FOEFD -- August 09, 2004 (Rating 4) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: Today's image shows a tiny midget in a remote valley of a sub-bud on the northwest shore of the main period-2 bud of the Mandelbrot set. It is everything that might be expected of a midget in this particular location, which really is not all that much. As I study the image, several questions come to mind. The first question is 'how can I attract a larger FOTD following if I keep admitting in the discussions that the FOTD fractals are not very good?' The next question is 'how can I claim that the fractals are good when I feel they are not?' The third question is 'how can I present good fractal images when I lack the time to find and develop them?' An unrelated question is 'how soon will the aliens from Alpha Centauri invade and take over the earth?' Considering all these fractal problems, I could rate today's image at only a lowly 4. As is always the case, with more time, I could have produced a better rendering of the scene. As for those aliens from outer space, the existence of which skeptics still doubt, only the government co-conspirators know when the invasion is coming and we will all be spirited off to the slave labor camps on the far side of the moon. I named today's image "Metaphysical Magic". After all, fractals are metaphysical, and a metaphysicist is a scientist doing rational science without the benefit of a laboratory. And now, the work is again piling up, and I find my thoughts wandering from the fractal topic. I guess this means it's time to post this FOEFD and get busy on other things. The overall worth of today's image is 97. The finished image can be found on the FOTD web site at: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> Perfect weather on Saturday and Sunday made the cats perfectly happy. They spent two long afternoons in the cool shade of the holly trees at the bottom of the yard. Today looks like a repeat, which will likely give them another good day in the yard. For me, the work is slowly yielding to persistent effort. The end is in sight, but it is still quite far off. The next FOEFD will appear in a few days. Until then, take care, and I sometimes wonder whether fractals have minds that can think rationally. I suspect they do not, but I am not certain. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START PARAMETER FILE======================================= Metaphysical_Magic { ; time=0:04:06.83--SF5 on a P200 reset=2003 type=mandel passes=1 center-mag=-1.21851062692924200/+0.159022894764565\ 60/1.326992e+010/1/-67.505189658390492/0.006498677\ 90712158749 params=0/0 float=y maxiter=25000 bailout=9 inside=0 logmap=4808 periodicity=10 colors=000d`mcbmcdmbfmbhmdinejnfkngknhlnimnkmoknom\ nonmoolnnknliligieefbcdZaaW_ZSYWQWURVXSUZTT`VUbWVd\ XVfZWh_Wj`XlbYncYpdZrf_tg_vh`xi`zdbw_cuWdsRfqMgnIh\ lDjj8kh4lfEcaNWXWOTeGOn8Jw0Fq0El0Dg0Db0CY0BT0BO0AJ\ 09E09D3BD5CC8DCAEBDFBFGAIHAKIDNLFPOISRKUUNXXPZ_Sab\ UcdTdgTdiSdlSdnRckQchPcePcbOb_NbXNbVMbSLbPKaMKaJJa\ GIaDIaBL`FN`IQ`LS`OV`RX`U__Xa__d_bf_ei_hk_keWg`TdV\ QaQNZLJVFGSADP5AMYGsXItWJtVKtULtTMuSNuROuQPuPQvORv\ NSvNTvPRmQQeSOYTNQVLIWKATLCRMDPNENOGLPHJQIHRJFSLDT\ MBUN9VO7WQ5XR3YS1YT3WU5VV6UW8TXASYBRZDQ_FP`GOaINbK\ McLLdNKePJfQIgSHcUG`WGXYFU_ERaENbDKdDGfCDhBAjB6lA3\ mA0iD2eF4aH6YK8UMAROCNQEJTGFUIBXK8ZLBXJDVIGTHIRGLQ\ FNOEQMDSKBVIAXH9_F8aD7dB6f95h84g9Fh9QiA`jAckBflCim\ DlnEooFrpGuqHwrIxsJytKzuLzvMzwNzxLzyKzzIzzHzzFzzEz\ zCzzBzz9zz8zz6zz5zz4zzBzzIzzPzzMzzKzzHzzFzzCzzAzzi\ zzgzzdzzazz_zzXzzVzzXzzZz } END PARAMETER FILE=========================================