Jon Faronea

"Skydiving from 14,000 feet up in the air when you're deathly afraid of heights. YOLO!"

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We try to embrace the spirit of YOLO every day here at Mashable. The acronym for "You Only Live Once" has come a long way since rapper Drake claimed it as his "Motto" in 2011. But love it or hate it, YOLO is here to stay (especially in hashtag form).

This week for the Mashable Photo Challenge, we asked our community to submit photos of their top #YOLO moments. We received many fantastic submissions -- Mashable readers showed us how they indulge everything from their senses of adventure to their taste buds.

SEE ALSO: White After Labor Day? 22 Photos From Mashable Readers

Above you can find 10 of our favorite responses to the question: How do you YOLO? And make sure to check back for…
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More About: Mashable Photo Challenge, Photos, YOLO, community, photography

Microsoft will be giving its employees a new Surface RT tablet, a new Windows PC, and a Windows Phone 8 device, company chief Steve Ballmer revealed at Microsoft's annual employee meeting in Seattle Thursday.

Microsoft has more than 90,000 full-time employees, and they should be receiving the tablet and the phone by late December. As far as the PC goes, employees will have the possibility to choose between a desktop, laptop, ultrabook and tablet.

The meeting was not open to the public, but some employees shared the good news on social networks such as Twitter. Some even compared Steve Ballmer to Oprah, who is known for giving away presents to its studio audience.

Great Mic…
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More About: Steve Ballmer, giveaway, microsoft, surface, windows phone

Along with the iPhone 5, Apple announced a new version of iTunes on Wednesday. The next-generation of the music software adds a number of new features that make the application both easier to use and more social.

"We created iTunes because we love music and we're going back to our roots with an incredibly clean design that keeps your music at the forefront," said Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services in a press release announcing the updated version of the application.

SEE ALSO: Apple Adds Facebook Integration Into iTunes, Effectively Kills Ping

iTunes 11 is set to launch in October –- potentially alongside a yet-to-be-announced iPad…
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More About: apple, iTunes 11, itunes, trending

Like a politician on the campaign trail, Saturday Night Live wants change for season 38, which starts Sept. 15 with host Seth MacFarlane and musical guest Frank Ocean.

To shake things up, SNL revealed this week to The New York Times that Jay Pharoah -- not the usual Fred Armisen -- will impersonate U.S. President Barack Obama.

Let's commemorate the switch with the following seven SNL clips of presidential impersonators played by Will Ferrell, Dana Carvey, Darrell Hammond and other funnymen.

SEE ALSO: SNL's 100th Digital Short Packs in Stars and Raunch [VIDEO]

Who is your favorite SNL president? Tell us in the comments.

Barack Obama

George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush…
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More About: Comey, Entertainment, TV, Video, humor, saturday night live

Mashable is thrilled to announce that Tim Pool, Occupy Wall Street broadcaster and nominee to TIME's 100 most influential people in the world, will join the 2012 Social Good Summit to discuss how new technology can advance citizen journalism. Limited tickets are still available, so make sure to purchase yours today!

At this year's Social Good Summit, Pool will highlight the rise of citizen journalism through social media, how it has empowered people around the word to participate in digital activism. Additionally, he will share his own experience broadcasting Occupy Wall Street, where Pool was regarded as a central voice in the movement.

Pool will join world leaders, dig…
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More About: Social Good, Social Media, event, ows, social good summit

Vintage vehicles emblazoned with a Boardwalk Empire-inspired hashtag are roaming New York City streets as part of a partnership between premium cable TV network HBO and on-demand car service Uber.

Through its mobile app, Uber is offering free rides Thursday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET in the 1920s-era vehicles, which include a Rolls Royce, Bentley and Cadillac.

Each car, plastered with #BoardwalkRide, touts Boardwalk Empire's Sept. 16 season three premiere.

Uber also recently gave free lifts to Fashion's Night Out attendees in 2013 Ford Fusion wrapped in Rebecca Minkoff artwork.

BONUS: 9 Tech Tools That Make City Living a Snap…
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More About: Boardwalk Empire, Entertainment, TV, apps, cars, hbo, mobile apps, social tv, uber

The Mashable Media Summit is a one-day conference that explores how new forms of technology are redefining media. The brightest minds in the industry will come together Nov. 2 at the TimesCenter in New York City to explore the latest innovations in the space and the future of journalism.

Early bird ticket sales are ending next week, so get your discounted tickets now.

Joining the dynamic lineup of this year's speakers are Joan Walsh, editor at large at Salon, and David Carey, president of Hearst.

Carey will discuss Hearst's numerous paths to digital, from free web content to paid tablet content and ecommerce to digital marketing. Joan Walsh, who's been avidly covering the…
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More About: Conference, Media, event, media summit

Can't wait for the movie 'Lincoln', directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Daniel Day-Lewis and coming November 9? Neither can we. But our long national struggle just got a little easier with the release of the movie's first full-length trailer Thursday.

The trailer was the first to debut in an unusual new setting: a Google+ Hangout with Spielberg.

The first thing you'll notice is that Spielberg and Day-Lewis have opted for a full measure of historical accuracy on Lincoln's voice. Despite any lingering impression you might have of the man in the stovepipe hat and beard booming out the Gettysburg address, contemporary accounts agree that the 16th President actually had a high and…
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More About: Lincoln movie, trending

Note: The video above is definitely NSFW

Did you enjoy Apple's latest keynote, or were you left disappointed? Well, here's one more thing.

Comedy Central's Key and Peele released a brand new video with a slightly more dramatic version of Wednesday's Apple events. The parody features a very enthusiastic Tim Cook, played by Keegan-Michael Key, going absolutely ballistic on stage.

Key's version of Cook flings the devices off of the table, elbow-drops a metaphorical "Bill Gates," and reveals Apple's most classified future product.

Key and Peele returns to Comedy Central Sept. 26. The sketch above will be featured in episode three of the upcoming season.

More About: Comedy Central, humor, parody, trending

Just because Mark Zuckerberg thinks betting everything on HTML5 was Facebook's "biggest mistake", that doesn't mean that the company plans on abandoning the coding platform.

In an interview on Tuesday, the Facebook CEO said that "the biggest mistake we made as a company was betting too much on HTML5 as opposed to native" code on the iOS and Android platforms.

HTML5 "just wasn't ready," Zuckerberg added.

But at a small press gathering on Facebook campus Thursday afternoon, the company's iOS team set the record straight. It described the social network as still "bullish" on HTML5, and on Ringmark, the organization it heads to help set HTML5 standards.

Doug Purdy, Face…
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More About: Facebook, HTML5, Zuckerberg

Verizon has confirmed that its version of the iPhone 5 will not support simultaneous use of voice and data over its LTE network.

More About: LTE, apple, iPhone 5, sprint, trending, verizon

Image courtesy of Etsy

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Adults and children alike have grown up with the works of late author Roald Dahl's stories. The official Roald Dahl Day is celebrated every year on Sept. 13 -- and this year, the classic children's book Big Friendly Giant turns 30.

Dahl's quotes from stories like The BFG, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory -- among others -- have inspired and delighted most of us since we were wee "human beans."

SEE ALSO: 10 Inspiring Quotes From Our Favorite TEDTalks

To celebrate the author and the magic he's provided us for so many years, we've gathered some of our favorite Dahl quotes. What's your fondest childhood memory with Roald Dahl's stories? Let us k…
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More About: Watercooler, books, children's books, pics, quotes

Let's face it, posting stuff on Facebook isn't the most macho pursuit in the world. So, if you're of the male persuasion and fear that the social platform is making you soft, you might want to avail yourself of Brut's latest Facebook app.

The deodorant maker's app is basically a 5-minute or so video in which a stubbly guy berates you and some of your posts. The interactive aspect comes via the magic of profile access, a trick we've seen many times before -- such as this True Blood teaser starring you and your Facebook friends.

To underscore his point, the Mantervention man makes his pitch in a room full of stereotypical Facebookers -- such as The Networker, Hashtag Harry, Mr. TMI, t…
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More About: Brut, Facebook, Marketing, old spice

Apple revealed its latest iPod nano Wednesday, touting its slimmer and taller form factor, new colors, a home button and the smaller Lightning interface.

More About: apple, ipod nano

When Armstrong passed away last month at the age of 82, many of us took to the web to pay tribute to the accomplished astronaut.

Now, the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in New York, with the help of the Martin Agency, have launched a centralized Twitter tribute, One Small Tweet, to recreate Armstrong's journey to the moon on the microblog.

Here's how it works: Every time someone tweets with the hashtag #onesmalltweet, it's equivalent to 100 miles of the journey. The tweet is displayed on the website, OneSmallTweet.com, along with the additional mileage. As more tweets come in, the website tracks each message and moves closer from the Earth to the Moon -- a total distance o…
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More About: Neil Armstrong, Social Good, Twitter

Not everything going down the runway at New York Fashion Week has been dictated by each label's designer. Three up-and-coming labels -- 2011 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalist Carlos Campos, as well as Timo Weiland and Suzanne Rae -- have showcased looks chosen by their fans.

All three designers (plus Christian Cota, who cancelled his show) partnered with voting design platform CutOnYourBias in the month leading up to Fashion Week. Designers submitted sketches of a range of men's and women's garments, and fans were invited to vote for their favorites.

Those that received the most votes in each category were then produced and shown in their respective collections. The winners lo…
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More About: fashion, nyfw, trending

Dr Pepper set off a heated debate over evolution on Thursday after posting an advertisement to its Facebook page, which showed an ape evolving into a man thanks to the discovery of a can of Dr Pepper.

"My ancestors were created in the Garden of Eden," one user posted in response to the advertisement. "I ain't no freaking chimp. No more Dr Pepper for my household. God Bless y'all," Another complained: "this is showing the theory of men evolving from apes. I have lost all respect for Dr Pepper and if Dr Pepper wants business from thousands of people they will need to apologize." (Spellings have been corrected throughout.)

Others shot back, including a couple of commenters who posted, "…
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More About: Facebook, facebook fan page, facebook fan pages, trending

1. The Snowths

Image courtesy of @benrothe

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Prepare a proper sendoff for Apple's signature white earbuds. There's a new sound-pumping gadget on the block.

Apple unveiled its revamped default headphones, dubbed EarPods, at Wednesday's iPhone 5 event -- and the new design looked oddly familiar to some folks.

SEE ALSO: Meet EarPods, Your New Apple Earphones

Whether the EarPods sparked memories of Muppets or recollections of WALL-E, people shared their first impressions across the web.

What did we miss? Tell us -- or better yet, show us with an image -- in the comments.

More About: Watercooler, apple, humor

In a "painstaking labor of love," Bard Canning spent more than a month turning the original low-resolution, four frames-per-second video from the Curiosity rover's descent to Mars into a 30 frames-per-second, high resolution masterpiece.

After adding motion-tracking and adjustment points, Canning was able to create a much more fluid and detailed video of the landing and of the Red Planet's surface.

Besides the heightened visual effects, the filmmaker also added sound, which transformed a video of something so far away it was barely reality into one tangible and starkly real.

SEE MORE: Curiosity Rover is Graffiti Artist, Tagging Mars in Morse Code [VIDEO]

Canning also upl…
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More About: Mars, Watercooler, curiosity rover, space, trending, viral videos

Joe Fernandez, CEO of Klout, founded the company in 2009 as a way to measure the influence -- or, as he calls it, the "Klout score" -- of people on the web.

SEE ALSO: Your Klout Score Just Changed -- Here's Why

On this episode of Revolution, Fernandez talks about the rise of his company, its challenges in measuring digital and real world influence. He also gives tips on what consumers and businesses need to do to make their online influence matter most.

More About: klout, revolutiontv

Not enough alternative rock bands have cats as lead singers. Maybe it's because of stage fright or unpredictable hairball moments.

Enter Collective Soul cat, a frontman feline with a knack for timing.

If you watch one 20 second-long YouTube video of a cat rocking out to a jammin' tune today, make it this one.

BONUS: The 33 Most-Watched Cat Videos Ever [PURR]

More About: Watercooler, cats, viral videos

1. "I Like Ike"

Dwight Eisenhower's 1952 presidential campaign ad was produced by Walt Disney Studios and Citizens for Eisenhower-Nixon. "I Like Ike" is one of the most well-known and catchiest political slogans of all time.

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You can watch advertisements for both the Democratic and Republican parties on television, campaign websites and, of course, on YouTube.

Presidential nominees and primary candidates have used video to campaign for decades. Though many ads predate the term "viral video," those memorable moments from past elections live on, gaining millions of views on YouTube.

SEE ALSO: 7 Marketing Strategies With a Flair for Politics

Whether through smear campaigns, sympathy grabs or catchy jingles, we've seen candidates do just about everything to grab our attention and get their messages across.

Take a look back in time at some classic political campaign moments. Feel free to share other memor…
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More About: 2012 presidential campaign, Advertising, Video, YouTube, features, political videos

Guatemala's Volcán de Fuego, an active volcano near Antigua, Guatemala, began erupting Thursday afternoon. The sudden volcanic activity forced more than 33,000 people to evacuate the area.

The country's head of emergency evacuations told the Associated Press that the eruption caused ash to fall nearly 2,000 feet down the mountain as it was rocked by explosions.

Residents near the volcano used their cellphones to document the eruptions, giving the rest of the world a first-hand and immediate look:

[View the story "Citizens Document Massive Volcano Eruption in Guatemala" on Storify]

More About: Video, World, guatemala, pics, volcano

U.S. travelers had visiting scenic landscapes on their mind this summer, as the top three Google Maps searches were park regions in the West: Death Valley National Park, Redwood National Park and Yosemite National Park.

Google Maps has released an infographic that details how those in the U.S. and across the Northern Hemisphere traveled from May to September 2012. National parks occupied the top six spots on the list -- with the Grand Canyon surprisingly coming it only at no. 6 -- followed by the Empire State Building (no. 7), Myrtle Beach (no. 8), Niagara Falls (no. 9) and Times Square (no. 10)

SEE ALSO: 12 Mysterious Google Maps Sightings

Overall, North Americans had their sights…
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More About: Google, Google Maps

Birchbox, a New York-based subscription service that ships customers four to five beauty samples for $10 per month, has acquired Paris-based Joliebox for an undisclosed sum.

Birchbox launched in September 2010. Joliebox launched several months later, shamelessly pitching itself as the "French equivalent of Birchbox." The younger startup then acquired mirror service Boudoir Privé in the UK in December 2011, and Glamourum in Spain in February 2012 to expand its footprint.

Like Birchbox, JolieBox delivers a "Beauty Box" containing cosmetics products from high-end manufacturers for €13 ($17.42) per month. (As we mentioned, Birchbox's costs $10 per month. It also has a subscripti…
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More About: Birchbox, beauty, joliebox

New details about the mysterious creator of "Innocence of Muslims," the YouTube film trailer that's contributing to protests across the Middle East, are emerging on Thursday.

Initial reports pegged the filmmaker as "Sam Bacile," a supposedly Israeli-American real estate developer living in California. However, certain details didn't add up: There's no licensed real estate developer in California with that name and Israeli officials denied his existence.

Add to that the shoddy quality of the video and the actors involved in its production claiming to have been duped into making a film far removed from the original script, and it's a recipe for an odd story indeed.

On Wednesday af…
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More About: Egypt, World, YouTube, libya

At Mashable, we believe technology and community are key to making our world a better place. This is a concept we discuss daily and will be exploring further at our upcoming Social Good Summit.

Today we're happy to further that belief by co-launching a new initiative called #GivingTuesday -- marking Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012 as a day to give back. Black Friday and Cyber Monday have become cultural traditions in the United States, and this is an opportunity to ensure philanthropy gets the attention it deserves, too.

Our goal is simple: #GivingTuesday will not collect money; we want to encourage Americans to take collaborative action to improve their local communities and give ba…
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More About: Holidays, Social Good, event, givingtuesday

Apple's stock hit a new intraday trading high of $685.50 a share on Thursday, inching closer to becoming a member of the elite $700 stock club.

The company's stock closed up 1.4% on Wednesday and has continued to rise following the buzz from the iPhone 5 event on Wednesday. Several analysts have upped their price targets for the company's stock, driven in part by Apple's plans to launch the latest iPhone in dozens of countries before the end of the September quarter. One analyst from FBN Securities raised the price target to $1,000 from $800 a share.

It's unusual to see Apple's stock spike following an iPhone announcement. In the past few years, the stock typically rises in the we…
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More About: apple, iphone, stocks

Over the past few days Google added a new search tool to its arsenal: the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon search tool, officially called the Bacon Number.

This funny new tool is a tribute to the classic pop culture concept of the Six Degrees of Separation, which posits that between you and any random person in the world, there can only be six acquaintance links. The concept spawned into a Hollywood parlor game where the challenge was calculating how many connections there are between any Hollywood actor and Kevin Bacon, who seems to have worked with pretty much everybody in the film industry.

There was already a website to calculate the Bacon number,…
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More About: Kevin Bacon, google search, google search tools, six degrees of separation



Got a question for Karnjanaprakorn? Use the chat feature above to get it answered live!

Karnjanaprakorn is the CEO and co-founder of Skillshare, a community marketplace for classes. Skillshare is a community of teachers and students driven by a passion to share real-word skills through collaborative learning. Previously, Karnjanaprakorn led the product team at HotPotato, which was acquired by Facebook, and developed products and services that organized the creative world at Behance.

He is also a venture advisor for Collaborative Fund, a 2012 TED Fellow and was listed as one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business in 2012 by Fast Company.

Karnjanaprakorn…
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More About: Business, Live Chat, Startups, education, entrepreneur, skillshare, yec