FOTD -- January 30, 2011 (Rating 6.5) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: Yesterday's scene was located in a side filament of the north- eastern period-10 bud on the main bay of the Mandelbrot set. Today's image is a close up of the 'star' on the main filament extending from that same bud. The color palette is a virtual repeat of yesterday's, with only a few minor changes. Once again, I rendered the scene with the outside set to 'tdis'. At this low magnitude the slow-down is still apparent, but with a calculation time of a mere 40 seconds, the delay is no problem. The rating of a 6-1/2 indicates that the image is worth at least a brief look, especially with a calculation time of 40 seconds. The name "Star of Ambiguity" implies that no one knows exactly what lies at the center of the 'star' in the image. Actually, the star has no limit, so all attempts to find what lies at its center are certain to be futile. The center always lies just beyond the limit of definition. With all the new-fangled programs inserting strange characters into text files, running parameter files from the internet can sometimes be tricky. The simplest way to avoid the problems caused by strange characters is to view the image already calcu- lated on the currently active FOTD web site at: <http://www.emarketingiseasy.com/TESTS/FOTD/jim_muths_fotd.html> The original web site, currently inactive, may be accessed at: <http://www.Nahee.com/FOTD/> Steady snow fell all day Saturday here at Fractal Central, while the temperature hovered around a reasonable 28F -2C. By night- fall about 3-1/2 inches or 9cm of fresh snow had piled up. As I cleared the fractal driveway, the fractal cats watched the action from their window shelf. They took to their warmer shelf over the heat when the outside show ended. My day was busy, mostly with keeping the fractal pavements cleaned and keeping the chicken soup coming for FL, who is back on her feet, but still not up to par. The next FOTD will be posted in 24 hours. Until then, take care, and if the theory of relativity is correct, one plus one does not always equal two. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com START PARAMETER FILE======================================= Star_of_Ambiguity { ; time=0:00:40.42-SF5 on P4-2000 reset=2004 type=mandel center-mag=+0.33481377/\ +0.04702896/1696 params=0/0 float=y maxiter=24000 bailout=9 inside=0 outside=tdis periodicity=6 colors=000jjGkkJklMlmPlnTmoWmpZnqanrdoshcccwwzmmmh\ hhUUU3A6UUU68C77E87H96JA5MB5PC4RD3UE3WJ9YOF_SKaXQc\ aVde`fjehokjspknmhjjefgbbd`ZbYV_VRXTNUQJSNFPLBMI7J\ F3HD7FHAEKDDNFCQHBSJBULAWN9ZP9`R8bT7dV7gX6iZ5k`5mb\ 9lcDkdGjeKifNigRhhVgjYfkaeldemhdnlcoobpsaqvaru`ru_\ stZstZttYtsXusWusWvrVvrUwqTwqTxqSxpRypQypQunTrlVnj\ XkhZgf`ddb`bdY`fZ_e__d`_daZcbZccZbdZa`OaaO`bO`cO_d\ NZeMZfLYgKYfNVeLSdKPfJMgIJgHHfGEfFB`E8_D5ZC2ZB0_C2\ `D4aE6bF8cGAdHBeIDfJFgKHmLJnMKoNMpYOqZQr_Sr_TncVjg\ XfkZbt`_xaXv_UuZRtYOsWLrVIlUFkTIiWKhYNg`PebSddUcgX\ biZ`ka_ncZpfXrhWukVwmUyjTvhSteSrcRpaRnZQlXQiUPgSPe\ QOcNOaLN_JNYKT`LZcMdfNihOokPunQzpSvqUsqVpqXmqYir_f\ r`crb`rdYreUsgRshOsjLskIshHmeHgcHa`HXYGRWGLTGFRGAN\ JJKLSGN_DPhARpDRkGRgJRcLR_ORWRRSUROWRKZRGaRCcR8QHO\ C7b9Da7Ia5Oa3Ta6V`8X_BYZD_ZFaYIbXKdWMeW8m8G_OOMbV8\ qU7pU7pT6oT6oiiGihCih9jiD } END PARAMETER FILE=========================================