FOTD -- May 02, 2003 (Rating 6) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: Today's image is a picture of just another midget, though a rather unusual one. The filaments surrounding the small central midget are some of the most intricately interconnected I have yet seen. They form a network almost as convoluted as the internet, and have inspired the name "A Networking Midget". The rather dull coloring held the rating to a 6. The parent fractal is an oversized thing created by combining negative portions of Z^(-0.9) and Z^(-9.5), then adding 1/C. Basically, it consists of a few irregular holes surrounded by an immense network of filaments. The filaments are filled with nodes, almost like a fractal internet. Today's scene is located on a filament deep in one of these star-like nodes. The ability to find fractals seems to work like skill at sports or music. One must constantly practice to keep in shape. During the past 2 months or so, while the FOTD has been on a once-per-week basis, my ability to find fractals seems to have suffered. Oh, I still know where to look, but the intuition that a good scene lies deep in a certain area of the parent seems to have vanished. I am sure that, as I continue to search for fractals every day, the intuition part of fractaling will soon return, but until it does, it is curious to be searching blindly, with my 'sixth sense' shut down. And I also noticed a letter from a disappointed FOTD fan yesterday. This fan saw the opening of the discussion, which read something like, "this is the moment fractal fans have been waiting for", and assumed I was announcing the release of the FOTD CD. Actually, the CD is basically finished. All the images and all the discussions are found and gathered. The only thing yet to be done is to change the names of the images so that the names correspond to the dates on which they appeared. If I could be satisfied with cryptic image names that can be matched with their discussions only with some effort, then the disk would be totally finished. I am working on the task of determining the dates and changing the names whenever I find the time. That truly glorious moment of CD completion is indeed within sight. Keep tuned. The big moment will soon arrive. Today's image requires 4 minutes to render from the attached parameter file. Time can be saved by downloading the completed GIF image from: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> or from: <http://sdboyd.dyndns.org/~sdboyd/fotd/index.html> The threatening rain never arrived on Thursday, and as a result, the Fractal Central watchcats had another splendid day on the porch and in the yard. The warm sun and temperature of 79F 26C was just what they needed to put them in a good mood. They got a bit skittish early in the afternoon when someone started hammering in the yard two doors up the hill, but soon realized there was no danger, and resumed their naps. Today is once again threatening rain. Hopefully, it will hold off until the duo finish their outdoor recreation. As for me, I've got a bit of work to accomplish, so until tomorrow, take care, and keep a stiff upper fractal. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START 20.0 PAR-FORMULA FILE================================ A_NetworkingMidget { ; time=0:04:09.75--SF5 on a P200 reset=2002 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm formulaname=MandelbrotMix4 function=recip passes=1 center-mag=-7.915378033606101/-31.14709243995971/7\ 911.543/1/40/1.15404776568350798e-008 params=-2.2/-0.9/-6.6/-9.5/0/0 float=y maxiter=750 inside=0 logmap=75 periodicity=10 colors=000KCJLCJLCKLBKMBKMBKMBKMBLMBLLALLALLAMLAMK\ AMLAMK9MK9NL9NL9NL9NL9NMAPNBROBTPCVQDXRDZXKcYPhZUm\ _Zr`cwacxbczcazd_zeYzeWzfUxgQwgMuhIshGqiFoiEmjDkjC\ ikCgkBflAel9dm8cm8an7`n6_o5Zo5Ym8YlAYkDXiFXhIXgKXe\ NWdPWcSWaUW`XWZZVYaVXcVVfVUhUTkURmUQpUPrUQpYQn`Rmc\ RkfSjiShlSgoWfiZfdbf_efVifQleLpeGseBwe6ze1P9AQCBQE\ BQGBQICQKCRNCRPCRRDRTDRVDSYES_ESaEScESeFThFTjFTlGT\ nGTpGTrG_jqWlpSmoPnnLomIplEqkBrkAoiAmhAkf9he9fc9db\ 9a`8__8YY8VX8TV7RU7OS7MR6KP6HO6FM6DL5AJ58I56G54F88\ GABHCEIEHJGKKJNLLQMNTNPWORZPUaQWdRYgS_jTamUZhXWcZU\ ZaRVcOQeMLhJGjHClGFiGIfGKcGNaGPZGSWGUUGXRGZOGaMGcJ\ GfGGhELgDPgCTgBYfBafAef9if9jeAjdBjcBkbCkaDk`Dk_ElZ\ ElYFlXGlWGmWHmVHmUImTJnSJnTKnUKnWLoYMo_MoaNocNmeOk\ gOiiOhkOfmPdoPbqPasP_uPYwQXyQVzQTzQRzRQzROzRMzRLzR\ MzSNzSNzSOzTOzTPzTPzUQzUQzURzVRzVSzVTzWTzWUzWUzXVz\ XVzXWzYWzYXzYXzZYzZYzZKzJ } frm:MandelbrotMix4 {; Jim Muth a=real(p1), b=imag(p1), d=real(p2), f=imag(p2), g=1/f, h=1/d, j=1/(f-b), z=(-a*b*g*h)^j, k=real(p3)+1, l=imag(p3)+100, c=fn1(pixel): z=k*((a*(z^b))+(d*(z^f)))+c, |z| < l } END 20.0 PAR-FORMULA FILE==================================