Troubadour

Whoa, this is gonna be so awesome. Starring Tom Cruise, directed by Steven Spielberg... You gotta check out the trailer. Go to War of the Worlds Official Website. Really sweet website too. So do you think this'll be a lot better than the first movie made off of the original H.G. Wells story? I for one think it's gonna be awesome. Anything Spielberg touches is gold in my book.

Oops, sorry 'bout that Nils. I'll be more careful next time.

Does anyone here know of any good, free online resources for learning ActionScript2.0 from a beginner's standpoint? I really would like to learn it, but I just can't find anything that's helped me out at all. I need something that starts me at the beginning and explains what everything means. I've Googled and Yahoo'd my brains out. Can anyone help me out here? Thanks...

As far as pixeldrawing... select the paintbrush tool>set the size to 1px>set the opacity to 100%>set the hardness to 100%>set the density to 100%>select a color from the color pallet and start happily drawing away. You should also zoom in using the zoom tool. To make a tansparent .gif - Go to File>Export>GIF Optimizer... A new window will come up. This is the GIF Optimizer window. Click the Transparency tab. Click the checkbox by Existing image or layer Transparency. This will leave the transparent sections of your image transparent. Next, click the Partial Transparency tab. Here, you can make several adjustments to how the partially transparent parts of your image will be displayed. These types of images have blurry edges or do not have a pixelated look, and fade into transparency. For best quality, I usually check the box next to Use full transparency for pixels below (value) % opacity and the box next to Yes, blend with the background color and choose a Blend Color to match the background that the image will be placed on. For an example, take a look at my signature image. I used the color white for my blend color. It's hard to distiguish from the light blues on this site. It is best to choose a color that closely matches the background the image will be placed on. Play around with the settings to find exactly what you're looking for.

Thanks a lot everyone! Based upon your revews and some others, I went ahead and bought the package. It was an all or nothing deal, so I had to but the whole thing. I'm just starting to learn how to use it and have been playing around with it, and I gotta say that I love it! I'm really glad I made this investment. So thank you to everyone that helped me out here!

Whoa... It almost scares me sometimes thinking about the guy that has to sit with his finger over the "big red button". (I'm speaking metaphorically here, of course.) To think that we as humans have only ourselves to rely on, that we must depend on eachother for survival... well, the idea just scares me. I'm glad we don't. If I had to deal with all the things that happen in my life alone, I think I would go insane. I'd definitely be a completely different person; a person I'm very glad that I'm not. It's not that I don't trust Humans, it's just... well yeah, I don't trust Humans. Don't get me wrong, I'm a very trusting person... but when it comes to governing the planet, keeping things in order, I flat don't trust anyone but God. That's just way too much for us to deal with I think. I've tried relying on my own power to handle the things I've faced in my life, and found myself lacking, but God was right there behind me to back me up when I turned to Him. It doesn't make it any easier, but He makes me feel comfortable with what's going on because I know that He's got a plan and is working for the good through it all. (Romans 8:28, Jeremiah 29:11) I'd go nuts if it was any other way.

Hey! That's a great analogy! I really like that one. Props to you MTF. You are absolutely right. Here we see a God that is al powerful, can choose what will happen should he wish to alter the course of the move/life, or simply allow it to take its course. I also think that God works through the things that happens for the better. God brings people closer to eachother and closer to Him. I think that God prepares us for the challenges we'll face further on in life by helping us through other challenges. This begs the question... were the tsunami just a small taste of what we may face in the future? Now that a bunch of governments are working together to find a system to predict earthquakes and tsunami, perhaps it's possible.

I don't mean to cause any offense, but speaking as a Christian firmly founded in my beliefs... there's no such thing as non-practicing Christians. Either you are a Christian or you aren't. I realize that this might bring up the debate of eternal salvation, but we'll tackle that maybe a bit later. What I'm saying is that Christianity is a lifestyle, not simply a form of beliefs. This is one reason why I struggle to call Christianity a religion. The term religion gives the idea of an organized corporation, something which Christianity is not. I've met people of other beliefs and would say that they also live a lifestyle based on their faith. Therefore, I come to the conclusion that there is a difference between what we call religion and what we live. Am I making sense here? I don't know, I guess this is harder to explain than I thought... Anyway, no such thing as non-practicing Christians. As I tried to establish above, Christianity is a lifestyle, so you either live it or you don't. I hope I don't come off as offensive here... sorry if I do.

Ahh, the classic Predestination debate... I don't even want to get started on that! I'll fry my brain just thinking about it. It comes down to this... a paradox of sorts... Yes, God is omniscient, He knows what's going to happen before it happens. However, God created us with free will, meaning we have a choice, a decision in what we do. But if God already knows, then how do we have a choice at all? Is our existence just pointless, doomed to follow what God has already predestined for us? But we have free will, so God can't control what we do. We reason and choose on our own... Ow, my brain. Again, this is futile for Humans to try to understand. We're trying to put into Human terms that which is not Human. It's impossible. I don't think anyone will ever understand this until they've passed on to the next life. Try as you may, you'll just end up with a very confused look on your face and migraine. I speak from experience.

Here is one part of the Bible that seems to make part of what you seem to be getting at MTF. In Genesis chapter 32, Esau is coming to meet his brother Jacob. These two guys have had somewhat of a mottled history you might say. So Esau, being the stronger one, makes Jacob very afraid. Jacob does just about everything he can to passify Esau and ensure his and his family's survival. While Jacob is waiting for Esau to show up, he wrestles with some dude until daybreak. Now before I go any further, let me say this... Obviously, English was not the first language the Word of God was written in. In Hebrew, there are lots of separate connotations and meanings for every word. I gotta hand it to the English translators for doing their absolute best to convey the ture meaning while maintaining a certain degree of literalism. But of course, when battling inferred meaning and literal meaning, something is going to be lost in the translation. Back to Genesis... Here, is a prime example of one of those words where the actual meaning is pretty hazy. In the passage, Jacob beats the dude he's wrestling with. As we know, God is omnipotent (all powerful). How then could a mere human defeat God? The word translated as "God" here is also found in Hosea 12:3-4 (I encourage you to look it up) where it is translated as "the Angel of the Lord". Some say that Jacob was wrestling only and Angel. Some say that God took on the form of an Angel. (maybe to make it fair... ) Whatever the case, I believe this proves both of our points in one form or another, MTF. Yes, some of the true meaning intended in the Word is lost due to translation and individual interpretation. I absolutely agree. However, taking the Bible as a whole can give one a general scope of God's message. When reading things in context, the intended meanings can be brought forth quite clearly. I don't think that God intends us to dwell on deatails. As far as the passage in John 1, this is absolutely dependent on the conext in which is was spoken/written. He says that "no one has ever seen God". Christians believe, as it says in the Bible, that Christ is God in the form of man. Therefore, many have seen God. Or you could argue that in Exodus, God tells Moses to hide behind a rock then God wil walk by and let Moses see his back. Obviously, anyone that goes to Heaven will see God. What really matters here is the point that the author is trying to make. I'll have to study it more to understand what that point is, but as of yet I've only taken a brief look at it. I would hope here that the one quoting scripture would be using it in some for of Biblical context or another. If they're speaking of the life of Jesus on this Earth, then using words that He has spoken are good. Or when teaching some sort of Biblical lesson, the passage and some of the surrounding passages should be used to support its meaning. I know that at the church I attend, when we read a verse that has something to do with the sermon, we also read the entire passage that it's contained in to get a general feel for what it's getting at. One last thing here... I just wanted to say thank you MTF! It's really great to be challenged in my faith, and in such a friendly way too! It's refreshing to review what it is I believe and why. So thanks.

Sadly, this is very true. All too often people take one look at the soapbox preachers and Bible thumpers and form their opinions simply on the extreme examples. This is also true with the other end of the spectrum. Many people call themselves Christians, but that of course does not mean they are. Such people say one thing and do another, the hypocrites you might say.I'd put such assupmtions on par with people stereotyping Muslims based upon the extremists that orchestrated such terrorist attacks as 9/11. I know several Muslims and I love them just as much as the next guy. That's what God calls us to do anyway. So, yes, as you say... we do get a bad wrap oft times. This is pretty classic, if you don't mind my saying so... No offense to you at all MTF. I'm very glad you brought this up. You see the Bible cannot, absolutely cannot be taken piece by piece. It is one whole book; one whole story. When you take two or three verses out of context and match them up together... you can get any meaning you could be looking for. This is what many atheists use as fuel to refute Christianity.Say I open up my Bible randomly and read the first verse my finger lands on... it says "And Judas went out into the field and hung himself." Then I close it and reopen it to another page. It might say, "And the LORD said, 'Now go and do the same.' " Pretty ridiculous, ya? I myself have not read the Bible entirely through, so I don't neccessarily have much room to talk here... but I'm working on that. What I'm getting at here is that each part of the Bible must be taken in context. Knowing what happened before and after each story has great significance on its meaning. Some may be metaphorical, some may be literal. Very confusing for all of us!

I will say that Photoshop is much more powerful tha Paint Shop Pro. But since I originally learned on PSP, I've always had kind of a soft spot for it. It's also quite affordable. So when I get the chance, I use Photoshop... but seeing as I'm just a meager, empty-walletted (is walletted even a real word ) college student, PSP fits my needs much better. I find that it does just fine for all my web graphics purposes. Plus I don't really mind the waits for high resolution projects. With enough skill and experience, even without all the canned tools on Photoshop, you can get the same look and quality on PSP. So in that light.... GO PSP!

Oh yeah! C.S. Lewis is a great author! I love his stuff... been reading it since childhood (Chronicles of Narnia). It's very interesting to me to learn about his own life and growth in his faith. He was a scholar and an athiest that set out to disprove Christianity. He looked to science, read through the Bible, read the Koran, the Tora, etc. Supposedly his research was quite extensive, though I can't speak for him myself. All I know is that at the end of his research he came to the ultimate conclusion that God does exist and that Jesus Christ is His son that died for our sins. He was a different man from then on and sought to further the Kingdom of God rather than try to tear it down. Great testimony and story!

I wonder... is it a well known fact that Switchfoot is a Christian band? I wouldn't know cuz I've been listening to them for years before they hit mainstream. I agree though! Switchfoot is awesome! They're really good in concert too. I've seen them open for a few more popular Christian bands way back when. Yeah, they rock. I definitely reccomend all of their stuff. Their older stuff is just as good as their new stuff... their only problem was publicity. No one big had ever heard of them, then one day, someone must have requested a song of theirs on popular radio, so the DJ dusted off their album and gave it a whirl... Then he's all like, "Dude! These guys are awesome!" Baddabing Baddaboom.

Thanks a bunch Heim! You've made a believer out of me. I'm currently in the process of learning to code, so I'm pretty much at a beginner's level when it comes to dynamic web page development. Well, anywho, thanks a bunch for the reviews and reccomendations, you've been a great help!

I'm really a Colts and Steelers fan. I just like the way that Manning and Rothlesburger play. Unfortunately, both teams kinda let me down in their playoff season this year. Anywho, I hate the Pats... so an enemy of my enemy is my friend. Go Eagles! I know they probably won't win, cuz their defense is'nt quite up to the caliber of the Patriots' offense... but whatever... there's always a chance right? Go Eagles

Hey yall, we got any diehard Guster fans out there? I've been listening to Guster for two years now and still can't get enough. They are by far my favorite band ever. So if you're a "Lover" like me, speak up! What's your favorite Guster song (or album) and why? What is your favorite Guster experience? * * * * * * * * * The best Guster experience I ever had was back home in Bloomington, Indiana. It was a big weekend on IU campus (Little 500 weekend), and one of the Frats hosted a concert and booked Guster! My friends and I went nuts and got tickets on the first day. So we get to this concert, and it's outside on the back lawn of this frat house and it's supposed to storm later that night. A couple cover bands played for couple hours, then it began to pour. Everybody was soaked and slipping around in the mud. They considered cancelling the concert and Guster hadn't even gotten on the stage yet. Everyone was screaming and booing... then Guster decided to step it up for their fans... They decided to play for us in the middle of a rainstorm. It was the best concert I've ever been to. The rain stopped for a while and was off and on for about 2 hours or so. We were all cold, covered in mud from the waist down, and soaked to the bone... but it was so worth it. I took forever to get the inside of my car clean.

I've got the chance to buy Macromedia Studio for 76% off... Anyone who's used these programs, could you give me a quick review of what I might expect from them? It'd help me out a lot. Thanks!

Well, getting back to the subject at hand... I personally don't think that God had anything to do with the tsunami in the way we would seem to think. Do I think that God is working through the tsunami disatster to further His kingdom? Absolutely.Here's my suggestion... just a suggestion mind you... Get a bible out, (preferably one you can understand... I like the NIV)... and read the book of Job. Job goes through huge trials and terrible disasters to his family and life as he knows it. God did not cause a single one of those things to happen to Job, he simply allowed them to happen because in the end it revealed God's true nature to Job and hopefully anyone who reads the text. It's one of my favorite books cuz the story is so crazy wierd.Oh yeah... Pete... Amen Brother.

Well, as for myself... I was raised in a Christian home by Christian parents. I've been exposed to Christianity all my life. Many would say that because of that, I am to be considered a Christian from the moment of birth (or conception... but that's an entirely new issue ) On the contrary... I absolutely believe that I did not become a Christian until I was about 16 years old. It was then that I relized how much I, a fallen man in a fallen world, need saving. "For the wages of sin is death." From there, I began developing a personal relationship with Christ. If this is something you have not experienced... well, it's a bit hard to explain. It all begins with a realization. We were born into a sinful world. All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. Sin is what divides us from God. Apart from God there is only death; just as there is no such thing as darkness, only the absence of light; no such thing as quiet, only absence of sound. So basically, we're screwed right? Great, just what I wanted to hear... because I'm a bad person, I go to Hell. What a great God... Wrong. This is where Jesus comes in...(a.k.a. the really cool part) God sends a child to a virgin. Meanin' this chick gets preagnant, but never did the horizontal mambo. Weird. An angel tells her that it's God's son... What? You must be outside yo mind. So she has this baby and names him Jesus. Somethin' funny 'bout this kid though, he never does anything wrong. He never sins. Now that just ain't natural. He grows up and starts teaching people all about these revolutionary ideas about loving your enemies, and not following the teachings of the day. He says to them that he is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God who the prophets said would come to free them. 'Course they're all thinkin' he's gonna free them from the Romans or take over the world for them so they can all live happily ever after... Instead, he frees them from sin... he frees us from sin. Jesus was accused by the authorities of the day of speaking blasphemy, or speaking against God, when in fact he was speaking for God. They hated him for it so much, that when given a choice between him and a ruthless, well-known, much-hated murderer... the people take the murderer. Jesus was beaten to a pulp, torn to shreds, had bones broken, mocked and humiliated, you name it... Then, they drove huge nails through his wrists and feet and hung him on a cross to die slowly like a common criminal... ...It was there that Christ won the greatest battle of all... the battle for our souls. Jesus took all the sins that have ever been committed and will be committed upon himself... and died with them. He took our place. Remember, we were supposed to die from our sins. He did it for us. This is so profound to me that I can't possibly begin to imagine what it truly means... and I'll probably never know until the day that I die. After three days, Christ came back. He came back from something no one could survive. He proved his victory over death. He then ascended to be with the Father, God, and left us with his spirit to guide us. Now, we don't have to die. Instead, God has granted us eternal life if we'll only accept Him as our savior. Christ lives... and here's some proof... Many of the world's religions acknowledge the existence of the man Jesus. They view him as a great teacher of moral values, nothing more. If he was so important and hated that the people would choose to set a terrible murderer free rather than him, then tell me something... When Christ's followers declared that he had risen from the dead, why didn't the leaders simply parade his corpse around in the streets to discredit them? Why did Christianity spread all around the world and is now a huge religion today? There's tons of things I could say here to try to prove to you the existence of Christ and his resurrection... but I think I've taken up enough room already... What I'm getting at is that this is what I believe and why I believe it. It's way bigger than anything I can amount to or even fathom for that matter. Simply based on what God has done in my life alone is proof enough for me. I know His word to be true. I know that my God is the one and only God. I know it because I live it and He lives in me. It's real easy for me to just type this out on a computer screen without ever looking you in the face, I admit that. But what I'm saying here is my true conviction. This is what my entire existence is based upon. If there's anything here that you are confused about or want to know more about... please, please talk to me or someone about it. I don't mean to scare anyone off. I know I can't answer all your questions, heck I'll probably just give you more... but I guess that's one of the side effects of trying to put into human terms that which is not human.

I'm a hardcore PSP fan... I started using it when version 5 was out and now own version 8. I've used Adobe's Photoshop as well and was very impressed, however, I truly believe that with the right skills and time dedication, you can get exactly the same quality images out of PSP.Just out of curiosity... to those that have used both version 8 and 9, what are the differences in the program? Any new features worthy enough to coax me into shelling out another $75 or so?