FOTD -- June 23, 2005 (Rating 7) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: After re-reading today's discussion, I almost hit the delete key and wiped out the following five paragraphs, which are more political than fractal. But at the last second I withheld my finger and let the OT paragraphs stay. Those who are annoyed by political bluster should skip to the fractal discussion, which begins 6 paragraphs below. How can I possibly get the energy to produce a new FOTD almost every day? Why, after 17 years of playing with fractals, have I not grown bored with the chaotic things? Why don't I put more effort into being a proper fractal artist rather than a fractal explorer? Maybe I enjoy co-existing with nature as it is, and dislike trying to bend it to my desires. And why do I still use 15-year-old DOS programs, (Fractint and WordPerfect 5.1), to produce the FOTD, when the more modern Windows X.XX programs are so much more trendy? Maybe it's for the same reason that I don't have a web site and don't own a hand-held mobile telephone. (And how do I get along without these necessary things? -- Very well indeed!) Maybe some of the old ways of doing things were simply better. For example, there were once days when schools actually taught students the skills they need to be productive in our society. Fractal lady has a friend who teaches 7th grade in the Baltimore City school system, or perhaps I should say used to teach in the school system. She visited Fractal Central last evening and began talking about her situation. Her contract was not renewed because she was causing trouble by actually failing some of her students. She failed them because they had not done the work needed to pass. It is not that they tried to do the work and needed more help. They did not even try. In fact, on half the days they didn't even show up for class. She showed us a 5th-grade reader that was published in 1896, and compared it with the writing that her 7th-grade students had produced. The old 5th-grade reader looked like a present-day college-level text, while the writing her students had done would have been considered 2nd-grade level in 1896. None of this is new to me, but it certainly supports my conviction that something has gone wrong in the past century, and I doubt it is mankind who is growing less intelligent. Fractal lady's friend is a fine teacher, and has already found a position in another school system. As she was leaving F.C. I jokingly told her to use fractals to add a bit of interest to her next class. They certainly make life more interesting for me. For all I know, she actually might do it. To create today's FOTD I took just plain Z and subtracted the tiniest part of Z^1000 from it before adding C. Or one could say I took the tiniest negative part of Z^1000 and combined it with just plain Z before adding C. The result is the same -- a fractal with the nature of high-order Mandeloids but without the lacy effect. Today's scene is located on the positive X-axis of its parent, very near the origin. Due to the intense amber coloring, it rates a 7. When the time came to name the image, I could think of nothing that describes it, and left it without a name, the word "Un-Named" serving as a kind of name. The render time of 20 minutes is on the slow side. Relief is available on the FOTD web site at: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> A mixture of clouds and sun, and a temperature of 84F 29C kept the fractal cats busy taking it easy on Wednesday. In the evening, when distant thunder started grumbling and a short shower fell, the duo decided it was time to come inside. The threatening storm never materialized, and the cats celebrated by devouring a hefty treat of tuna. Today is starting sunny and cooler. It looks like another good day coming for the duo. For me, the work is picking up, but is not yet enough to conflict with the fractal exploration. The next FOTD will appear in 24 hours. Until then, take care, and do as you will. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START PARAMETER FILE======================================= Un-Named { ; time=0:20:14.08--SF6 on a P200 reset=2004 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm formulaname=MandelbrotMix4 function=ident passes=1 center-mag=+0.008635412561115/0/2.376094e+008/1/180 params=1/1/-0.001/1000/0/0 float=y maxiter=7200 inside=0 outside=tdis symmetry=xaxis periodicity=10 colors=000SXOTIJvITlDOb8J47sD5eL4SqcUVDFbE5Y8AzzPv\ c6pT9kKCTSdZNXedPkjGzz0zz0vkGt_VrOjpCyYb7PV7GN77G7\ HQKRZX`giWibSkXOmRKoLGqFCs98t3GnDNiMUdVa_dhVmoQvhU\ qaYmW`iPdeIhaCkYPh_`faldbghebkgYoiTrkEbq0OwkVphYie\ _cbbX_dRXfKUiERk7Pm1OhBOdLN`VNXcRJdU5eMG_EQV6_Q5aO\ 5cN5dL5fK5hJ5iH5kG5lF7jM9iTBh_DgeFflHesJdyUftdgpoh\ lzihZ`d8T`DXbI_dNbfRegWhi`kkdnlm_WuLFnIEgFDaCCVABP\ 7AI49C29HBIMKRQS_V`h_iqcqy_lwWhuScsP_rRdiSiaUnTVsL\ ZlQafVe`ZhVckOhoIlrCqu6usAuqEuoIumMukQuiUugYudQraI\ pZAmX2kIZ4LV5OS6RP7UM8XJ9ZG97JlVR4ZT8bUCfWGjXKnZOr\ _Sv`WoYVhVUbTUcXTd_SecRffQgjPgmOdoMaqL_sKXuIVwHSyG\ QzFUyGYyHayIeyJiyKmyLkxKiwJgvIevHcuGatF_tEYsDWrCUq\ BSqAQp9Oo8No7PZARJDW`6fZLkHN_RTP`YDjb2sgCacMK_V3WT\ 5UR7TQ9SJZdCwpRsoepnsmmar_LvMNhKPVId69RHGvUFgGFBAf\ G8_K6TP4MPRnm00f15_2ApUndGXh7f`5TNHGPCFR7F6kREXNMI\ JH_qj9Be7Ca6DX4ECifQzYRkT } 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 PARAMETER FILE=========================================