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Jared Jones

I'm a writer, editor, film fanatic, and MMA fan who is likely prepping for the zombie apocalypse at this very moment. I believe that freedom costs a buck-o-five and that all happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast.

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Long-distance friendship is the new long-distance romance.

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Life has a tendency to throw a lot of curve balls our way.

A new job, a new relationship, or simply a desire to see more of the world often forces us to make the toughest decisions, like moving away from the places we grew up (and those we grew up with).

And while you can pick up any magazine or scan through countless blog posts for tips on how to maintain a long-distance romantic relationship, there is significantly less information available about how to do the same with long-distance friendships.

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Heroes

Have 5 minutes? Playing with these apps actually makes other people's lives better.

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Let's face it: There are a lot of silly smartphone apps out there. A lot. ‌

Enjoy Toilet Paper is an app that allows you to roll digital toilet paper — that's it. Is It Dark Outside? solves a problem you could figure out by peeking out a window (or actually goingoutside). Send Me to Heaven is an app that asks you to throw your phone as high into the air as humanly possible, AND PEOPLE ACTUALLY DO IT.

A man succumbing to frustration or merely partaking in the latest app fad? GIF via "Entourage."

But the converse is also true: With as little effort as it takes to swipe right on a potential love match or tweet our thoughts on the weekend's football games, we can easily create positive social change.

It sounds corny, I know, but there are actually dozens of apps that make contributing to the world around you just a click away. Here are five of them.

1. Budge

Are you someone who yearns for the attention of a crowd? A truth-or-dare fanatic, maybe? Or are you simply looking to feed your gambling addiction without all of that pesky guilt? Well then is Budge ever the app for you!

Budge is a game that turns the sense of competitiveness that friends and family members often share into an act of philanthropy. Users challenge a friend to anything they can imagine: a race, an impromptu game of trivia, a bare-knuckle boxing match (What? Some of us have really competitive friends.) — with the stipulation that the loser must donate an agreed-upon amount to a charity of the winner's choosing.

Image via iStock.

2. Give 2 Charity

Being that most of us have become attached at the hip (or hand) to our smartphones, you'd think an app that actually converts our phone usage into cold, hard cash would be a foregone conclusion by now. And thanks to the folks over at Give 2 Charity, it is.

Utilizing the location-tracking systems used by everything from Google Maps to Pokémon Go, Give 2 Charity monitors the amount of time you spend carrying or using your phone and transforms it into charitable donations. Every moment you're on the move with your phone is converted into points — 1,500 points earns $2. 3,000 points earns $5, and so forth — which can then be donated to the charity of your choice. Donating to a cause has literally never been easier.

Image via iStock.

3. Donate a Photo

The only thing more certain than the smartphone user's love of texting fire emojis to their crew is their love of taking pictures. Many of us live in a constant stream of live updates from our friends where no memory goes unsaved or unshared, and the people at Johnson & Johnson have figured out a way to turn this fascination with documentation into a charitable effort.

We’re still flying from #GCFestival. How about you? Keep taking photos with those you adore. And why not take one more step to #DonateAPhoto for a cause that inspires you.
A photo posted by Donate A Photo (@donateaphoto) on Oct 3, 2016 at 8:32am PDT

Simply dubbed Donate a Photo, this app (available on both Android and iOS) donates a dollar toward the cause or charity of your choosing for every photo that you donate through the app (up to one a day). Signup is as easy as connecting to the app through your Facebook or Twitter profile, and Donate a Photo will even provide you with an optional list of causes to donate to. Looks like those 4,300 pictures of your sleeping cat won't go to waste after all.

4. Feedie

Did you read over the description of Donate a Photo and think to yourself, "That's a great idea, but what if I wanted to replace the cat photos with photos of my food?" FEEDIE. THAT'S HOW.

Though only based in New York at the moment, Feedie is a groundbreaking app that allows the frequent photographers of food — foodstagrammers — to use their love of food to help those who don't have access to adequate meals. Simply download the app on iOS, take a photo of your food at any of the participating restaurants, and an entire meal will be donated to a nonprofit organization feeding schoolchildren in South Africa through the Lunchbox Fund.

Image via iStock.

Finally, an app that makes watching your pizza go cold as your friend struggles to find the proper lighting for a photo all worth it!

5. Charity Miles

If I have learned anything from the hundreds of Fitbit commercials I have watched from my couch, the best way to motivate someone is to present them with some sort of chart or metric of their progress. Something as regularly banal as how many steps per day you take instantly becomes a video game score when a physical number is placed on it, and Charity Miles mixes this kind of competitive fitness and philanthropy into one incredible concept. Fitlanthropy, I've decided to call it.

Image via Charity Miles, used with permission.

Again, the genius is in the simplicity: Charity Miles simply combines the tracking technology of a Fitbit — or any pedometer app, really — with cold, hard cash. All you have to do is download the app and take off, and Charity Miles will donate 25 cents for each mile you run (or 10 cents for every mile you bike) to one of over 35 charity organizations it's partnering with.

There's always a way to help out a person in need.

Thanks to the globe-spanning technological capabilities at our fingertips, it's become easier than ever before. So if we can find the time each day to take a photo, go for a run, or even click on our phone, then there's nothing stopping us from making a significant difference in the world.

It'll be less dangerous than playing Pokémon Go, in any case.

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3 times courageous groups of people changed America for the better.

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We've all heard the inspiring Margaret Mead quote, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

For many Americans, it sometimes feels like the closest we come to change-making is the one vote we cast at the polls every four years — an unfulfilling process that can leave us more frustrated with the system than hopeful that the changes we desire will ever come. It's tempting to trade in optimism for apathy.

But no person is powerless to create change. History has shown us time and time again that even the smallest groups can make their voices heard and inspire a positive change in not only their immediate communities, but across the country.

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Jared Jones

Long-distance friendship is the new long-distance romance.

Life has a tendency to throw a lot of curve balls our way.

Here are nine ways friends keep that long distance friendship alive:

1. Make a plan.

2. Stay committed.

3. Don't be afraid to harness the power of social media to stay in touch.

4. Remember that you can never share too many silly animal photos to lift each other's spirits.

5. Use social media as a wellspring of memories and jokes to build off of or look back on.

6. Make the goal of each interaction you have online to make each other laugh.

7. Make the person you're taking to feel like the only person in the world at that moment.

8. See it as an opportunity to get a glimpse into a different world.

9. Try to embrace the perks of a long-distance relationship.

Let's face it: There are a lot of silly smartphone apps out there. A lot. ‌

But the converse is also true: With as little effort as it takes to swipe right on a potential love match or tweet our thoughts on the weekend's football games, we can easily create positive social change.

1. Budge

2. Give 2 Charity

3. Donate a Photo

4. Feedie

5. Charity Miles

There's always a way to help out a person in need.

We've all heard the inspiring Margaret Mead quote, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

1. The Delano Grape Strike boosts migrant farmworkers.

2. Ralph Nader helps start a revolution of the American auto industry.

3. MADD changes how we think about drinking and driving.

It's easy to feel powerless when looking over the average day's headlines. But change is possible.

It has long been said that "money doesn't buy happiness."

But figuratively speaking, could buying a WaveRunner possibly result in happiness?

1. Correlation isn't causation.

2. There is a ceiling.

3. It's all relative.

4. Control is key.

5. Developing habits is also key.

6. Know yourself.

It all boils down to making sure you are truly investing in your happiness, not just trying to buy it.

Gorgeous pictures of the moon taken from space.

There's a reason that so many horror movies are set in outer space, and it's not just the aliens.

And yet, outer space is just so damn pretty.

1. Hiding in the shadows

2. Looking like the Death Star

3. The ugly truth

4. Alone in the dark

5. Doom around every corner

6. Stretching for miles and miles

7. No one can hear you scream

8. Goodbye, Earth

9. Johnny 5 would be sooooooo jealous

10. The X(traterrestrial)-Games

11. Man 1, gravity 0

12. To the skies!

13. Magnificent

Beauty can be found in everything — even the stuff that scares you — and definitely on the moon.

Let's face it: Technology rules everything around us.

But despite our almost complete dependence on technology in daily life, why haven't we really integrated technology into our schools' curriculums?

But what if cities like Englewood could afford to teach technology in schools?

Founded by Scott Steward and Glenn Pereira in 2013, Project Tech Teens is trying just that.

How exactly do they plan on doing this? Through apps, obviously.

Project Tech Teens currently offers a variety of programs for students of all ages in a few cities.

The results so far have been astounding.

This is the first step in linking the insanely profitable computer science industry to struggling schools.

Programs like Project Tech Teens are an awesome example of inclusivity and forward-thinking.

The plight of farmers has never been more real.

In countries with agriculturally based labor forces like Nigeria, these hardships often force farmers to outsource their labor in order to harvest what few crops they have.

This is exactly the kind of fiscal dilemma that apps like Hello Tractor are hoping to solve.

Can't afford to rent a tractor? Hello Tractor's got your back on that, too!

Hello Tractor is also opening huge doors for female farmers in Africa.

An app helping to end both poverty *and* inequality in the parts of the world that need it the most? Talk about a game-changer.

An app helping to end both poverty and inequality in the parts of the world that need it the most? Talk about a game-changer.