Monthly Archives: February 2017

Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office investigating fake Facebook page – WBRZ

Posted: February 10, 2017 at 3:31 am

ASCENSION The Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office is looking for the individual responsible for creating a fake sheriff's office page on Facebook.

The page claims to belong to the Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office. It uses an official logo, however the page is filled with posts of false information.

Officials say the page can cause a serious problem for residents in the parish.

"I think this can turn into a real big problem because people will start following that page and believe in that page and with social media, rumors kinda get out there and spread in matter of seconds," Allison Hudson, of the Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office, said.

The difference between the fake page and real page is an apostrophe. The real page reads: Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office, while the fake one reads: The Ascension Parish Sheriffs Office. The fake page also does not have a check mark next to it, which Facebook uses to show a verified account.

One resident, Karisti Fowler, said that she follows the Facebook page and relies on it to stay informed.

"If the person that did it, gives out the wrong information, that could hurt somebody," Fowler said.

Officials say that the fake page is reposting official messages from the real page, along with fake information.

"Fake messages, fake stories that did not happen here. What we are not sure of is if they are sending messages asking for any type of money," Hudson said.

The sheriff's office has issued Facebook a search warrant and an order to take the page down, however as of the posting of this story, the page still exists.

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Contestants Chosen for 2017 Ascension Idol Competition – TheCreole.com (press release) (blog)

Posted: at 3:31 am

Gearing up for the 7th year, Ascension Idol has chosen the contestants for the 2017 Ascension Idol Competition.

Auditions were held on February 2nd, where judges selected the 16 competitors that will by vying for the title of Ascension Idol 2017 Champion.

This years contestants are:

The competition will be held on Friday, February 24th starting at 7PM at the Lamar Dixon Expo Center Trademart Building. The event will be hosted my Matt Pryor and 2014 Miss Louisiana Lacey Sanchez; and judges will be Alison Duboc, Clayton Decoteau, Julie Jones and Mike Waguespack.

The Champion will take home a $1,000 Cash Prize, Second Place will win a Samsung Smart HDTV and Third Place will enjoy Beats by Dr. Dre Headphones.

We are excited to be able to move the event to a larger venue at Lamar Dixon as last years event sold out, Ascension Fund Executive Director Jennifer deFrances said. Of course, none of this would be possible without the support of our sponsors: Alisons World of Music, Air Products, CF Industries, Domain Architecture, EATEL, PotashCorp-Geismar, Shell, Smith Tank & Steel, St. Elizabeth Hospital, The Creole and Waguespack Insurance.

L to R: Ascension Idol Champions, 2015 Champion Madeline Ringwald, 2016 Champion Hannah Chiquelin, 2014 Champion Faith Carmouche.

Tickets are available http://www.ascensionidol.com VIP Front Section Seating is available for $20 per person, General Admission is $10 and Student Admission is $5.

Ascension Idol is an annual fundraiser benefitting the Ascension Fund, which provided its first teacher grants in 1992 and has since given more than 1,200 grants representing over $1.4 million in awards to area public schools and teachers.

For more information, contact Jennifer deFrances at 225.290.3322.

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FIP: Ascension Preview: What’s Next From Uncle John’s Friends? – FloSlam

Posted: at 3:31 am

FIP: Ascension Preview: What's Next From Uncle John's Friends?

Now the promotion is ready to build off the more successful moments from Everything Burns 2017 with Saturday's FIP: Ascension.

Your FloSlam subscriptiongets you access to both the live streamand replayof the event, as well as the previous day's Style Battle S1:E2. Signing up gets you access to theevent plus every other live event on our calendar AND our ever-expanding library of past pro wrestling cards.

Cage is a monster of a man, able to toss men around with a disturbing ease. However, he's also able to land standing moonsaults and shooting star presses, something that looks almost completely unnatural when done by a man of his size.

Yehi has held the title for over 250 days. However, he has never faced a challenge as great as Cage while defending his title.

Stone repeatedly challenged Davis to participate in a wrestling match, rather than engage in the no-rules tactics native to FIP. Then, after appealing to Davis to battle on the level, Stone scored the win by knocking out Davis with the help of a chain.

After his behavior at Everything Burns, Stone now has to face Davis again. This time, can Davis end the 250 day run of Stone as champion?

It's clear the group intends on causing havoc in and out of the FIP ring. But what have they got in store at Ascension? And WHO is Uncle John?

Hopefully fans get answers on Saturday night.

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Game Theory: Google tests AIs to see whether they’ll fight or work together – Neowin

Posted: at 3:31 am

Understanding how logical agents cooperate or fight, especially in the face of resource scarcity, is a fundamental problem for social scientists. This underpins both our foundation as a social species, and our modern day economy and geopolitics. But soon, this problem will also be at the heart of how we understand, control, and cooperate with artificially intelligent agents, and how they work among themselves.

Researchers inside of Googles AI DeepMind project wanted to know whether distinct artificial intelligence agents worked together or competed when faced with a problem. Doing this experiment would help scientists understand how our future networks of smart systems may work together.

The researchers pitted two AIs against each other in a couple of video games. In one game, called Gathering, the AIs had to gather as many apples as possible. They also had the option to shoot each other to temporarily take the opponent out of play. The results were intriguing as the two agents worked harmoniously until resources started to dwindle; at that point the AIs realized that temporarily disabling the opponent could give each of them an advantage and so started zapping the enemy. As scarcity increased so did conflict.

Interestingly enough, the researchers found that introducing a more powerful AI into the mix would result in more conflict even without the scarcity. Thats because the more powerful AI would find it easier to compute the necessary details, such as trajectory and speed, needed to shoot its opponent. So, it acted like a rational economic agent.

However, before you start preparing for Judgement Day, you should note that in the second game trial, called Wolfpack, the two AI systems had to closely collaborate to ensure victory. In this instance, the systems changed their behavior maximizing cooperation. And the more computationally powerful the AI, the more it cooperated.

The conclusions are fairly simple to draw, though they have extremely wide-ranging implications. The AIs will cooperate or fight depending on what suits them better, as rational economic agents. This idea might underpin the way we design our future AI and the methods we can use to control them, at least until they reach the singularity and develop superintelligence. Then were all doomed.

Source: DeepMind Via: Verge | AI image via Shutterstock

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What Will Space Exploration Look Like Under Trump? – Law Street Media (blog)

Posted: at 3:31 am

Politics ByAlec Siegel|February 9, 2017

While President Donald Trump seeks to build walls around the United States, his administration is pursuinga robust planwhen it comes to further frontierslike space. According to internal White House documents obtained by POLITICO, the Trump team is looking to encourage competition between Old Space (traditional contractors like Lockheed Martin and Boeing) and New Space (private firms like SpaceX and Blue Origin) to develop new technologies and pushthe boundaries of U.S. space exploration.

Trump has yet to name a NASA directora top contender is Republican Rep. Jim Bridenstine of Oklahomabut his administration is shooting for the stars: theyd like to see a return to the moon by 2020; space stations built and operated by private companies; and a return to the large-scale economic development of space, according to the internal documents.

During an October rally in Sanford, Florida, Trump gave the most recent public statement regarding his vision for space exploration: A cornerstone of my policy is we will substantially expand public private partnerships to maximize the amount of investment and funding that is available for space exploration and development, he said. This means launching and operating major space assets, right here, that employ thousands and spur innovation and fuel economic growth.

A major competition could be brewing between traditional space players and new, ambitious projects from private tech titans like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. NASA, which currently has an annual budget of $19 billion, could be in for budget cuts. And more government investment could be poured into private efforts like Musks SpaceX and Bezos Blue Origin.

According toa briefing the administration provided NASA during the transition period,Trump plans to see private American astronauts, on private space ships, circling the Moon by 2020; and private lunar landers staking out de facto property rights for American on the Moon, by 2020 as well. It wenton to instruct NASA on how it should direct its activities moving forward.NASAs new strategy will prioritize economic growth and the organic creation of new industries and private sector jobs, over exploration and other esoteric activities, it said.

However Trumps space strategy plays out, its clear that NASA will not necessarily be the nucleus of Americas forays beyond Earth. Former Rep. Robert Walker (R-PA) who helped draft Trumps space policy plans, and is currently involved in discussions on the plans, seesNASA as somewhat of the stalwart of a bygone era.There are billions of dollars at stake. It has come to a head now when it has become clear to the space community that the real innovative work is being done outside of NASA, he told POLITICO.

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When hes not working at Law Street hes either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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New NASA Leadership Inherits Rejuvenated Space Exploration Program – eNews Park Forest

Posted: at 3:31 am

An AtlasV rocket lifts off from Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, September 8, 2016. AP/Alex Sanz

Washington, D.C. (ENEWSPF)February 9, 2017. A new issue briefreleased by the Center for American Progress finds that there is a solid foundation for a rejuvenated and realistic space exploration program as NASA transitions to new leadership under the Trump administration. Under the leadership of former administrator Charles Bolden, NASA has made real strides over the past eight years toward historic missions into the solar system. The incoming leadership should resist the temptation to hit the reset button and undo the gains made by their predecessors.

NASAs big plans for space exploration in the coming decades rest securely on the foundation laid by Administrator Bolden over the past eight years, said Rudy deLeon, CAP Senior Fellow and co-author of the brief. At this exciting time, it would be very counterproductive to reassess the trajectory currently in place. If we as a nation are going to fulfill the goal of putting a human on Mars in the coming decades, it will be done squarely on the back of the gains of the past eight years. It would be a shame to squander this opportunity to achieve this truly historic accomplishment.

The brieffinds that NASA is poised to undertake a truly ambitious program of space exploration. Human missions to Mars and robotic exploration programs will only succeed under an overall approach that sticks to the plan set forth over the past decade rather than attempts to change the direction of NASAs priorities.

Click here to read the brief.

Source: http://americanprogress.org

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The psychedelic renaissance – Boulder Weekly

Posted: at 3:27 am

If you were a teenager in 1967, Berkeley was the place to be. The Summer of Love was beaming with a newfound madness, and for Dennis McKenna, it was too tempting to resist. A trip to Berkeley meant mischief and, if lucky, a psychedelic experience.

When McKenna arrived in Berkeley, he managed to get both. After acquiring a few tabs of acid from a stranger in Tilden Park, he and his friend headed to the woods in hopes of peeking through the doors of perception. Here, their civil behavior would self-destruct to give way for a more primal, archaic wildness.

We didnt have what I would call a mystical experience, he says. It was more like an evolutionary regression. We literally became like apes in the woods.

Although the experience wasnt quite what he expected, it was revelatory for McKenna. Bouncing around like a little child in the open expanse of the woods and swinging from the branches of trees was, oddly enough, a clue that the ultimate answers to life could be hiding in the strange portals of the psychedelic experience.

When people hear McKennas name, they usually associate it with his older brother, Terrence. Renown for being the intellectuals Timothy Leary, Terrence was a spokesman and advocate for psychedelics for many years, known as somewhat of an articulate rebel. His hypnotizing talks and poetic revelations swayed audiences of all kinds. However, though not in the spotlight like Terrence, McKenna has co-authored many books with him. He is the more scientific of the two, using facts more than stories in his work. Some of the most profound ideas talked about in True Hallucinations and The Invisible Landscape are a result of McKennas analysis, experiences and research.

As an ethnopharmacologist and research pharmacognosist, he has dedicated his life to the research of hallucinogens and psychedelics. He is also one of the founding directors of the Heffter Research Institute, a nonprofit organization investigating the therapeutic uses of psychedelic substances.

In his book, The Brothers Of The Screaming Abyss, Mckenna describes himself as a big picture kind of guy. Born in Paonia, Colorado, in 1950, at a young age, Dennis was not interested in the sort of questions that didnt lead to an ultimate understanding of reality. While his peers were playing outside, he was reading Scientific American and taking notes on the Encyclopedia Brittanica in the local library. This sort of intellectual passion, along with his experiences on acid in Berkeley, eventually led Mckenna into the Amazonian jungle, where hed test the limits of his own consciousness by experimenting with heavy doses of magic mushrooms and the Amazonian plant mixture, ayahuasca. After making this dive into the unknown, he has come back to share some of his wisdom.

Although psychedelic drugs are still categorized in Schedule 1 of the Drug Enforcement Agencys illegal substances, McKenna says that they are still being widely used in secret.

In our society at the moment, these drugs are finding their way back into society primarily along two channels: One is religious practice and the other is medical practice, he says.

Some religious groups are actually permitted to use these substances legally.

According to McKenna, society is in the midst of a psychedelic renaissance. According to a recent study out of Johns Hopkins University and New York University, psilocybin the active ingredient found in magic mushrooms has been shown to radically improve the positivity of people who are terminally ill with cancer. New research from Johns Hopkins and the University of Alabama also suggests that people who have a history of taking psychedelic drugs are less prone to have suicidal thoughts and are more psychologically healthy.

But psychedelics still hold the stigma of the 60s drug culture. Although a lot of great research with psychedelics was done in that time, it threatened the social order, McKenna says. As a result, the substances were unfairly banned.

All of these things in the 60s were pretty much prohibited in a very ill-considered way, he says. It was like lumping everything together and saying theyre all bad; they all cause altered states we dont like. But of course prohibition doesnt solve anything. They just went underground.

After nearly 50 years, Mckenna thinks that we are only now discovering the benefits and uses of these substances.

Here we are, almost coming to, say, 2020. Thatll be 50 years. We have only now figured out how to use them, he says.

One of the hallucinogenic plants to praise for the psychedelic comeback is McKennas self-proclaimed plant teacher, ayahuasca. This indigenous Amazonian plant, known for its hallucinogenic and healing properties, is seeing increased popularity around the world. According to Mckenna, the widespread use of substances like these is a good thing because it will evolve consciousness at a more rapid rate.

There are all kinds of communities now that are spontaneously appearing in the most unlikely places, he says. I think as people discover these plants, the plants themselves become a catalyst for this evolution of consciousness.

As we approach another turning point in American history, Mckenna continues to advocate psychedelics, as they provide a constant reminder that we arent the ones in control.

The big message from me is, with ayahuasca particularly: Remember you monkeys are not running this show, he says. We are not running this show. The plants, in fact, are running the show. And this is a good thing for us, because they are what is keeping life sustainable through photosynthesis.

For McKenna, psychedelics are no longer simply a catalysts for the counter-culture consciousness. The substances are beginning to be accepted as medicines to heal the afflictions of the mind, and tools to discover the ineffable worlds that the mystics and ancient shamans have long been exploiting.

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Arty Revives Trance Project Alpha 9 with the Inspiring The Night Is Ours – EDM Sauce

Posted: at 3:26 am

Electronic artists and producers often are shrouded in mystery. Some switch between multiple aliases, cover their face, and manage to stay anonymous for years and years into their career. However, every now and then an artist does the opposite, and breaks the 4th wall. They decide to connect with their fans on a vulnerable, personable level.

Days ago, Russian producer Arty did just that. He posted a long note on Facebook, describing his musical journey intimately, and his feelings around rising to stardom. The producer originally came to infamy in 2009 as Alpha 9, making flavorfultrance music. After retiring the alias 7 years ago, the DJ has gone on to produce big house and dance, with official remixes ofMoby, Porter Robinson,andLondon Grammer.

Looking back on this past year, he says that It was a year of re-discovering myself as an artist and as a person as well I [havent felt] myself so inspired and productive in a long time, and it was probably the first time I opened my eyes so wide I noticed how much my music was different from what Ive done in the past, and I felt like I had been neglecting my long-time fans and it didnt feel fair.

And so, Alpha 9 was re-born into 2017 with the luminous track The Night Is Ours. Long time fans of the musician will melt upon hearing the track. Its dreamy, introspective, uplifting, and rings in the essence of his trance roots. Even if youve never heard of him, the single is sure to inspire.

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Does Trance need to be saved? – Trance Hub (satire) (press release) (blog)

Posted: at 3:26 am

Recently, Gareth Emery released the music video for his new single with Standerwick and Haliene, Saving light. The video had a very powerful message and urges people to stand up against bullying and stand up against it. You can watch the video here :

The video received a mixed response. Many people could relate to it and it moved them. The loved the vocals and the fact that it stands for a cause.

A few days later, Gareth posted a picture in an attempt to encourage people to buy the track on beatport in order to make a trance track number one again.

This post received quite a bit of attention, positive enough to make the track reach the 2nd position on beatport, but it also received criticism from artists like Christopher Lawrence and John 00 Fleming who believe it is a gimmick for fame.

Here is what they had to say

While John 00 Fleming was not really in favour of the whole stint, he was openly vocal about it and posted about the same

On the other hand, Christopher Lawrence stated his opinion regarding the same, though he too is not in favour of it.

A few people did stand up for Gareth. Marwen Tlili, the label head of Armada musics sub label The Bearded Man tried to explain the cause to them.

Post all the criticism, this is what Gareth had to say

Well, what do you think? Does trance need saving? Or is it already in a good place? Let us know in the comments below!

Trance enthusiast. Armada Ambassador. Content writer. Im not afraid of 138! Making people give Trance a chance.

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6 Indian Acts to watch out for at Vh1 Supersonic – Trance Hub (satire) (press release) (blog)

Posted: at 3:26 am

In our last article we shared 6 International acts that really will make the ground at Laxmi Lawns shake, now here we have 6 Indian acts that will add the Desi Tadka to the Festival.India boasts of several amazing acts in all genres, and once again the Supercrew has managed to get all of these acts together and importantly include new names as well.So here we go, hoping we can do justice to the immense talent are country has.

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AshRoy:

I think 2017 really began with a bang for him, his talent has once again crossed the borders and he is representing India at one of the most prestigious festival in the world with Arjun Vagle, The Awakenings.Playing with all sides of the techno genre, he has achieved a lot of in his long illustrious 17 year career, which included the formation of the legendary group which we all know about, Jalebee Cartel. Little do people know Ash has played with biggies like Chemical Brothers, Prodigy & Richie Hawtin, which in its way is a huge achievement?

Tuhin Mehta

One of the most humble guy on the scene, Tuhin has completed twenty plus years in this industry, which is mammoth task considering how easy it is for modern day artists to burn out quickly. The creator of the famous duo BruteForce, Tuhin has moved to a new style but yet his music remains powerful & diverse and he carefully manages to act every element to keep people dancing.Tuhin is an avid Vinyl collector, and has an awesome collection to his name. On 11th Feb Tuhin & AshRoy are going B2b, May the force be with us that day.

Browncoat

This alias of Nawed Khan is getting talked about everywhere. His early morning set at 2016s Anjunadeep party was a truly enchanting experience.House music has always been a part of Nawed and it was time he wore this moniker and showcase his skills with those fat bass lines, powerful stabs & 80s synth. With Nikhil, Nawed has been crucial in creating radio shows like Together & Crave. A less known fact is that Nawed has some brilliant and groovy Bollywood remixes with his brothers to his name, which we still are a big fan off.

DJ SA

Imagine opening for acts like Akon, SnoopDogg, & Sean Kingston, sounds surreal isnt it? This is what Sanket Arjunwade boasts of, which makes him along with Sound Avatar the preacher for Bass, Trap & HipHop music in India.In a crowd of many, DJ SA has made a unique name for himself and has definitely taken this style of music to a different level in the country. On the personal side, he just got hitched and we at Trance Hub wish him a happy married life.

Zaeden :

At just 22 years of age, Sahil Sharma already has a track on Spinnin Recordings. Success came early to this lanky lad from Gurgaon, has he became the first Indian to feature of Hardwells podcast Hardwell on AirZaeden has already played at one of the biggest festivals in the world, Tomorrowland when he shared space with international superstar Borgeous. His fan-base is currently growing at an exponential rate while he drops his power thumping music at all major cities in the country. With a great future ahead, we are really curious on what lies next for him.

Collective Frequency

The list cannot be complete without some local flavour.Shrikant & Durgesh, are real-time trance lovers who during non playing hours are really amazing people to deal with. Having already opened for industry heavyweights Above & Beyond, they have been constantly on the scene with their uplifting & progressive sets on several radio shows or Doing opening duties for artists like Super8 & Tab & Ashley Wallbridge. We know what this appearance at Vh1 Supersonic means to them and wish them well for their set.

Look forward to see you all Vh1 Supersonic!

Co-Founder of Trance Hub, Curator of The Gathering events in India and ALT+TRANCE in Czech Republic. By day, a Digital Marketing Enthusiast with love for Food and Technology. By night, a dreamer who wants to grow the Trance scene in India.

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