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Gen Z is ready to break up with Tinder, and these new dating apps are here for the rebound

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With Valentine’s Day looming, Steven Coyle was on his cellphone on the lookout for a date — however not on Tinder.

The 26-year-old from Las Vegas used an app referred to as Snack to scroll by means of movies of ladies strolling down the road, exhibiting off their outfits, or lip-syncing to the digicam.

One caught his eye — a tall, fairly blond recording herself strolling by means of Disney California Journey Park to the Avengers Campus, the place she ordered a cocktail on the bar.

She seems to be enjoyable, he thought. He pressed a coronary heart to “like.”

Coyle had stumbled upon Snack, an app that payments itself as “TikTok meets Tinder,” only a few days earlier. It’s one in every of a handful of modern courting apps which can be making an attempt to seize the eye of Gen Z, lots of whose members say they’re bored with the apps which have dominated the web courting scene for almost a decade — Bumble, Hinge and, above all, Tinder, which popularized the now-ubiquitous “swipe to match” person interface.

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Searching for love with somebody who shares your Myers-Briggs persona kind, or your love of video video games? Need to see a blurry picture of your potential associate that will get progressively sharper the longer you chat? The choices abound.

Heterosexual {couples} within the U.S. at the moment are extra prone to meet a romantic associate on-line than through every other mode of connection. A 2017 survey discovered 39% of such {couples} reported assembly their associate on-line, in contrast with 22% in 2009. Almost half of all 18- to 29-year-olds say they’ve used a courting app of their life, in accordance with a 2019 Pew Analysis Middle research.

And in the course of the pandemic, on-line courting reached new heights — with Bumble reporting a 70% improve in video calls and Tinder exceeding 3 billion swipes in sooner or later for the primary time in March 2020.

“Courting apps present that chance so that you can meet folks exterior of your typical circles that you’d be in each day and I believe that’s actually highly effective — folks say opposites entice,” Snack Chief Government Kim Kaplan mentioned.

Underscoring its intention to court docket a brand new era of daters, Snack eradicated the swipe gesture in favor of urgent a coronary heart button or sending a message. Trying to swipe brings up the cheeky error message “swiping is previous af.”

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“Swiping is 10 years previous now,” mentioned Kaplan, who was one of many first staff at Match.com and concerned with the courting app Loads of Fish, which ultimately was offered for $575 million.

That’s not all that’s been freshened up. Customers add TikTok-style movies as a substitute of images, there’s no area for a bio, and you may even add movies to an Instagram-style “story” that individuals can view after you match with them.

Watch L.A. Instances Right this moment at 7 p.m. on Spectrum Information 1 on Channel 1 or stay stream on the Spectrum Information App. Palos Verdes Peninsula and Orange County viewers can watch on Cox Programs on channel 99.

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TikTok, the place Snack advertises, performed a significant position in its creation. Kaplan was scrolling by means of the app sooner or later in early 2020 when she got here throughout a video of a girl introducing herself together with her title, age and star signal. Her caption included the hashtag “#single.” Kaplan realized she had found a whole “underbelly” of courting already occurring on TikTok.

It clicked: A video-first courting app was the logical subsequent evolution of courting.

She inspired her Gen Z staff and buyers to include their voices and suggestions into the event of Snack.

They instructed her most individuals of their era solely used the swiping apps as a result of they needed to, preferring to maneuver the dialog to a extra informal social media platform corresponding to Instagram or Snapchat as shortly as potential.

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Taking a web page from the early days of Tinder, the corporate is specializing in on-the-ground promotion at school campuses and at the moment has probably the most customers in California, Texas, Florida and New York. The app is offered solely to these ages 18 to 35.

It additionally produces a courting present streamed stay each week on TikTok. Though Kaplan declined to reveal person numbers, Snack, which launched in February 2021, was the Tenth-most-downloaded courting app within the U.S. in August.

Schmooze, one other courting app wooing Gen Z, can be organized round a type of digital content material the era has fallen in love with — memes.

Or, as CEO Vidya Madhavan put it, “Snigger your method to love.”

At first look, Schmooze doesn’t look like a courting app. As an alternative of individuals’s profiles, you’re instantly greeted with a meme set in opposition to a colourful, cartoon-like backdrop, with the selection to swipe proper for “like” and left for “don’t like.”

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After a specific amount of swiping, the app’s machine-learning mannequin makes an attempt to judge what sort of humor you want and your subjects of curiosity, corresponding to politics, popular culture or science. At that time, you’ll obtain a “#MatchRec” with somebody whose humor allegedly matches yours, leaving you with the selection to “Schmooze” or “Snooze.”

A number of years in the past, Madhavan was working in India and debating whether or not to go to graduate college. She cold-emailed somebody who had attended a U.S. enterprise college asking for recommendation. That first e mail led to greater than 150 e mail exchanges full of jokes and humor and, ultimately, to marriage — in addition to Madhavan’s conviction that humor is an effective proxy for romantic compatibility.

“Meme-based courting suits so completely with this era,” Madhavan mentioned. “As a result of memes are the best way all of us talk, proper? Whether or not it’s sharing information or sharing how you’re feeling.”

The 27-year-old Stanford enterprise college graduate co-founded the corporate with school classmate Abhinav Anurag and launched the app as a beta take a look at in early April 2021. It just lately surpassed 300,000 customers, with concentrations on the East Coast and in Los Angeles. (For scale, Tinder has about 66 million month-to-month customers worldwide.)

Madhavan mentioned the courting apps at the moment available on the market are all primarily the identical format — a profile and images.

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“Now, are you writing an extended bio? Do you’ve gotten three prompts? Does the girl go first? These are all issues that change, however primarily each courting app has a profile and a photograph,” Madhavan mentioned. “And meaning it’s a must to have your profile to be so curated, to face out.”

By eradicating that burden, Schmooze makes an attempt to show courting right into a extra lighthearted, enjoyable expertise.

“And whilst you have enjoyable, you’ll discover a date,” she mentioned.

With regards to the query of seems to be versus persona, a courting app referred to as Iris is taking the alternative method to Schmooze’s — whereas additionally lowering the burden of self-presentation.

Returning to the basics of bodily attraction, the app, which was launched in early 2020, has customers practice a machine-learning algorithm by swiping by means of three rounds of inventory images. It then recommends potential matches the place there could also be mutual attraction, both domestically or in the whole database by means of a “Tremendous Search” perform.

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The founder, who has not come out publicly but, mentioned they aimed to re-create the expertise of preliminary attraction when assembly somebody in actual life, impartial of things corresponding to instructional stage, hobbies or political affiliation.

Iris can be providing a free round-trip airplane ticket for any {couples} who match in the event that they stay too distant. All they need to do is e mail the corporate, although nobody has taken it up on the provide but, Chief Development Officer Daniel Mori mentioned.

Though Iris isn’t explicitly aimed toward Gen Z, the corporate has seen success advertising on TikTok, which was its high supply of person acquisition in its first 12 months, Mori mentioned. It has additionally shaped a community of about 400 influencers to advertise the app.

Apart from who you’re liable to fulfill, is there any actual distinction within the expertise of on the lookout for love on a Gen Z app?

Coyle, who has used Tinder and Bumble up to now, mentioned Snack’s emphasis on video offers “extra of a way of that is what they really do after they’re at a celebration or one thing, not simply from an image.”

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However he has struggled with discovering movies of himself to incorporate in his profile and wasn’t positive how lengthy he was going to final on the app.

It’s a “love-hate” relationship with courting apps that retains bringing him again, regardless of the shortage of success.

“More often than not, I’m looking for the spouse,” he mentioned.

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New Mexico weighs whether to toss Alec Baldwin criminal charges in 'Rust' shooting

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New Mexico weighs whether to toss Alec Baldwin criminal charges in 'Rust' shooting

A New Mexico judge is weighing whether to dismiss involuntary manslaughter charges against Alec Baldwin for his alleged role in the 2021 shooting death of the “Rust” movie cinematographer.

Baldwin’s attorneys argued during a court hearing Friday that special prosecutor Kari T. Morrissey had abused her power by allegedly withholding “significant evidence,” including witnesses favorable to Baldwin, during a January grand jury proceeding.

The 66-year-old actor‘s lawyers said he was a victim of an “overzealous prosecutor” who steered grand jury proceedings in an effort to win an indictment in the high-profile case. At issue is whether the grand jury had been fully advised that they could hear from Baldwin’s witnesses during the proceedings. The grand jurors spent a day and a half questioning witnesses who were introduced by the prosecutors.

“The fix was in,” Baldwin attorney Alex Spiro told the judge Friday.

The grand jury indicted Baldwin on an involuntary manslaughter charge in the shooting death of Halyna Hutchins, the 42-year-old cinematographer, who was rehearsing a scene with Baldwin on Oct. 21, 2021. Baldwin has pleaded not guilty.

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At the conclusion of Friday’s hearing, New Mexico First Judicial District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said she would issue her ruling next week. Should she dismiss the case, it would mark the second time that the felony charges against Baldwin were dropped.

Marlowe Sommer’s decision is expected less than two months before Baldwin is scheduled to go on trial in a Santa Fe courtroom.

During the hearing, which was conducted virtually, Morrissey denied that she had acted in bad faith. She said she didn’t prevent jurors from getting answers to their questions or from seeking additional information. She told the judge that grand jurors had been given written instructions that outlined their ability to quiz other witnesses, including those favorable to the defense.

But because the jurors didn’t ask to hear from the witnesses who were on a list supplied by Baldwin’s lawyers, several key figures in the tragedy, including film director Joel Souza, property master Sarah Zachry and assistant director David Halls, were not called to testify. Instead, jurors heard from police officers, a crew member who was in the church and expert witnesses hired by prosecutors.

On the day of the shooting, Hutchins, Baldwin, Souza and about a dozen other crew members were gathered in an old wooden church at Bonanza Creek Ranch, south of Santa Fe, preparing for a scene. Hutchins, according to the actor, told him to pull his Colt .45 revolver from his holster and point it at the camera for an extreme close-up view. That’s when the gun went off.

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Hutchins died from her wounds. Souza was injured and recovered.

Last month, Marlowe Sommer sentenced the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez, to 18 months in a New Mexico women’s prison for her role in the shooting. Morrissey argued that Gutierrez was criminally negligent by allegedly bringing the live ammunition to the movie production and unwittingly loading one of the lead bullets into Baldwin’s gun. Gutierrez denies bringing the ammunition on set.

Baldwin’s prosecution has long been fraught.

Morrissey and her law partner Jason J. Lewis joined the case last year after the first team of prosecutors was forced to step down due to missteps, including trying to charge Baldwin on a penalty enhancement that wasn’t in effect at the time of the tragedy.

“The government looked a little sophomoric and unprofessional when they charged him for a crime that wasn’t a crime at the time,” said Los Angeles litigator Tre Lovell, who is not involved in the “Rust” shooting matter. “That was embarrassing.”

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The original prosecutors also displayed bluster in media interviews, making statements about the need to hold Baldwin responsible for his actions. Defense attorneys have argued that such commentary was out of line and prejudicial against the actor.

Shortly after Morrissey and Lewis joined the case, they dropped the charges against Baldwin. At the time, they said they needed more time to review evidence and address issues raised by Baldwin’s team. Morrissey and Lewis reserved the right to refile the charges.

Immediately after the charges were dropped, Baldwin traveled to Montana to finish the filming of “Rust.”

On Friday, Morrissey said last year’s decision to drop the charges was made at the request of Baldwin’s lead attorney, Luke Nikas, who had presented evidence that the gun Baldwin was using had been modified. Subsequent tests showed the gun was functional that day, but during FBI testing in 2022, the gun was broken by forensic analysts who wanted to see how much pressure needed to be applied for the hammer to drop.

The damaged gun is one of several complications that prosecutors are facing. Legal experts have said that winning a conviction in Baldwin’s case is expected to be more difficult than in the trial of Gutierrez, whose job was to make sure the weapons were safe.

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Baldwin was handed the prop gun that day and was told that it was “cold,” meaning there was no ammunition inside. In reality, the chamber of the revolver contained six rounds — five so-called dummies and the lead bullet that killed Hutchins.

“The state has not even alleged that Baldwin had a subjective awareness of a substantial risk that the firearm held live ammunition,” Nikas argued in the motion to dismiss the charges. “Without a subjective awareness, he could not have committed the crime of involuntary manslaughter, which requires that the defendant consciously disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk that his actions could cause another person’s death.”

Baldwin has argued, with support from Hollywood’s performers’ union SAG-AFTRA, that it wasn’t his job to be the gun safety officer on set.

The actor has said he was relying on other professionals to do their jobs to ensure a safe production.

Prosecutors have an obligation to present evidence in a “fair and impartial manner,” Baldwin’s attorneys said.

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The judge grilled Morrissey on her thinking at the time, including an instance when she had interrupted a sheriff’s deputy and prevented her from answering a question about gun safety measures on set. Morrissey said that deputy was not an expert in film set protocols and that she instead wanted jurors to get “the most accurate information,” which would come from a veteran film crew member who was an expert witness.

Baldwin’s attorneys were also sharply critical of Morrissey for divulging during a media interview the date the grand jury was expected to meet. Morrissey said she took responsibility for providing to a reporter the initial date, which had been scheduled for mid-November. However, the matter was postponed, and the case wasn’t brought before the grand jury until two months later, in mid-January.

Lovell, the L.A. entertainment attorney, said he believes the case will go to trial and that efforts to throw out the indictment will be unsuccessful.

“Courts are really reluctant to dismiss cases brought by a grand jury,” Lovell said. “Courts have limited ability to review what goes to a grand jury unless it was provided in bad faith.”

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Troubled EV maker Fisker closing Manhattan Beach headquarters

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Troubled EV maker Fisker closing Manhattan Beach headquarters

In an effort to stave off bankruptcy, electric-vehicle maker Fisker Inc. is closing its Manhattan Beach headquarters and has secured a $3.5-million lifeline as it continues to explore an acquisition or other strategic alternative.

The troubled company, which had about 300 employees in the 72,000-square-foot offices at the end of March, is moving its remaining workers to an engineering and distribution facility in La Palma in Orange County, said a person familiar with Fisker’s operations who was not authorized to comment.

In all, the company had roughly 1,135 employees as of mid-April, following an announced 15% cut to its workforce.

Fisker has been attempting to avoid bankruptcy since March, when it announced that talks over a strategic alliance with a major automaker had ended, squelching a deal that would have given it $150 million in new financing.

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That caused its shares to collapse to pennies, prompting the New York Stock Exchange to delist the stock, which violated another debt agreement the company struck with an investor last year, according to a regulatory filing.

A major automaker, said to be Nissan, was reportedly in talks to invest in Fisker. Nissan was considering making the Fisker Alaska truck at a U.S. plant — a deal that would come with a $400-million investment, Reuters first reported. Fisker did not confirm the reports.

Fisker announced this week that it secured a $3.5 million short-term loan, as it continues to operate and sell its midsize Ocean SUV. The note is due June 24 and has the potential to increase to $7.5 million.

The Ocean, a competitor to Tesla’s Model Y, was released last year to mixed reviews; some praised its build and styling, but the car has been plagued by software glitches.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has four investigations into the vehicle, including one opened this month after complaints that the SUV’s automatic emergency braking system randomly triggered.

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Other probes are looking into reports that a door on the Ocean will not open and complaints about a loss of braking performance. The company has said it is working with the regulator.

Fisker said this week that it had added three dealers to its networks in California and New Jersey, which it began building after a plan to sell direct to consumers — like Tesla does — didn’t pan out. It also announced additional price cuts on some Ocean models.

In March, Fisker slashed the price on its entire lineup of 2023 Oceans by more than 30%. The company also said that it had paused production at its contract manufacturing plant in Austria, which produced about 10,200 Oceans last year.

Fisker was founded in 2016 by noted car designer Henrik Fisker, who has said the Ocean was inspired by California. The SUV features a full-length solar roof, an interior composed of “vegan” recycled plastic and a drop-down rear window that can fit a surf board.

Fisker is not the only startup that has been struggling amid a slowdown in the domestic market for electric vehicles and a rise in interest rates.

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Rivian Automotive, an Irvine maker of electric trucks, has informed state officials it will lay off more than 120 employees beginning in June. In February, the company announced it was cutting 10% of its workforce. The company’s shares have lost more than half of their value since last year.

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Las Vegas' Mirage Resort to close after 34-year run. Volcano to go dormant

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Las Vegas' Mirage Resort to close after 34-year run. Volcano to go dormant

Once hailed as “Las Vegas’ first 21 Century resort,” The Mirage Hotel & Casino confirmed Wednesday that its iconic volcano outside of its front entrance is going dormant less than a quarter of a century into the new millennium.

Owner Hard Rock International announced the hotel will cease operations on July 17, with bookings being accepted until July 14. The iconic resort — sporting a jungle-fantasy theme —was perhaps best known for its exploding 54-foot man-made volcano, magicians Siegfried and Roy, and its white tigers and dolphins.

“We’d like to thank the Las Vegas community and team members for warmly welcoming Hard Rock after enjoying 34 years at The Mirage,” said Jim Allen, Chairman of Hard Rock International in a statement.

The resort is expected to be redeveloped into the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and Guitar Hotel Las Vegas, with the volcano giving way to a nearly 700-foot guitar-shaped hotel. The project is expected to open in spring 2027. A similar 638-room hotel stands in Hollywood, Fla.

The Associated Press reported that more than 3,000 employees will be laid off. Hard Rock acknowledged it would pay roughly $80 million in severance packages for union and nonunion labor.

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The Culinary and Bartenders Union accounts for about 1,700 Mirage workers. It announced Wednesday that its workers have two options.

The first was a severance package of $2,000 for every year of service plus six months of pension and health benefits. The second option gives employees a lesser, undisclosed amount while maintaining seniority rights for the duration of the property’s closure along with 36 months of recall rights for jobs at the new hotel.

“Culinary Union members at The Mirage have a strong union contract, ensuring that workers are protected, even as the property closes its doors entirely for three years from July 2024 – May 2027,” said Ted Pappageorge, Culinary Union secretary-treasurer, in a statement Wednesday.

The new hotel is projected to employ nearly 7,000 employees, according to Hard Rock management, while 2,500 construction jobs are expected during the rebuilding process.

Hard Rock said that all reservations beyond July 14 would be canceled and that guests should contact the guest services department or booking agency for a refund.

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The Mirage’s closure is the second on the strip this year.

In April, the 66-year-old Tropicana closed its doors to make way for a 30,000-seat stadium that is expected to serve as the home of the Oakland A’s.

The Mirage’s opening by casino tycoon Stephen A. Wynn in 1989 was hailed as the ushering of a new era of resorts. It was the first strip hotel to open since the MGM Grand in 1973.

Wynn shelled out $600 million, then the most expensive casino project, for the sprawling 103-acre property.

The Mirage was the first fully integrated hotel, according to Alan Feldman, a Distinguished Fellow at UNLV’s International Gaming Institute.

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Integration meant operating and treating all facets of the resort, including casino, food and beverage, retail, entertainment and convention space, with equal importance, according to Feldman, who rose to become an executive with the Mirage and stayed from 1989 to 2019.

Feldman said hotel owners previously cared first about the casino and “everything else was last.”

“They gave away entertainment, food and rooms as long as someone came and played,” said Feldman. “The Mirage was the first to believe you could actually make money in these areas if you invested enough.”

Its glistening 30-story white-and-gold towers were said to make neighboring Caesars Palace look “retiring by comparison.” Traffic occasionally backed up on the strip as engineers tested gas-flared flames 40 feet into the air every few minutes.

“People just got out of the cars and went over to see what was going on,” one limousine driver said at the time.

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The hotel included a 20,000-gallon fish tank at its reception desk and 3,049 rooms.

Its animals — and its white tiger habitat — brought the resort fame and infamy, including in 2003 when a tiger critically injured magician Roy Horn.

The Mirage’s opening kicked off a resort building and remodeling spree that included the debut of the Circus Circus’ Excalibur in June 1990, the $250-million renovation of Caesars Palace and the opening of Treasure Island in 1994.

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