FOTD -- December 18, 2010 (Rating 6) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: Today's quickie image shows one of the perturbed Mandelbrot things that I call a 'ghost bud', which explains the name "Great Ghost-Bud". A ghost bud is the left over remnant of the intact bud that appears at the same spot in the un-perturbed M-set. (To see the bud of today's image in its true form, simply change the parameters to 0,0.) The rating of a 6 is all I could give the image. I was doing similar perturbed scenes almost 20 years ago, and there is very little shock value left in such images. (If indeed, there ever was any.) The scene of the action lies on the southern shore line of the main bay of the Mandelbrot set, just west of the large period-3 bud. The location may be a bit confusing because the image has been calculated upside-down. (In my opinion, the proper posi- tion for a bud is on top of or to the left of its valley.) The initial value of Z has been set to 0.3096,1.6056, which perturbs the appearance of the M-set. In fact, it nearly wipes it out. (For some reason the type=mandel actually initializes Z to the square root of the entered value. This is inaccurate, but if it were changed, the type=mandel images made with earlier versions of the program would no longer work.) Another curiosity of the parameter file is that the reset is set to zero. Resetting this value to the usual 2004 makes a small but noticeable change in the spacing of the color bands. Despite the extreme maxiter of 250,000, the type=mandel formula is so efficient that the image calculates in 28 seconds. The image may also be seen in finished form at: <http://www.emarketingiseasy.com/TESTS/FOTD/jim_muths_fotd.html> All the past FOTD images may be viewed at: <http://www.Nahee.com/FOTD/> though the site is probably not up to date. Some sun, some clouds and a temperature around 30F -1C here at Fractal Central on Friday brought some improvement to the area. The fractal cats spent most of the day sleeping by the heat, but the fractal cat Nicholas, who is usually quite friendly with strangers, lost a few points when he swore at a customer who dropped by in the afternoon and got a bit too familiar with him. The next FOTD is due in 24 hours. For all I know it will actually be ready on time. Until then, take care, and beware of synchronicity. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com START PARAMETER FILE======================================= Great_Ghost-Bud { ; time=0:00:28.16-SF5 on P4-2000 reset=0 type=mandel passes=1 center-mag=-0.2438\ 2329/-0.639263/476/1/-168.5/0 params=0.3096/1.6056 float=y maxiter=250000 bailout=100 logmap=yes colors=000BA0aoK`oK`oK_nK_nKZnKYnKYnKXmKXmKWmKVmKV\ mKUlLUlLTlLSlLSlLRkLRkLQkLPkLPjLOjLOjLNjLMjLMiMLiM\ LiMKiMJiMJhMIhMIhMHhMGhMGgMFgMFgMEgMEgMDfNDfNDeNDe\ NDdNDdNDcNDcNDbNDbNDaODaOD`OD`OD_OD_ODZODZOCYOCYOC\ XOCXPCWPCWPCVPCVPCUPCUPCTPCTPCSPCSQCRQCRQCQQCQQCQQ\ BPQBPQBOQBOQBNQBNRBMRBMRBLRBLRBKRBKRBJRBJRBIRBISBH\ SBHSAGSAGSAFSAFSAESAESADSADSACTACTABTABTAATAATA9TA\ 9TA8TA8TA8TC9UE9UF9UHAUIAUKAULAUNBUOBUQBUPCUPCUOCU\ OCUNDUQDUSDUVEUXEU_EUaEUdFUfFUiFUkFUkFUm2ck2cj2ch2\ cg2cf2cd2cc2cb2c`2c_2cZ2cX3cW4cV5cU5cT6cR7cQ8cQ8cQ\ 9cQAcPAcPBcOCcNDcMDcLEcJFcIFcHGcGHcFIcDIdCJeBKfAKg\ 9Li7Mk6Nm5No4Oq3Ps2Pu2Qw2Rx2Ry2Sz2Tz2Uz2Vz2Vz2Xz2X\ z2Yz2Zz2_z2`z2`z2az2cz2cz2dz2dz2fz2fz3gz4gz5gz6hz7\ hz8hz9hzAizBizCizDizEjzFjzGjzHjzIlzJnzKpzLrzMtzNvw\ OxzPyzQzzRzzSzzUzzWzzYzz_zzazzczzezzgzzizzkzznzzqz\ ztzzwzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz } END PARAMETER FILE=========================================