FOTD -- December 19, 2011 (Rating 7.5) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: Today's image is named "Blobsville". The name refers to the blob-like things filling the frame. I have a kind of soft spot for blobs. Back in my impressionable years, one of my favorite movies was 'The Blob', a low-budget production that was filmed in a small Pennsylvania town not too far from here, and actually managed to rise above its low-budget status. The original blob was an oozing hunk of gelatin from somewhere in outer space that terrorized the town's teenagers until they finally convinced the local police that their town was actually being invaded by a puddle of raspberry jello. The disgusting creature was finally quick frozen by CO2 fire extinguishers as it terrorized the local diner, and dropped onto the arctic ice cap, where it presumably will stay until global warming melts the ice and it returns to life to terrorize towns like Barrow Alaska. Today's image will create no terror, though its rating of only 7-1/2 might bring disappointment. The generating expression combines Z^(-0.01) with 0.01 part of Z^(101) then adds (C) on each iteration. This unlikely combination creates a parent fractal that at first glance appears to be the expected circle of radius one with 100 tiny bays along its perimeter. A closer look however reveals some strange happenings around the edges. Today's scene lies in an unexpected valley inside the tiny bay along the X-axis at the eastern edge of the parent circle. (Other bays might have similar scenes. I haven't checked.) The image is a mixture of inside and outside parts, which are difficult to tell apart. The outside parts were rendered with a setting of 'tdis'; the inside parts, with a setting of 'fmod' and a proximity of 0.3. The calculation time of 1-1/2 minutes will be no problem. But to totally avoid the inconvenience of calculation, check the finished image on the official FOTD web site at: <http://www.crosscanpuzzles.com/Archives.html> To revel in the glories of high resolution, check at: <http://www.emarketingiseasy.com/TESTS/FOTD/jim_muths_fotd.html> The original FOTD web site, with every FOTD image and discussion since April 1997, may be accessed at: <http://www.Nahee.com/FOTD/> Today turned out notably average here at Fractal Central, with morning sunshine, afternoon clouds and a temperature that rose from 25F -4C at sunrise to an afternoon high of 45F +7C. The fractal cats complained that the sun vanished just as it was about to fall on their sun shelf in the southwest window. FL and I, the local humans, (though FL sometimes says I'm inhuman), spent the day wrapping up the serious work and preparing for the big day this coming Sunday. The next FOTD will appear in 24 hours. Until then, take care, and judging from the number of people who know of Santa Claus and the number who know of me, which of us has the greater reality? Jim Muth jimmuth@earthlink.net START PARAMETER FILE======================================= Blobsville { ; time=0:01:30.00 SF5 at 2000MHZ reset=2004 type=formula formulafile=basicer.frm formulaname=MandAutoCritInZ function=ident float=y center-mag=+0.03616934295/+0.03205863666/179572/1/\ 175/0 params=1/-0.01/0.01/101/0/0/0/0 periodicity=6 maxiter=1500 inside=fmod proximity=0.3 outside=tdis colors=000iWW_bVS_ONiMKtNDzKBvM9oL7hL6bL5YM3OJ3KM4\ HP131HA1PE3WNDbTMha_pjnutzuztdkc8kGDJZALdANjBQpCTt\ CUtCXtCUtDShGRYJPMIOHKNFKLBKK9KJ5KI3NNAQRFSVLU_RXb\ WZdYbhaflebhaag`ag`adWa`QaZNUXHNVCIY9E_6Ad57g88iC8\ lDPVOuTnraqljpdkoUkmKqmCztCzrCvqOkp`gtjbtrRtuImrPp\ eVbW`USaQPbOOdOKdNUEabIXuQ_0306M76E76M76M76M75K65K\ 65K65K65K65KI5KS6JR6JW6JL6JM6J76J76J76I76I76I76I76\ I76I76I75G65G75G75G77G77G76F66F66F66F66F66F66F66D6\ 6D66D66D66D66D66D65C56C56C56C56C56C56C55B45B45B46C\ 56C56C56C56C56C56C56C56C56C56B56B56B56B56B57C67C67\ B67B67B67B67B67B67B67967967967967967968A8898898898\ 898898898898888888888888888888888805804B04B03D02F0\ 1G00H00I00J00K00L01L01M01M01M11M11M11M11M12M12M12M\ 12M12M12M12M12M12N12N12O12O12P13P13Q13Q13R13R13S13\ S13T13T14U14U14V14V15W16W16X16X17Y17Y17Z18Z18_28_2\ 9`29`29a2Aa2Ab1Ab2Bc2Bc2B } 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=========================================