Stanford students took seriously their homework assignment in the fall of 2007: Devise an app. Get people to use it. The students ended up getting millions of users for free apps that they designed to run on Facebook. And, as advertising rolled in, some of those students started making far more money than their professors.
With the sluggish British economy, it's never been more difficult for young people to get a job. In fact for many graduates and teens, finding their way into employment can often feel like an impossible challenge rather than a right of passage. Despite research that suggests a 21% unemployment rate for this age group, there are still many ambitious young people who are creatively making their way in the world. Their persistence, initiative and success in times of such economic difficultly are doubly inspiring. Here are some of the top young entrepreneurs to look out for this year and the dynamic, forward thinking companies that have seen them make their fortune.
The Original OKRA Charity Saloon in downtown Houston operates a lot like other taverns. Booze is purchased and poured, bartenders get paid and take home tips. But the owners give all their profits away. Proceeds from OKRA's are donated to a different Houston-based organization each month. With every drink purchased, bar patrons vote on which charity is chosen from among four new nominees each month.
He watched the piles of feces go up the conveyer belt and drop into a large bin. A few minutes later, after a machine boiled and treated it, Bill Gates took a taste and proclaimed it, "Delicious -- as good as any I've had out of a bottle." The self-powering machine produces water and electricity (plus a little ash), and no nasty smell.
The House of Representatives last week managed a landslide victory for the little guy passing the Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act by a vote of 407-18. The bill would allow entrepreneurs to crowdfund. That means they could raise money over the Internet through relatively small donations from people they don't know.
A UCSD grad student has traded in his lab coat for an apron and sunglasses, disguising his identity and keeping his new cookie service a secret, to avoid criticism from friends and family. Now, the passionate cookie-maker is seeing his dream pay off -- and the secret cookie service is not so secret anymore.
This July, after an Oregon couple walk down the aisle, they will hit the open road on a unique journey from Portland, Ore., to Portland, Maine, taking a leap of faith with dozens of people they've never met. The leap? The new bride and groom will sit down to breakfast with strangers across America and select 50 of those breakfasts to highlight in a book, Breakfast with Strangers: 50 Meals across America.
Lady Gaga, criticized recently for gaining weight, launched a new Body Revolution project on her LittleMonsters website, hoping to help build confidence in people with body-image issues. The pop star revealed she has suffered from bulimia and anorexia since she was 15.
The Worldwide Photography Gala Awards announced the winners of their first Cell Phone Photo Contest. The call for entries attracted intimate family portraits, spontaneous street shots, and avant-garde imaginary that demonstrated the creativity of artists from 42 countries.
On May 7, 2000 the Irish Republican Army made its most groundbreaking pledge since its cease-fire six years ago: to put IRA arms beyond use and allow independent inspections of its hidden arsenals.
Transport for London, says the bright blue bike superhighways created in July have caused a huge surge in cycling along the two azure routes: 70% more people are biking to and from London compared to a year ago.
For first time-ever, electric vehicles will soon be able to travel the length of the UK using a network of free, solar-powered top-up charging stations located near motorways. Ecotricity, the company installing the network, says range anxiety has now been removed from the electric vehicle equation in the UK.
For first time-ever, electric vehicles will soon be able to travel the length of the UK using a network of free, solar-powered top-up charging stations located near motorways. According to Ecotricity, the company that installed the network, range anxiety has now been removed from the electric vehicle equation in the UK.
After decades of declining numbers, the world's fastest creature is populating Britain's cities once again. The peregrine falcon, which can travel at speeds of 200mph, is returning to Britain's cities in droves, with the highest number recorded in the capital for hundreds of years.
A raft of data Thursday show layoffs are trending down to a six-month low and factories in the Mid-Atlantic are growing again, raising hopes that it can end the year on an upward slope. Retail sales gains in Britain, meanwhile, surprised economists there.
A police inspector who banned his officers from hanging around their station during shifts was hailed as a 'bit of a hero' who proved it was possible 'to do more with less' in the face of budget cuts. The tough approach has led to a 67 percent percent reduction in crime between June and December 2011 compared to the same period in 2010.
London is using its plans for the 2012 Olympic games to revitalize neighborhoods, clean up a polluted industrial site and generate a large urban park with wetlands that will attract birds, otters and other wildlife, while leaving a legacy of sustainability for East Londoners.
London's homicide rate has fallen steadily over the last decade, dropping 47 percent since 2003. Figures from the Metropolitan Police showed 117 murders recorded in the capital last year, down from 222 in the year 2011.
Wake Up London is becoming well-known for organizing meditation flash mobs in Central London. Celebrating their Buddhist teacher's return to London this week, hundreds will join them for a 'Sit In Peace' meditation led by Thich Nhat Hanh, the renowned Zen master, author, and human rights activist on the open grounds of Trafalgar Square on Saturday March 31.
In the UK, the world's second oldest animal welfare organization said it was shocked by the scale of organized badger persecution it has uncovered in Northern Ireland. But now, operatives working for the USPCA are using an aerial drone with a camera onboard to film gangs, and chase them away, as they prepare to attack badgers.