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Coline Hodge on Bang With Friends Start And Apple Controversy

<p><div class="image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><p class="source">Downapp.com</p><p class="caption">Bangability scores on <keyword id="17297" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="down">Down</keyword></p></div></div></div>Down, the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bang-with-friends-is-down-2013-10">hook-up app formerly known as Bang With Friends</a>, is working on a feature that will show its users how "bangable" they are.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">The Bangability Score will work a lot like Klout. But instead of measuring social influence, it measures how many people would like to have sex with you. Unlike Klout, there can be no perfect score; the numbers don't stop at 100. Everyone who is graphed on Down, whether they're a registered user or not, is assigned a bangability score.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"></span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Company spokesperson Matt Slusarenko told Business Insider how the scores are calculated:</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">"While we can't give away all the elements to the bangability score (there's a little secret sauce to it that we are keeping close to the breast), we can say that its a combination of your views, personal network size and  get date / get down actions," he says. "We think it's a great way to compare yourself to friends, and we also use it in our matching algorithm."</span></p>
<p>Currently, Bangability scores are present on Down's website. The startup is currently working on bringing the scores to its mobile apps.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">According to Down, the world's most bangable guy lives in Brazil. His score skyrocketed after he changed his Facebook profile picture to one of Miley Cyrus with a man who looks just like him, Cheyne Thomas. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"></span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">The highest scoring female lives in London and has a bangability score over 40,000. </span></p>

Casual Sex App DOWN Is Working On A Klout-Like Score To Show How 'Bangable' You Are

<p>Colin Hodge, co-founder of the<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bang-with-friends-colin-hodge-interview-2013-6"> controversial sex app</a> "<a href="http://www.bangwithfriends.com/">Bang With Friends</a>" - now <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bang-with-friends-is-down-2013-10">relaunched as "Down"</a> - tells the story of how he got kicked out of Apple's headquarters after his app was banned from the App Store. Hodge shared this anecdote during a panel at <em>Business Insider</em>'s <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/event/startup2013">Startup 2013</a> last week. <strong>Click for sound.</strong></p>
<div style="display:none;" id="kalturavideoplaceholder">kalturavideoplaceholder</div>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Produced by Kamelia Angelova, Alana Kakoyiannis, and Will Wei.</em></p>

How 'Bang With Friends' Co-Founder Colin Hodge Almost Got Arrested At The Apple Headquarters

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The US announced a new weapons package that includes cluster munitions for Ukraine on Friday.</li><li>Cluster munitions are deadly and controversial, but they could boost Ukraine's counteroffensive.</li></ul><p>Ukraine has pressed the US for months to provide cluster munitions, highly lethal — and controversial — weapons, and now, after nearly 500 days of war, the US has finally agreed to send them.</p><p>The White House and Pentagon announced a new $800 million security assistance package for Ukraine on Friday that, for the first time, includes cluster munitions. Experts say these bombs will be useful to Kyiv's military in its grueling and bloody counteroffensive as its forces push against a sprawling network of Russian defenses. </p><p>"It's a significant additional capability that they don't currently have," Kurt Volker, the former US special representative for Ukraine negotiations and American ambassador to NATO, told Insider. "There's no single thing that's ever just a game-changer, but every little bit helps."</p><p>More than 16 months into Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine has a wide range of Western weapons at its disposal. These include UK-provided <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-adapted-himars-ukraine-storm-shadow-missiles-bring-fear-back-2023-5">Storm Shadow</a> cruise missiles — hailed by officials for their battlefield success — and German-made Leopard 2 tanks, which have given Ukrainian forces greater firepower and mobility on the ground.</p><p>Movement on F-16 fighter jets and Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) could eventually prove promising as well. But as Ukraine enters the second month of its counteroffensive and continues to make small territorial gains in the occupied eastern and southern regions, cluster munitions could be heavy hitters at a time when Ukraine needs all the combat power it can muster, experts say.</p><p>Cluster munitions can be dropped from the air or fired as artillery and deal damage over a larger area. Ukraine's forces would be able to rain destruction down on Russians, eliminating more threats while consuming less ammunition. These munitions could be an advantage in the ongoing artillery fight in which Ukraine has at times found itself outgunned and a useful tool for clearing fortifications.</p><p>Though contentious, Friday's announcement is not necessarily a surprising move, said Federico Borsari, a fellow with the transatlantic defense and security program at the Center for European Policy Analysis. The US and Ukraine have long-discussed the possibility of using these munitions. But it's also not an easy decision "considering several ethical and political implications for these decisions," he said. </p><div type="image" title="A man stands next to cluster bomb carriers he collected from his fields in a village Zelenyj Hai, Ukraine, 11th of November 2022" height="2666" width="4000" msid="101582043" hostid="261"></div><p>The weapons first saw major use in World War II as German-made "butterfly bombs" hit the battlefield and became standard munitions in the later part of the 20th century.</p><p>Modern cluster bombs are canisters that carry dozens of little bomblets inside and can be ground-launched as missiles or artillery or dropped from aircraft. In this case, the US is sending Ukraine 155 millimeter artillery shells called dual-purpose improved conventional munitions (DPICMs), which break apart and scatter smaller explosives over a large area. Because these submunitions cover lots of ground, it allows them to threaten several enemy positions at once, which can quickly overwhelm and wreak havoc. </p><p>The munitions could be especially "devastating against Russians in trenches that don't have overhead cover," said Ben Hodges, a retired lieutenant general who headed US Army Europe. "And they'll be devastating against any Russian artillery that is spotted and within range." </p><p>Some cluster bomb canisters, like the air-launched Mk 20 Rockeye, also known as the CBU-100, can contain hundreds of bomblets and "will spread across a territory based on the altitude," Borsari said. "And this type of capability is very useful especially against armored vehicles and tanks." And any munition fired by a 155 millimeter Howitzer cannon, like the M864, will be useful for hitting armor or personnel targets, he added. </p><p>But cluster bombs won't be a silver bullet for Ukraine's counteroffensive against fortified Russian defenses. Ukraine will need to use them carefully in order to avoid adding more unexploded bombs to Russian minefields, and any area riddled with cluster bombs is basically a dead man's zone for both Kyiv and Moscow's forces, Borsari added. </p><h2>Indiscriminate risk to civilians</h2><p>Ukraine has long been asking the US for cluster bombs, but there hasn't been much movement on the weapons until now due in part to widespread concerns about a higher-than-acceptable dud rate, which is to say that they sometimes fail to explode on impact and wind up posing a tremendous risk to civilians for years to come.</p><p>In 2008, 108 nations <a href="https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=IND&amp;mtdsg_no=XXVI-6&amp;chapter=26&amp;clang=_en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> the Convention on Cluster Munitions to prevent the use, transfer, or development of cluster bombs, citing the capacity for indiscriminate destruction spread over an area and how unexploded bombs threaten civilians. This came after the 2006 Lebanon War, during which Israeli forces were <a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-afghanistan-israel-syria-europe-4ac7b012f2b63567ffde368f65283921" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accused</a> of firing millions of cluster bombs into the country. </p><p>The bombs are currently banned in over 120 countries, including many NATO allies, because of concerns over potential civilian causalities. The US, Ukraine, and Russia, however, are not parties to agreements banning their use.</p><p><strong></strong></p><div type="image" title="The remains of artillery shells and missiles including cluster munitions are stored on December 18, 2022 in Toretsk, Ukraine." height="5656" width="8476" msid="101582044" hostid="261"></div><p>Due to their range and movement, cluster munitions can be unpredictable and hit outside their intended target. The bomblets that don't explode can remain active for years and effectively become landmines, posing major risks to civilian activities even after the fighting has ceased.</p><p>Advocacy groups such as Amnesty International have said that they deeply oppose the use of cluster munitions in Ukraine, calling them "an indiscriminate weapon that presents a grave threat to civilian lives, even long after a conflict has ended."</p><p>"Their transfer and use by any country under any circumstances is incompatible with international law. The Biden Administration must understand that any decision enabling the broader use of cluster bombs in this war will likely lead to one predictable outcome: the further death of civilians," the watchdog organization said in a statement on Thursday. </p><p>Human Rights Watch has previously <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hrw-ukraine-only-country-where-cluster-bombs-actively-being-used-2022-8">accused</a> both Russia and Ukraine of using cluster munitions in the war, with Russian use greatly exceeding usage by the Ukrainians. The organization observed <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/05/29/cluster-munition-use-russia-ukraine-war">Russia</a> using the explosives to attack civilian areas like schools and hospitals and that <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/07/06/ukraine-civilian-deaths-cluster-munitions">Ukraine</a> using the weapons in Russian-controlled areas in and around the eastern city of Izium last year.</p><p>During a White House briefing on Friday, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters that Ukraine has delivered written assurances that it will minimize use of the US-provided cluster bombs in areas where civilians could be located nearby. With the situation on the battlefield still very much fluid, Sullivan said it's an "ongoing" conversation about where the bombs can be deployed.</p><p>"The idea that Ukrainian men and women fighting for the armed forces of Ukraine want to willy nilly use these things in a way that are going to harm Ukrainian citizens, which is somewhat implied in the questions, I find at odds with their fundamental desire to protect their countrymen and their willingness to put their lives on the line to protect their countrymen," he added.</p><p>In announcing the new security package, Colin Kahl, the undersecretary of defense for policy, said on Friday that the dud rate for the American DPICMs is lower than that of Russia's munitions, specifically less than 2.35% compared to Russia's 30-40%.</p><p>"I'm as concerned about the humanitarian circumstance as anybody. But the worst thing for civilians in Ukraine is for Russia to win the war," Kahl said. "And so it's important that they don't."</p>

The US is finally giving Ukraine's military cluster munitions, deadly and controversial explosives that could be 'devastating' for Russia

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table lead-image-small"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>LiveAF is a social app that launched this week in the US. It hopes to give aspiring artists and influencers a platform for live-streaming and a way to launch their careers.&#xa0;</li><li>The company's CEO, Colin Hodge, is the founder of the casual-sex app <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/bang-with-friends">Bang With Friends</a>, which <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bang-with-friends-is-down-2013-10">rebranded to Down</a> in 2013 after a few controversies.</li><li>The app, branded as 17 Media in Taiwan, has signed thousands of streamers worldwide to contracts, which gives them a way to make an income from livestreaming and grow their fanbase on their way to "making it big."</li></ul><p>For aspiring content creators like Daisy Marchesi trying to make it big on social media, it can be difficult to break into the industry - especially when platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok often devote their resources to already-popular influencers.</p><p>Marchesi, who goes by the username <a href="https://www.instagram.com/dazedbabe/">"dazedbabe"</a> across social media, has had trouble finding a platform where she can best show off her skills as a contortionist and follow her dream of becoming a circus performer.</p><p>But then she was contacted by the team at <a href="http://17.media/">LiveAF</a>, a live video streaming app that was looking to launch in the US market.</p><p>"Other platforms didn't emphasize having the ability to showcase my talent, which is what draws me to LiveAF," Marchesi said in an email to Business Insider. "I've always been in love with circus performance: the talent, majesty, and magic of it. I'm basically getting paid to do a version of that, which is a dream come true for me."</p><p>LiveAF officially launched this month in the US (the name stands for "Live Artistic Freedom," before you make any assumptions). It's a rebrand of a live-streaming app that's incredibly popular in Asia called 17 Media, which has more than 40 million users worldwide. The app is now available for both <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/app/id988259048" target="_blank" rel="noopener">iOS</a> and <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.machipopo.media17" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Android</a> devices.</p><p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/app/id988259048"></a>LiveAF is essentially a platform to watch live-streamed content, where users and creators can interact through comments, "pokes," emoji reactions, and virtual "gifts." The platform is extremely gamified, so live-streams can get a little chaotic with all the icons and clickable items that pop up.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>LiveAF draws comparisons to live-streaming apps like <a href="https://www.younow.com/">YouNow</a>, <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/">Twitch</a>, and <a href="http://www.liveme.com/">LiveMe</a>. However, LiveAF's CEO Colin Hodge told Business Insider that LiveAF fills a void existing in the US app market, and provides a unique mix of features missing from those apps: it's more mainstream than Twitch's gaming-centric focus; LiveMe isn't so popular in the US; YouNow doesn't give streamers a clear way to profit from their content.</p><p>LiveAF says it puts a heavy focus on curating, then investing in, the streamers on the app. The app aims to feature aspiring actors, models, musicians, and personalities who want to "showcase their talents," Hodge said. The app's team talks to talent agencies and gets audition tapes to select their content creators. Chosen creators are then given contracts with LiveAF, which allows them to monetize their streaming and build a devoted fanbase, all in the interest of helping artists with "real career intentions."</p><p>"<span style="font-weight: 400;">Our goal is to make them bigger and help them along," Hodge said. "People assume you aren't making much money … but for us, even beginning stars are able to quit their day jobs."</span>&#xa0;</p><p>Over 10,000 content creators globally are signed on as LiveAF streamers. <span style="font-weight: 400;">Streamers are paid base salaries when they sign contracts, which say they agree to "exclusively" stream content on LiveAF's platform. Hodge says these base salaries vary by creator based on "talent and potential," and then creators can earn additional revenue based on user engagement and referrals to the app.</span></p><h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">'My plan is to be on as much as I possibly can'</span></h2><p>For the launch, LiveAF has started with 150 US-based content creators. One of them is <a href="https://www.instagram.com/jeiriscookmusic/">Jeiris Cook</a>, a singer and guitarist, who hopes the platform can help to supplement his income as an aspiring full-time musician.</p><p>"<span style="font-weight: 400;">My plan is to be on as much as I possibly can between gigs," Cook said. "Ultimately, I want to build a following and this is a good way to do it."</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Creators can choose how often they want to stream content, which they can also put on a public schedule so users are notified when their favorite streamers are about to go live. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Marchesi, the aspiring circus performer, streams for one to three hours a day. Although she's only in her second month of working with LiveAF and is still trying build her fanbase, she anticipates she'll be able to make a "full time income" at some point strictly from LiveAF streaming.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"LiveAF gives bonuses to streamers and invests in us," Marchesi said. "When I was trying out another platform prior to LiveAF, it was almost like they didn't want you to know you may be getting paid, and if you didn't mention it it wouldn't happen."</span></p><p>Content creators are given additional opportunities to garner fanbases with monthly contests, where streamers compete (based on a metric called engagement points) to win expensed trips, bonuses, and exclusive opportunities. Five streamers who recently won such a competition were featured on three billboards in Hollywood that advertised LiveAF.</p><p>One of these winners was Sayda Hartoonian, a model who goes by "Sayda Word" on social media. Unlike Marchesi, Hartoonian came to LiveAF with a pretty <a href="https://www.instagram.com/saydaword23/">significant Instagram following</a> already, but uses the streaming platform to better communicate with her fans.</p><p>"<span style="font-weight: 400;">I have formed a great bond with the community who watch my streams and we even sometimes use the term 'streaming family,'" Hartoonian told Business Insider. "I'm inspired by the idea of reaching more and more people and finding ways to make a difference in people's daily lives and provide comedic relief when needed."</span></p><h2>'Massive potential to blow up'</h2><p>LiveAF recently celebrated its US launch with an event in Los Angeles -&#xa0;where LiveAF's US operations are based - and invited the "who's who" of the digital influencer community. Hodge says he chose Los Angeles as the US hub, because it's home to "the <span style="font-weight: 400;">potential starlets of the future" that LiveAF wants on its app.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"All of them have that massive potential to blow up," Hodge said. "It's an even higher bar."</span></p><p>The launch was done in partnership with Arsenic, a talent agency advertised as "a community of models and creators."&#xa0;</p><p>In exploring LiveAF, there's something pretty noticeable about the app's most popular streamers (and of the launch party's guests): an overwhelming majority are incredibly attractive women ready-made to thrive on social media. Like popular fitness fanatics, fashion bloggers, and travelers on social media, these women are on track to become major "influencers" - a term that made both Marchesi and Hartoonian balk at.</p><p>But as many women online can attest to, this social media presence opens them up to explicit comments and abusive language from followers hiding behind their phone screens. The live-streaming aspect makes monitoring such behavior even more time-sensitive.&#xa0;</p><p>LiveAF doesn't allow for 1-on-1 chats for that exact reason, Hodge says. The app employs a 30-person team that's working 24/7 and watching "screens with tons of different streams on them" to monitor such behavior, Hodge says. Creators can report users and block them from their streams if needed.</p><p>Additionally, LiveAF also monitors the streamed content itself. The monitoring team watches for or anything streamed "in an especially dirty or sexy way." LiveAF does not sign anyone under 18 to ensure no underage laws could be broken, Hodge said.</p><p>"<span style="font-weight: 400;">We do have guidelines in place that are probably in line with PG-13 content," Hodge said in an email. "LiveAF is a positive, clean community, so we turn off NSFW content as soon as our monitoring team notices (which is usually pretty quickly)."</span></p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><h2>Road to LiveAF</h2><p>Before LiveAF, Hodge cofounded an app called Bang With Friends. The app launched in 2013 as a way to match people looking to hook up, but its success in attracting hundreds of thousands of users was marred by <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-bans-bang-with-friends-2013-5">a quick ban from Apple's app store</a> and a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/zynga-sues-bang-with-friends-for-trademark-infringement-2013-7">lawsuit from Zynga over</a> the "with friends" trademarked term.</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bang-with-friends-is-down-2013-10">The app was relaunched</a> under the name <a href="https://www.downapp.com/">Down</a>, and Hodge later sold the app to a Singaporean dating company.</p><p>That company soon merged with 17 Media, and Hodge was named chief growth officer for the merger's parent company, <a href="https://m17.asia/en/">M17 Entertainment</a>. The company, based out of Taiwan, <a href="https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/17-media#section-overview">has raised</a> more than $130 million - <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/paktor-parent-m17-entertainment-snags-25m-funding-from-madhead-ceo-others-112669/">its latest funding round</a> brought in $25 million.</p><p>The company projects a revenue of $180 million this year, Hodge says, which doubles its revenue posted in 2017.</p><div>    </div><div>    </div><div>    </div><div>    </div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/everything-wrong-usb-c-cables-explained-which-cable-2018-11">USB-C was supposed to be a universal connector - but it still has a lot of problems</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

The founder of casual sex app Bang With Friends is trying to launch the next generation of influencers with a new live-streaming app called LiveAF

<p>Colin Hodge, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bang-with-friends-colin-hodge-on-apple-2013-10">founder of "Bang With Friends,"</a> now relaunched as "Down," and Alexandra Chong, founder of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/lulu-ceo-alexandra-chong-rating-men-2013-10">women-only men rating app Lulu</a>, talk about what it's like to manage controversial <keyword id="6355231" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Sex">sex</keyword> <keyword id="6354741" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Apps">apps</keyword> during a panel at <em>Business Insider</em>'s <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/startup-2013">Startup 2013</a>.  <strong>Click for sound</strong>.</p>
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<p> </p>
<p><em>Produced by Kamelia Angelova, Alana Kakoyiannis and Will Wei</em></p>

How Sex Apps Like 'Bang With Friends' Get Funding

<p><div class="image-container float_right"><div class="image"><p class="source"><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/author/daniel-goodman">Dan Goodman/Business Insider</a></p></div></div><keyword id="1544387" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Bang-With-Friends">Bang With Friends</keyword>, the 1.2 million strong social network that lets you see which of your Facebook friends is "down to bang" is finally back in <keyword id="6354427" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Apple">Apple</keyword>'s App Store.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">If you miss being able to scour your Facebook connections looking for a one night stand with someone you already know, or if for some reason you thought you needed an app to do that, never fear! </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Bang With Friends has been absent from Apple's App Store for the past few months but it has finally gotten approval, under a new name, "Down". </span></p>
<p>"Guess who's back...back again!" reads an official email from Colin Hodge, the app's CEO and co-founder, titling their press release a behind-the-scenes look at their saga with Apple, who pulled the app just ten days after its mobile launch in May after citing objectionable content. </p>
<p>Bang with Friends, which launched earlier this year, had a simple premise: anonymously pick which of your Facebook friends you were interested in hooking up with and if they felt the same about you, the app would notify you both. Then it was up to you to either initiate or be satisfied with the knowledge of each other's interest; a perfect storm. Similar to Tinder, which markets itself as a dating app, Bang's purpose was to provide its users with a virtual gateway to sexual activity; a red-flag for Apple.</p>
<p>Another issue? Zynga, the social network game development company that created Words with Friends, filed a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/zynga-sues-bang-with-friends-for-trademark-infringement-2013-7">lawsuit against Hodge</a> back in July for infringing on its "with friends" trademark.</p>
<p>As of yesterday, the app returned with a new identity - "Down" - encouraging you to once again anonymously browse through your Facebook friends, this time in a G-rated fashion.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In an official statement provided to Business Insider, Hodge explains "Down", still referring to it as BWF, as Google had no qualms with the original app which still remains in the Android Google Play Store.</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #000000;">BWF is all about honest intents and cutting through the bullshit.  With that in mind, we're trying out an option to hang with your friend first.  So if you're more interested or comfortable with saying you're "Up for Hang"ing with your friend instead of saying "I'm Down" (to bang) with your friend, you can say so!</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #000000;">In other words, users can opt to be even more passive aggressive by using this third party app to notify someone they are already friends with that they would like to hang out as friends. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #000000;">Hodge even discloses some pro-tips, saying in the wake of Apple's pulling Bang With Friends from their store, he drove to their headquarters in an attempt to get a meeting with someone in their app policy department. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #000000;">"This didn't work for us," he said in his statement, "it only resulted in threats to call the police."</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #000000;">Guess Apple wasn't down.</span></p>

Bang With Friends Has Cleaned Up Its Act, Returning To Apple's App Store Under A New Name

<p><div class="image-container float_right" style="width:620px"><div class="image"><p class="source">Business Insider</p><p class="caption">Colin Hodge, Co-Founder &amp; CEO, "Bang With Friends"</p></div></div>What do the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/12-offensive-controversial-apps-and-startups-2013-7" target="_blank">controversial and offensive apps</a> “RapGenius,” “Lulu,” “Tinder,” and “Bang With Friends” have in common?</p>
<p>Their founders are all speaking at Business Insider’s <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/event/startup2013">Startup Conference</a> in October. <strong>Ultra-Early-Bird Rates are expiring July 31st at 11:59pm, so <a href="http://businessinsider.ticketleap.com/startup-2013/" class="c7">get your tickets now!</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://businessinsider.ticketleap.com/startup-2013/">Join us for a day of learning</a> that will make you a better entrepreneur. You'll come away with the tools you need to propel your great idea into a fully-funded, successful venture. You'll also gather important contacts and inspiration.</p>
<p>Startup offers a jam-packed agenda with a morning full of classes from General Assembly — you'll have the opportunity to select your own curriculum from 15+ carefully-curated classes — and an afternoon of insights from top entrepreneurs and VCs, including:</p>
<ul>
<li>Kevin Colleran, <strong>General Catalyst</strong></li>
<li>Slava Rubin, <strong style="font-weight: 900;">indigogo</strong></li>
<li>Stu Elleman, <strong style="font-weight: 900;">RRE</strong></li>
<li>Eileen Burbidge, <strong style="font-weight: 900;">Passion Capital</strong></li>
<li>Bryan Goldberg, <strong style="font-weight: 900;">Bleacher Report</strong></li>
<li>Peter Koechley, <strong style="font-weight: 900;">Upworthy</strong></li>
<li>Jake Schwartz, <strong style="font-weight: 900;">General Assemb.ly</strong></li>
<li>John Frankel, <strong style="font-weight: 900;">FFvc</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Ultra-early-bird tickets expire 7/31, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/event/startup2013/tickets">so pick yours up now before the price goes up.</a></p>
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<p id="7538" class="graf--p graf--first"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><em>This is a post from Colin Hodge, the CEO of DOWN, formerly Bang With Friends. It was originally published on <a href="https://medium.com/@colinhodge">Medium</a> and being rerun with permission. </em></p>
<p class="graf--p graf--first">Perhaps you've seen this click-bait article by now?-?Mandy Len Catron's NY Times article <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/11/fashion/modern-love-to-fall-in-love-with-anyone-do-this.html" target="_blank" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/11/fashion/modern-love-to-fall-in-love-with-anyone-do-this.html">To Fall in Love With Anyone, Do This</a>. It revives psychologist Arthur Aron's carefully designed series of questions to make a couple fall in love. Spoiler alert: Mandy followed the guide herself and fell in love with her partner.</p>
<p id="b11c" class="graf--p graf--last">It's simple: three back-and-forth sets of 12 questions, which are progressively revealing, followed by an intimate four-minute eye-staring sesh. Maybe after reading this, you'll have the cojones or ovaries to give it a go yourself. The following is my true story from the trenches as the CEO of the dating app <a href="http://www.downapp.com/" target="_blank" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="http://www.DownApp.com">Down</a>.</p>
<p class="graf--p graf--last"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">I met Hanna on a flight back to SFO from Europe. I was stuck in the middle seat and running on a tweaked-out sleep schedule. She was conked out hard, so I had hours to ponder about the face behind her mysterious sleeping mask, which I assumed (hoped) doubled as a 50 Shades of Grey foreplay prop. When she stirred awake with about two hours left in the flight, I was pleasantly surprised by the woman behind the mask. We would both later confess that we seriously doubted our own abilities to attract anyone during that flight: she wasn't wearing makeup (actually a plus in my book) and my dimples were the only redeeming quality on a tired, sleepless face. We bantered for awhile and eventually came around to the defining moment: how would she react when I disclosed that I created "</span><a href="http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/044mxj/-bang-with-friends--app" target="_blank" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/044mxj/-bang-with-friends--app">Bang With Friends</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">" and still run the evolution of it, </span><a href="http://www.downapp.com/" target="_blank" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="http://www.downapp.com">Down</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">?</span></p>
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<p id="38a5" class="graf--p">I could fill a hooker's black book with the myriad of reactions I've had from that revelation, but that's for another post (coming soon). It turned out, Hanna had a very mature, sex-positive point of view and totally dug my work. We were getting along well, yet she seemed a little distracted. Even so, I couldn't help but think that <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">it</em> could finally happen?-?no, not the mile-high club (yet)?-?I could fall in love on a flight! Admit it: you secretly wish that the dreamboat strutting down the aisle squeezes in next to you in seat 18B. I have a theory that there are two types of people who are flying while single: those who are secretly hoping to meet that dreamy, serendipitous match…and those who are goddamn liars. The hopeful romantic in all of us flutters at the sight of a cute fellow passenger landing nearby.</p>
<p class="graf--p"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Due to her beckoning post-flight burrito and an admittedly large dose of grogginess, Hanna rushed off the flight without grabbing my phone number. She stalked me down on Facebook easily though, we briefly exchanged friendly salutations, and then went our separate ways, diving back into busy-body SF world. As I do whenever I make a new Facebook friend who catches my eye, I swiped down on Hanna in my app. It's a good habit to get into?-?trust me. Fast-forward a month and my phone tickles my thigh?-?it's that glorious match notification on Down.</span></p>
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<p id="2fac" class="graf--p graf--first">Our first date was steamy. Like a piping hot shower scene with Mila Kunis kind of steamy. We both felt extremely comfortable around each other and shared way more than usual for the typical first date. As the night wound down, she asked me to share my take on this '36 questions' article knocking about. After both expressing some curiosity, we tipsily agreed to try the exercise ourselves on our next date.</p>
<h2 id="7920" class="graf--h3">Round 1</h2>
<p class="graf--h3"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.5em; font-size: 15px;">It began with a dirty martini drowning three olives, and a happy hour brandy. Set one of the questions seemed almost too abstract. From "Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?" to "If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be?," these whimsical questions are open to interpretation and are meant to loosen your collective panties. My answers would change depending on my mood. For example, my answer for #4 may become more grandiose: "What would constitute a 'perfect' day for you?" In that moment, I said something along the lines of gathering my best friends from around the world, playing soccer, drinking games, then delving deep into conversations while comfortably dressed in my pjs. Maybe I'm a basic b--ch, but that sounds f---ing lovely. We powered through the first 12 questions, finishing at 95 minutes, two nursed drinks, and a notch more relaxed.</span></p>
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<h2 id="0065" class="graf--h3">Round 2: MEET UP FOR SOME KISSES!</h2>
<p class="graf--h3"><span style="font-size: 15px; color: #222222; line-height: 1.5em;">With our drinks reloaded, we dove into set two of the questions. Here's where they get deeper and some patterns start to emerge. Most answers added some great insight into each of our views on relationships with family and friends. I actually felt like I was repeating myself, especially with my answers on friendship. Still, we bonded on our similarities, like for #20, "What does friendship mean to you?" We both said that friendship means honesty and reliability: calling us out on fuck ups, celebrating successes, mutually dropping our guards to open up without pretension, and being consistently available?-?flakiness kills friendships. This round really built a strong bond between us in other ways, too: we alternated saying five positive characteristics about each other for #22, a great opportunity to stroke each other's… egos. Plus, Hanna won some brownie points for taking great care with the question about my mom, as she knew that my mom passed away when I was just </span><a href="http://youtu.be/0hiUuL5uTKc?t=1m33s" target="_blank" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="http://youtu.be/0hiUuL5uTKc?t=1m33s">a lowercase g</a><span style="font-size: 15px; color: #222222; line-height: 1.5em;">. By the end of this set, we weren't able to resist sneaking in kisses in between answers, and decided to tackle round three at my apartment instead of the sleepy bar. Total damage for the second round: 85 minutes, two more stiff libations, and plenty of smooches.</span></p>
<h3 id="e8d2" class="graf--h3">Round 3: WRAP IT UP!</h3>
<p id="82dc" class="graf--p">We walked hand-in-hand to my place and poured some more drinks; I slipped into my pajama pants, then instigated a visibly troubling dilemma for Hanna by offering a pair of PJs as well. In her own words, "I'm not sure I trust myself to go home soon if I take off my jeans…" She made the right choice and we sat face-to-face in our PJs on the couch in front of the delightfully cozy fireplace.</p>
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<p class="graf--p">Set three turned up the heat even more. The first sets of questions prepped us for some doozies, like #26: "Complete this sentence: 'I wish I had someone with whom I could share …'" Most of the questions in this set probe deeper than before and cement a level of trust. We shared embarrassing moments in our lives, the last time we cried in front of another person and alone, and what we would regret not saying if we were to die. Finally, we shared a problem we are currently facing and solicited each other's advice. I've seldom felt so liberated and comfortable, despite the inherit vulnerability of my answers.</p>
<p id="6f9b" class="graf--p graf--last">After these final dozen questions, we went for the finale?-?four minutes of gazing into each other's eyes. We are both the type to make solid eye contact when talking anyway, but this was a whole 'nother level. We expected the four minutes to feel like an eternity, yet the timer buzzed almost too soon. I could tell the exercise made Hanna uneasy and made it hard for her to concentrate. If you do this on your own, I recommend getting the initial minute or two of giggles, jokes, and funny faces out of the way, then starting your timer. Unlike the original article, I didn't feel like I was gazing into Hanna's soul (whatever the hell that means), but we definitely grew more and more anxious to end the exercise and get started on exercise of a different type…</p>
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<p id="7336" class="graf--p graf--first">So, what's done is done. After completing the 36 question quiz and the staring contest, <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">I'm happy to announce that I'm getting married! </strong></p>
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<p id="7f29" class="graf--p">… Just not quite yet. Most people tell me that they expect me to be a bachelor late into life, living the oft-assumed crazy lifestyle of the CEO of Down. The truth is that I've always wanted to get married, but I approach marriage with an abundance of caution. Take a large heaping of divorced parents fighting for years, add in a generous amount of cynicism from seeing peers' marriages fall apart, and top it off with a pinch of doubt in monogamy's place within Western cultures?-?What you get is the perfect recipe for matrimony skepticism.</p>
<p id="aca7" class="graf--p graf--last">Yet, I'm looking forward to forming a lifelong bond with an extraordinary partner: taking care of each other, growing with each other, and devoting our lives to becoming the best versions of ourselves, together. <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">I am getting married?-?someday</em>. <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">For now, I'm not sure where Hanna and I will take our nascent and undefined relationship. But, I'm already grateful that we shared so openly and deeply, with some help from this silly guide to falling in love.</span></p>
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