Not only is it dark in tone, it has an awesome dueling drum solo in it. What more could you ask for? Okay, it could have rich harmonies in it.

 

Under A Raging MoonRoger DaltreyUnder A Raging Moon

But college football starts up this weekend and pumpkin spice lattes are back at Starbucks so maybe the new season will inspire more writing. I recently looked at my blog roll and most everyone’s last post is a “I need to write more” post from two or three years ago.

Anyway, see ya on Facebook.

You can’t drop it in a Box and position the box in the Application because the size of the browser then adjusts to the size of the full image.

So how do you do it? Here’s a quick solution I found to have a large background horizontally centered and vertically aligned to the top of the page.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<mx:Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml" layout="vertical"
backgroundColor="#000000">

<!-- This is my large image, change it to your image -->

<mx:Image source="Assets/Images/Andromeda.jpg" includeInLayout="false"/>

<!-- Add your UI here -->

</mx:Application>

I haven’t had time to find a simple solution for aligning the image to the bottom, left or right. Feel free to post one if you have one.

UPDATE

I’ve had some issues with the background image set to “includeInLayout=’false’” displaying consistently when creation is complete — especially when using effects and transitions. Here is my solution:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<mx:Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml" layout="vertical"
creationComplete="init();" backgroundColor="#000000">

	<mx:Script>
		<![CDATA[
			private function init():void {
				bigBackground.includeInLayout = false;
				bigBackground.visible = true;
			}
		]]>
	</mx:Script>

	<mx:Image id="bigBackground" source="Assets/Images/Andromeda.jpg" visible="false"/>
	<!-- Add your UI here -->

</mx:Application>

But also being a Christian that is into apologetics (defending the faith), I can’t help but recognize that I get some of the same responses from people when I talk to them about Bigfoot as I do when I talk to people about God.

Here are some similarities that are shared by the two topics:

• The scientific community shuns any research regarding either
• The majority of evidence depends heavily on human testimony
• Any amount of circumstantial evidence is often countered with a ”reasonable” explanation that is impossible considering the whole of the account that occurred. Or it is dismissed because, “It just can’t be.”
• Both have people that are using their name for personal profit while dragging the name through the dirt
• Once the topic has been broached, it is quickly changed to something else. My friend Allan calls this the “Hey, lets go get some pizza” counter-tactic in Christian apologetics.

So while I’m sure everyone has their own opinions about either topic, if you’re a Christian that finds the topic of cryptozoology laughable and irrelavent, take this opportunity to sympathize with what non-Christians are thinking and feeling as you discuss Christ with them.

Let’s just get this out of the way first. If you read any online review of the book The Shack then you will inevitably see someone post a negative comment about the book. Then no matter how solid the points are and no matter how clearly they are stated, inevitably someone replies in the book’s defense by saying, “It’s just a fictional novel.” The points are not rebutted. The points are not challenged. They are dismissed by this one simple statement.

But, it is just fictional novel? The Pearl by Steinbeck is just a fictional novel. Nineteen Eighty Four by Orwell is just a fictional novel. Fahrenheit 451 by Bradbury is just a fictional novel. Yet no one can deny the great influence these books and many others have had on American culture and society. The arts either reflect culture or attempt to influence it. Do we as Christians look at any other book or art with such a standard? What Christian parent just hands their teenager The Catcher In The Rye by Salinger as says, “Eh, it’s just fiction”?

How is this now a valid excuse to ignore the content of a fictional novel that is speaking in the name of the Christian Godhead — especially when most of the promotions includes quotes like, “Reading The Shack has changed my life”? There is no question that this book is affecting people so the excuse that “it’s just a fictional novel” is self-defeating to the defense of the book’s own worth.

Now let’s look on a high level of how it it is effecting people. Somewhere in the vicinity of the “it’s just a novel” excuse you will also find someone defending the book by saying, “It’s just a story, not theology.” Or something similar to, “The story didn’t change my theology, it just changed how I view God.”

Let’s look at the definition of theology:

Theology: the study of religious faith, practice, and experience ; especially : the study of God and of God’s relation to the world

Based on the content of the book, the claim that “it’s just a story, not theology” is, by definition, false. When someone says, “the book changed the way they viewed God” they are, by definition, saying that the book changed their theology — not to mention their anthropology, soteriology, and their Christology. Believe it or not, we are all theologians. We all hold a view of God, a view of humanity, and a view of how they relate.

We will look into what view of God the book actually portrays is later, but one thing is for sure, The Shack is not being offered as mere fantasy or entertainment, so it cannot be placed outside of spiritual scrutiny just because it’s fiction.

<!--- Check to see if there is any XML to parse --->

<cfif form.xmlPledgeData NEQ ''>

    <!--- Parse the XML --->

    <cfset myXml = XmlParse(#form.xmlPledgeData#)>

    <cfset elementRoot = myXml.XmlRoot>

    <cfset myArray=ArrayNew(1)>

    <cfset myArray=elementRoot>

    <cfset recordCounter = ArrayLen(elementRoot.XmlChildren) />

</cfif>
<!--- Create a PDF. By not putting a document value it opens directly in the browser. --->

<cfdocument format="pdf" overwrite="yes">

    <cfdocumentsection>

    <!--- Import your print stylesheet --->

    <link rel="stylesheet" href="print.css" type="text/css" media="print" />

    <body>

        <h1>Fun Run Pledge Form</h1>

        <table>

            <tr>

                <th width="25%">Name:</th>

                <td width="25%"><cfoutput>#form.userName#</cfoutput></td>

                <th width="25%">Today's Date:</th>

                <td width="25%"><cfoutput>#DateFormat(Now(),'MM/DD/YYYY')#</cfoutput></td>

            </tr>

            <tr>

                <th>Total Pledges:</th>

                <td><cfoutput>#form.totalQuantity#</cfoutput></td>

                <th> Total Amount Pledged:</th>

                <td><cfoutput>#LSCurrencyFormat(form.totalAmount)#</cfoutput></td>

            </tr>

        </table>

        <table>

            <tr>

                <th>Name</th>

                <th>Phone Number</th>

                <th>Amount</th>

            </tr>

            <!--- Check to see if there is any XML to loop over --->

            <cfif form.xmlPledgeData NEQ ''>

                <cfloop FROM="1" TO="#recordCounter#" INDEX="i">

                    <tr>

                        <td><cfoutput>#myXml.PledgeList.Pledge[i].name#</cfoutput></td>

                        <td><cfoutput>#myXml.PledgeList.Pledge[i].phone#</cfoutput></td>

                        <td><cfoutput>#myXml.PledgeList.Pledge[i].amount#</cfoutput></td>

                    </tr>

                </cfloop>

            </cfif>

        </table>

    </body>

    </cfdocumentsection>

</cfdocument>

Yes, I still use tables, but only for tabular data as that is what they were originally designed for.

One other thing I noticed is the parsed XML is cast as a String and ColdFusion doesn’t allow you to recast it to a number (Val()). If you need to do more math in ColdFusion then there is a way to query the XML data and recast it there, but I just decided to format the data as Currency and Phone Numbers in ActionScript3  and just display it in ColdFusion.

Please don’t keep this from your children and act as if nothing is wrong. They are grown adults and there is a good chance they already suspect it anyway. Please don’t act as if you are protecting your children from something. They will have to deal with it whether you are aware of it or not. Please don’t feel embarrassed or ashamed to discuss this disease your children. No one is to blame here and time is short, use all of it for what it is worth.

Me? I let two years go by while I suspected that something was up with my mom. She didn’t want to talk about it and I guess I took the easy road by deciding to respect that. But by the time there was no way for her to deny it and a clinical diagnosis was given, too much valuable time was gone. And sadly, the opportunity to be able to carry on a conversation was gone by then too.

Instead of facing the future, enjoying the time we had, planning for what was to come, and being proactive, our time was spent trying to delicately dance around the subject while figuring out ways to protect her from this horrible disease without her knowledge. By the time we were forced to act on things like finances, medical, and legal issues her emotions were in such a delicate state from the disease that everything was a gamble as to if she could handle it or not.

I love my mom, and this is the way things have worked out in God’s plan. I write this to give you the perspective of someone who is a little further down the road so your children might have a little less to regret in the future. Go to the neurologist and be honest with them. Find out what the issue is and see if it’s anything else that can be helped. Then, if worse comes to worse, walk the road before you WITH your family.

I pray that I would have the strength to do this and would not be surprised if I eventually get the opportunity.

This is based on a hypothetical application where you enter information of people that pledge an amount of money for some sort of charity. You just enter a name, phone, and amount and it adds the data into an arrayCollection that is displayed in a datagrid. From there you hit a button to create a PDF — no databases involved. They just want a print out.

I know this would never happen with this kind of application in the real world but I had a different scenario where the data didn’t need to be stored and it seemed like a waste to store the data in a database just to go get it again, create a PDF, and then delete the data.

My example function assumes you have an arrayCollection called “acPledges”. You can find everything you need to know about that the bottom of this page (their arrayCollection is called “ac”): http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flex/quickstart/using_data_providers/

private function sendFormAndXML():void {

// Define the Root container and an XML list to go in it
var myXML:XML = <PledgeList></PledgeList>;
var myXMLList:XMLList = new XMLList;

// Loop over arrayCollection adding pledge data to the XML Root
for(var i:int;i<acPledges.length;i++) {
myXMLList = XMLList('<Pledge><Name>'+acPledges[i].name+'</Name>
   <Phone>'+acPledges[i].phone+'</Phone>
   <Amount>'+acPledges[i].amount+'</Amount></Pledge>');
myXML.appendChild(myXMLList);
}

//Export data as form
var url:String = "myPageThatCreatesPDF.cfm"; //url where the form is going
var variables:URLVariables = new URLVariables();
variables.userName        = txtUserName.text;
variables.totalAmount     = totalPledgeAmount;
variables.totalQuantity = totalPledgeQuantity;
variables.xmlPledgeData    = myXML.valueOf();
var request:URLRequest = new URLRequest(url);
request.method = URLRequestMethod.POST
request.data = variables;
navigateToURL(request);
}

Whether you’re using ColdFusion, PHP, or whatever type of page that the data is sent to, the variables are treated just like posted form data. I’ll save showing how to parse the XML in ColdFusion for another blog post.

Well, this is my declaration to get this thing going again. Not right at this moment though. I’m too tired to write anything of substance and I have some work to do for my day gig.

But I hope to bring a variety of content about what’s going on in my corner of the world and what I’ve been thinking about. I’d also like to compile some writing to possibly assemble into an online book. I’m gonna have work on my follow-through. I think I have the first two chapters of 50 books ready but that’s about it.

So use Facebook for what it’s good at — keeping people connected at the base level — but not at the expence of the care and nurture of your blog.

Sidenote: I don’t Twitter much but was wondering if anyone can say that Twitter killed their Facebook?

“You cannot force someone to love you. That’s how God is, He doesn’t force anyone to love him. Because that wouldn’t be true love. Forcing would be God entering your brain and rewiring it so that you think and act in a certain way. God never does that.”

If this is true, which of the following is true once Jesus returns and Christians are in their glorified bodies?

A) In order for true love to exist, the potential for them to freely sin and fall out of communion with God must remain.

B) God removes the option to sin by giving them glorified minds and His Spirit — essentially forcing them to worship Him by rewiring them to think and act a certain way.

My point is that many Christians are very comfortable with the idea of not having free will — just not right now.