FOTD -- April 26, 2008 (Rating 8.5) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: In today's paper I saw a column about a comedian who made fun of the pope on his recent visit to america. The columnist thought it was an inappropriate thing to do, and commented that such mockery could weaken or destroy someone's faith in the existence of God, a belief that makes life endurable, and without which we would face the specter of meaninglessness and oblivion. When I read this, I smiled and thought, "if one's faith is so weak that it could be thrown into doubt by a second-rate comedian, that doubter should already be considered an Atheist." (Atheists get along well enough without faith in a supernatural God, BTW, but they substitute faith in science and reason for faith in God.) I am promoting neither Atheism nor Theism. I am merely telling my thoughts about a newspaper column. IMO, the evidence, or lack thereof, is equally unconvincing on both sides. But what I am promoting is fractals. And today we have one that came about when 0.8 parts of Z^sqrt(3) was subtracted from 0.8 parts of Z^sqrt(2) and C was added. The parent fractal closely resembles a Mandelbrot set rotated 180 degrees. But a closer examination shows that both the east and west sides along the X-axis of this parent are much changed. The main stem has degenerated into little more than a tiny nub, and East Valley has broadened into a wedge. Today's scene lies near the northern edge of this eastern (western) wedge. I named the image "Mix and Match Them". I had a reason when I gave it this name, but I have since lost track of the reason. Regardless, it's a very unusual image, especially for one that calculates in only 46-3/4 seconds, and well worth the small bit of effort needed to see it. The rating of 8.5 is well-earned. Almost no effort will be needed to visit the FOTD web site at: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> and enjoy the completed image there. A thin veil of clouds made Friday less than perfect at Fractal Central, but the temperature of 77F 25C and blossoming trees gave compensation for the weaker sun. The fractal cats agreed. My day was appropriately busy. The next wonderful FOTD is due in 24 hours. Until then, take care and prepare. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START PARAMETER FILE======================================= Mix_and_Match_Them { ; time=0:01:15.85-SF5 on P4-2000 reset=2004 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm formulaname=MandAutoCritInZ function=ident inside=0 center-mag=-0.3488069853915473/+0.123787083556466/\ 57322/1/42.5/0 params=0.8/1.414/-0.8/1.732/0/0/0/0 float=y maxiter=2100 logmap=75 periodicity=10 colors=000878A78C78E78G78LDDPJHUOLYUPbZTfdYljapoev\ uizzmysgxlbveYuZTsSNjLIbEDX78T13Y14b15g16l17p18tK9\ xPAzUBzPCvKDrFEmAFm5Gm1Gh3Hd4Ie6Jf7Jf8KgALhBUiCcjE\ mjPzkGzlImmJcmKUlQSlWTlaVlgWdZSXROQIKIAGB2CD3DF4EH\ 5EJ5FL6GN7GP8HR8IT9IVAJXBKZBK`CLbDMdDMbGKaII_KHZMF\ XOEWQCUSBTU9RW8QY6P_5N_CM_JK_QJ_WI_bG_iF_pE_vIXuLV\ tOSsSQrVNqYLpaIodGngDmkBln8kq6jhFi`OiTXhLehDnhBofA\ pe9pd8qb7qa6r`5r_4sY3sX2tW1tV5pW9mWDjXGgXKdXO`YRYY\ VVYZSZaPZeL_iI_lF_pC`t9`w6`tBbrFdpJenNglSijWjh_lfc\ mdhoblq`prZttXxuYuqYrnZojZlgZic_f`_cX_`U`YR`VNaSKa\ PGaMDbJ9bG6bE3_H8XJDULIRNMOPRLRWIT`FVeOfgWriZskatm\ dtnguoiupfrqdorbls_itYfuWcvU`wRYxPVzNSzLQzNRzORzQU\ zRXzS_zUbzVezXhzYkzZnz`qzatzbwzczzdzzezzfzzgzzhzzi\ zzjzzkzzlzzmzznzzozzpzzqzzAzzCzzDzzEzzFzzGzzHzzIzz\ JzzKzzLzzMzzNzzLzzKzzIzzHzzFzzEzzDzzBzzAzz8zz7zz5z\ z4zz3zzczz_zzWzzTzzRzzPzz } frm:MandAutoCritInZ {; 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)+(p4)), 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=========================================