, so you can send your friends a single, private link to access the latest trip details.

After the trip of a lifetime you can insert pictures, videos and highlights right into your notes. With OneNote, who needs a travel agent? For more information on OneNote, be sure to visit here.

To learn more about the risks of pirated software and to view the full infographic, please read the original blog post here.

Michael Thomas, a CRM customer success manager at Microsoft, will be participating on the panel, and is well known within in the industry for his understanding of CRM and social CRM strategies. Other panelists include Aidoo Osei, Firethorn Mobile and Ken Wyckoff, Stratix.

Together, the panelists will provide audience members with an understanding of how CRM tools and strategies can streamline the lead generation and sales process. After attending the event, attendees will understand how to execute a CRM strategy, the best way to deploy the solution and how to choose the right fit and pricing levels.

The event is on Wednesday, May 15 from 7:30 – 9 a.m., located at Aixall Corporation (map).

Admission is free for members and $20 for non-members. Register to attend the event here.

Governor Nathan Deal issued a proclamation that designated Georgia STEM Day with the purpose of promoting STEM education and careers to K-12 students to help Georgia meet the growing demands of an increasingly technical marketplace.

 Microsoft is excited to continue spreading the awareness of STEM in conjunction with its YouthSpark program.

Each of the top teams will pitch their business to investors, as well as members of the press and the startup community. Prizes will be presented to the best teams in the categories of Games, Innovation and World Citizenship.

The list of finalists include:

Lost Spectrum, University of Houston/ University of Texas

Chroma Tales: The team developed a fast-paced 2D action game on Windows Phone 8 where each level lasts approximately five seconds. Each player’s mission is to restore color to the world.

Kinect PT, University of Virginia

Vitrunetics: The team built an application that allows doctors to administer and receive real-time feedback on physical therapy exercises that are performed by patients at home using Microsoft’s Xbox with Kinect.

Team DePauwsome, DePauw University

WeAssist: The team developed a Windows Phone 8 app that allows a user to share their location and share a message in an emergency. WeAssist also has an optional location tracking service called WeFind, which runs in the background and uploads the user’s location history to the cloud.

Team SwagFace, Rice University

FaceFun: The team developed an innovative facial recognition game for Windows Phone 8, where players mimic amusing, famous and funny faces using their smartphone and win points.

Team Poli`ahu, University of Hawaii at Hilo

Help Me Help: The team developed an application that aides the community in times of need by utilizing the smartphone’s camera and location capabilities to get images and locations of hazards as they are introduced.

The Miracle Workers, Harvard University/ Winona State University

Cloud Monitor: The team developed a baby monitor app for Windows Phone 8 that tracks respiration, heartbeat and body movement of an infant. In case of an emergency, the application sends an alert to parents on their smartphone. Parents are also
able to check the live streaming of baby's vital signs in on their phone.

Gigaloth, University of Colorado

Produce Wars: The team developed an "Angry Birds" style physics game evolved with dynamic platform and puzzle elements for young children.

Project SAM, University of Chicago

Project SAM: The team developed a mobile application that streamlines a health clinic’s inventory and provides real-time updates to suppliers via text.

Pitch, Boston University

Pitch: Using Windows 8 and a Windows Azure backend server, the team created an account-less yet secure system for creating meetings, in which documents of any file type can be quickly and easily shared with all meeting members.

Skyline Studios, University of Houston

Zipline Hero: The team developed a puzzle-action platform game where the player uses the touch screen input to rescue animals.

The team that will represent the U.S. at the Worldwide finals in St. Petersburg, Russia July 8-11, will also be unveiled at the U.S. Finals.

Please continue to follow the U.S. Imagine Cup finalists via the official Facebook page, which will include live streaming throughout the competition.

Today, Microsoft Atlanta, along with Morehouse College, is hosting a YouthSpark Connections event in Atlanta. I am excited to take part in the conversation with prominent leaders from education, government and civic community to discuss new research by the Brookings Institution on the youth opportunity gap in Atlanta – and more importantly, what we can do about it.

The new Brookings research is arresting--one in four 16 to 24 year olds are not in school and have no more than a high school diploma. Of that group, nearly half are also unemployed – more than 80,000 young people in total.

With this research in mind, leaders from Microsoft and national non-profits such as Year Up and Youth Village, along with leaders from Georgia State Schools, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Atlanta City Council, will share ideas and provide examples about how they are addressing challenges facing Atlanta’s young people.

The findings show that we must expose young people to math, science, and technology to prepare them for the future and bridge this opportunity gap. To address this gap, we unveiled our YouthSpark initiative--a commitment to create 50 million opportunities for young people in the U.S. And I am even
more pleased to announce what this means for our community in particular:

• Microsoft YouthSpark is a companywide initiative to create opportunities for 300 million youth worldwide, including 50 million young people in the United States
• Microsoft donated more than $8.2 million in software and other donations in Atlanta in 2012
• Also in 2012, Microsoft employees in Georgia volunteered 2,818 hours
• In Atlanta, Microsoft has served 830 nonprofits with our programs
• Microsoft’s YouthSpark partners in Georgia include:
  • Boys and Girls Club of America
  • Year Up
  • Youth Village
  • Toys for Tots
  • North Fulton Community Charities Food Drive

And we’re not done there. Today we announced a new education alliance agreement with Morehouse College. This alliance will give Morehouse students access to new technology, mentorship, career opportunities, and new experiences, ones they cannot get in the classroom. 

In addition to this new alliance, we unveiled a $7.5 million donation in software and technology to Youth Villages, one of the leading non-profits focused on bettering the lives of foster children. With a major campus in the Atlanta area, and others in North Carolina, New Mexico, Oregon, Massachusetts, and West Virginia, Youth Villages is uniquely positioned to help foster children get the technology training they need to be successful in school and in the job market.

I look forward to hearing what our panel shares about their experiences with the youth opportunity divide and the strides we all are making to bridge the gap. For the YouthSpark panel discussion, we will be hosting:

• Lenny Springs, US Department of Education, Senior Advisor, Federal Student Aid
• Dr. John Barge, Georgia State School Superintendent
• Wes Moore, Youth Advocate and Author
• LaDarrius White, Morehouse College, Senior
• Lindsey Craft, Strategic Accounts Manager, Microsoft Education

Through my work as a board member on several youth and educational nonprofit organizations in the Atlanta area, I have witnessed firsthand the impact these programs have on our children. There are so many amazing organizations and tools for students to be a part of. You can learn more and get involved here.

With MLB.TV on Windows 8, MLB.TV Premium subscribers have access to every out-of-market MLB game LIVE or on demand in HD. Subscribers can watch either the home or away broadcast feed as well as several different audio-only streams of games.  You can view player stats and match-ups from MLB.com and get the latest scores from games delivered right to your Start screen via live tile! Not an MLB.TV Premium subscriber? Don’t worry, you can still enjoy all the latest game scores and watch the MLB.TV Free Game of the Day.

Be sure to download MLB.TV on Windows 8 today from the Windows Store today!