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XSeven Travel Apps to Get You Through the Holidays
Decerry Donato is dot.LA's Editorial Fellow. Prior to that, she was an editorial intern at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

The holiday travel season is upon us.
With 59% of Americans now fully vaccinated, experts are predicting Thanksgiving will bring the largest travel surge expected since the start of the pandemic. More than 53 million Americans are expected to travel this Thanksgiving weekend. In Los Angeles, two million are expected to come through LAX.
For those trying to make last-minute travel plans (and assuming you're vaccinated), here are a few apps and services—many of them based in L.A.—that can help.
For the spontaneous traveler
Elude
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Elude: Available in the Apple app store
Elude is geared toward thrill-seeking travelers looking to save. After entering information like budget, time frame and trip preferences, you'll receive a number of flight and lodging options all around the globe. (If you need a specific location for the holidays, this is probably not the app for you.)
L.A.-based Elude has proven popular with Gen Z users, many of whom are starting to plan for New Year's. "We've been seeing a lot of people start to book for January, February time," said co-founder Frankie Scerbo.
Welcome: Available in the Apple app store
Whether you're traveling out of town or staying in a neighboring city, Welcome has 6.5 million listings that include maps of museums and other events nearby. The L.A.-based app also includes user-generated blogs and photos, news articles, and relevant travel and food stories.
For the budget-minded traveler
Hopper: Available in the Apple app and Google Play store
Having trouble knowing when is the best time to book a flight? Hopper, which is headquartered in Canada, predicts the prices for flights and will advise you on the right time to book for optimal savings. The app also features a color-coded calendar that helps travelers spot the cheapest days to travel.
For lodging accommodations
How Jurny Hopes to Make Hotel Booking and Check-in an 'Uber-like' Experience
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Jurny: Available in the Apple app store
The app offers contactless check-ins to 600 hotels and short-term rental units including Blue Moon Hotel in New York and Casa De La O in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
Jurny, which is headquartered in Los Angeles, allows travelers to check-in and unlock their door from the app and can even adjust the temperature of their room. There is a huge presence in Miami, Nashville, Tel Aviv, New York, London and Central America.
If Jurny doesn't quite work, there's always the old app standby: Airbnb.
HotelTonight: Available in the Apple app and Google Play store
SF-based HotelTonight allows the user to book stays the same evening and up to seven days in advance. The hotel rooms are categorized into basic, luxe, charming and high-roller. HotelTonight also rewards its users anytime they reach a specific spending threshold which will grant access to perks like free in-app concierge, credits or cheaper rates.
For anyone looking to improve the airports better
MyTSA: Available in the Apple app and Google Play store
Everyone dreads the long check-in lines at the airport, especially at TSA. MyTSA allows travelers to check how busy the airport is likely to be on your specific day and time of travel based on historical data. This app will also let you check wait times at security checkpoints at major airports.
Headspace Snags Ex Hulu Exec As It Prepares New Netflix Sleep Series
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Headspace: Available in the Apple app and Google Play store
The L.A.-based meditation app offers its users guided audio meditation and says it can reduce stress by 14% in just 10 days. Currently there are over 70 million members and 600,000 reviews. Headspace also offers courses for people with different lifestyles, whether you're a runner, student, or kid, they've got a meditation option for you.
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Decerry Donato is dot.LA's Editorial Fellow. Prior to that, she was an editorial intern at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.
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Mother Blames TikTok For Daughter’s Death in ‘Blackout Challenge’ Suit
Christian Hetrick is dot.LA's Entertainment Tech Reporter. He was formerly a business reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and reported on New Jersey politics for the Observer and the Press of Atlantic City.
The mother of a 10-year-old girl who died after allegedly trying a dangerous online “challenge” has sued Culver City-based TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance, claiming the social media app’s algorithm showed her videos of people choking themselves until they pass out.
Nylah Anderson, an intelligent child who already spoke three languages, was “excruciatingly asphyxiated” and found unconscious in her bedroom on Dec. 7, according to a complaint filed Thursday in federal court in Pennsylvania. She spent five days in pediatric intensive care until succumbing to her injuries.
The lawsuit, filed by her mother Tawainna Anderson, claims TikTok’s algorithm had previously shown Nylah videos depicting the “Blackout Challenge,” in which people hold their breath or choke themselves with household items to achieve a euphoric feeling. That encouraged her to try it herself, the lawsuit alleged.
“The TikTok Defendants’ algorithm determined that the deadly Blackout Challenge was well-tailored and likely to be of interest to 10-year-old Nylah Anderson, and she died as a result,” the suit said.
In a previous statement about Nylah’s death, a TikTok spokesperson noted the “disturbing” challenge predates TikTok, pointing to a 2008 warning from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about deadly choking games. The spokesperson claimed the challenge “has never been a TikTok trend.” The app currently doesn’t produce any search results for “Blackout Challenge” or a related hashtag.
“We remain vigilant in our commitment to user safety and would immediately remove related content if found,” the TikTok statement said. “Our deepest sympathies go out to the family for their tragic loss.”
At least four other children or teens have died after allegedly attempting the Blackout Challenge, according to the Anderson lawsuit. TikTok has grappled with dangerous challenges on its platform before, including one in which people tried to climb a stack of milk crates. That was considered so dangerous that TikTok banned the hashtag associated with it last year. In February, TikTok updated its content rules to combat the dangerous acts and other harmful content.
The Anderson lawsuit comes as lawmakers and state attorneys general scrutinize how TikTok and other social media can be bad for teens and younger users, including by damaging their mental health, causing negative feelings about their body image and making them addicted to the apps.
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Christian Hetrick is dot.LA's Entertainment Tech Reporter. He was formerly a business reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and reported on New Jersey politics for the Observer and the Press of Atlantic City.
Netflix's New Culture Memo Addresses Censorship and Corporate Secrecy
Kristin Snyder is an editorial intern for dot.la. She previously interned with Tiger Oak Media and led the arts section for UCLA's Daily Bruin.
Netflix promised change after its poor first-quarter earnings. One of the first targets: the Netflix Culture document.
The changes, which Variety reported on Thursday, indicate a new focus on fiscal responsibility and concern about censorship. While promises to support honest feedback and open decision-making remain, the memo’s first update in almost five years reveals that the days of lax spending are over. The newly added “artistic expression” section emphasizes Netflix’s refusal to censor its work and implores employees to support the platform’s content.
The “artistic expression” section states that the company will not “censor specific artists or voices” and specifies that employees may have to work on content “they perceive to be harmful.” The memo points to ratings, content warnings and parental controls as ways for users to determine what is appropriate content.
Censorship has been a contentious issue within Netflix. Last year, employees walked out in protest after the company stood by comedian Dave Chappelle’s special, “The Closer,” which many said was transphobic. The streaming service has since announced four more specials from the comedian, who was attacked on stage at Netflix’s first comedy festival. The show will not air on the platform, as Netflix did not tape the event.
The reaction to Chappelle’s 2021 special ripples further in the updated memo. After firing an employee who leaked how much the company paid for the special, the new “ethical expectations” section directs employees to protect company information.
The memo also reflects pressure borught by poor first-quarter earnings. Employees are now instructed to “spend our members’ money wisely,” and Variety reported that earlier passages that indicated a lack of spending limits were cut. Variety also found that the updated memo removed promises that the company would not make employees take pay cuts in the face of Netflix’s own financial struggles.
These updates come as employee morale has reportedly dropped and editorial staffers at the Netflix website TuDum were laid off en masse. Those employees were offered two weeks of severance pay—and Netflix has now cut a section in the memo promising four months of full pay as severance.
As the company that literally wrote the book on corporate culture faces internal struggles, it's unlikely that making employees take on more responsibility while prioritizing corporate secrecy and discouraging content criticism will improve morale.
Kristin Snyder is an editorial intern for dot.la. She previously interned with Tiger Oak Media and led the arts section for UCLA's Daily Bruin.
‘Raises’: Mahmee Secures $9.2M, Wave Financial Launches $60M Fund
Decerry Donato is dot.LA's Editorial Fellow. Prior to that, she was an editorial intern at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.
Venture Capital
Mahmee, an integrated care delivery platform for maternal and infant health that connects patients, health professionals, and healthcare organizations to increase access to prenatal and postpartum care, raised a $9.2 million Series A funding round led by Goldman Sachs.
FutureProof Technologies, a climate risk analytics platform, raised $6.5 million in capital led by AXIS Digital Ventures along with Innovation Endeavors and MS&AD Ventures.
Anja Health, a doctor-backed cord blood banking company, raised $4.5 million led by Alexis Ohanian's Seven Seven Six.
Funds
Wave Financial LLC, a digital asset investment management company, is launching a $60 million fund to deploy capital via cryptocurrency.
Raises is dot.LA’s weekly feature highlighting venture capital funding news across Southern California’s tech and startup ecosystem. Please send fundraising news to Decerry Donato (decerrydonato@dot.la).
Decerry Donato is dot.LA's Editorial Fellow. Prior to that, she was an editorial intern at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.