FOTD -- February 02, 2012 (Rating 8.5) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: Today's image is a blast from the past, a slight tweaking of an image that appeared several years ago. The image was created by the MandelbrotMix3 formula, which mixes four powers of Z on each iteration instead of the two that the MandAutoCritInZ formula mixes. The big drawback of the MandelbrotMix3 formula is that a critical value of initial Z must be found by hand, and even using the graphic method, which can be done with Fractint, the task is laborious. The real(p5) parameter is the critical value of today's iterated expression. In today's image, 0.4 parts of Z^(1.8), two parts of Z^(-0.8), one negative part of straight Z and two parts of Z^(0.8) are all combined before (1/C) is added. This strange mixture draws a parent fractal that resembles a ragged figure 8 with a broad stripe of chaos running horizontally through it and an obvious Mandeloid in the center of the stripe. To find today's image however, I checked the jagged southern edge of the figure 8, where the minibrots are plentiful. Much of the blob-like effect was achieved by rendering the image with the inside set to 'bof60'. The rating of 8-1/2 is held back because the image is a recycled one. The name "Blobs in the Night" came to mind when the image reminded me of one of my favorite junky old sci-fi movies, 'The Blob'. With so much stuff to calculate on each iteration, the image takes 4-1/4 minutes to finish, which is a bit slow by FOTD standards. But once again the web sites ride to the rescue. Be prepared for rescue by viewing the finished image on the official FOTD web site at: <http://www.crosscanpuzzles.com/Archives.html> And view it in high-definition at: <http://www.emarketingiseasy.com/TESTS/FOTD/jim_muths_fotd.html> The entire history of the FOTD is available at: <http://www.Nahee.com/FOTD/> Too many clouds filled the sky here at Fractal Central today, which made the day less than perfect. The temperature of 43F +6C was mild enough, but the lack of sunshine kept the fractal cats in sulky moods. The humans, FL and I, had an uneventful routine day. I know it's dull to write about, but that's how everyday life on earth goes. The next FOTD will be posted in 24 hours. Until then, take care, and it appears that every weather event that happens turns into a sign of global warming. My opinion is that the world is indeed slowly growing warmer, but we can do nothing about it, so let's stop trying to pass more laws that will surely fail, and use our resources to prepare for the warmer environment that is sure to come. It will not be nearly as catastrophic as the doomsday prophets with political agendas would have us believe. (The ever-increasing numbers of humans are the real problem.) Jim Muth jimmuth@earthlink.net START PARAMETER FILE======================================= Blobs_in_the_Night { ; time=0:04:15.00 SF5 at 2000MHZ reset=2004 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm formulaname=MandelbrotMix3 function=recip passes=1 center-mag=-0.3431319198053787/-0.226238684265287/\ 1.850898e+008/1/-57.5/0 params=0.4/1.8/2/-0.8/-1/1\ /2/0.8/1.1003729163945/0 float=y maxiter=1800 inside=bof60 periodicity=6 colors=000RnBMsDIwEQ2HP2IP2JP2JO2KO2KO2LO2LN2MN2MN\ 2NN2NM2Ozzzvwzruzoszmqzkozimzhkzgizfgzeevdcrcanb`j\ a_f`Zc_X`ZWYYUWXSUVQSTOQRMOOKMLJKIJI000MJEMMCMPAMS\ 8MV7MW8MY9M_9NaANcANeBNfCNhCNjDNlDNnENoEPkHQgKScMT\ _PVWRWSUXPWWT`WWdW_iWbmWfrWkzWezS`zPTxMIwJ0vl`vjZu\ hXtfVsdTscRqaQo_QmYPkWOiUMhSIfQGdOEbMD`LC_KCYLCWMB\ UOBSPNQQPPRQNTRLUSJVTHWUGZWIcYKh_LmaNrcOveQzgSziTz\ kVzlWzn`oodlqihrmetrbuv_vzYtxXsvVrtUpsToqcnoclmckl\ cjjcihcgfcfececmcamb_maZm_XmZVmYTmXSmVRzURzSRzRQzQ\ QzOQzNQzLPzKPzJPzHOzGOzFOzDOzCNzANz9Nk8Mm6Mo5Mq4Mq\ 6Lq7Kq8Kq9JqBIqCIqDHqEGqFGqHFqIEqJEqKDqLCqNCqOBqPA\ qQAqR9qT8qU8qV7qW6qX6pZ5o_5n`4ma4mb3lc3kd2je2jf2lg\ 4ng6pg7rg9shBuhCwhEyhGzhHyfGxdGzcGzaGz`GzZFzYFzWFz\ VFzTFzSFzRKzROzQTzQXzP`zPezOizOmzNrzNvzNzzInzDbz8R\ z4Fz5Jz6Mz7Qz7Tz8Xz9_z9czAfzBjzBmzCqzDtzDwzGtzJqzL\ ozOlzQjzTgzQ3zV5z_6zd8ziA } frm:MandelbrotMix3 {; Jim Muth z=p5, c=fn1(pixel), a=real(p1), b=imag(p1), d=real(p2), f=imag(p2), g=real(p3), h=imag(p3), j=real(p4), k=imag(p4): z=(a*(z^b))+(d*(z^f))+(g*(z^h))+(j*(z^k))+c, |z| <= 100 } END PARAMETER FILE=========================================