FOTD -- July 16, 2003 (Rating 7) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: Today's quickie image takes us to a midget on a filament of a larger midget lying on the x-axis of the Mandelbrot set. This larger midget is found just beyond the tip of the stem of the very large midget at -1,75. From a distance, the image reminds me of a star blazing brilliantly in the middle of a vast nothing- ness. I named it "First Light from Vega" accordingly. This star seemed appropriate, since it is bluish like the image, and passes directly overhead in the evening at this latitude at this time of year. Though the magnitude of the image demands arbitrary precision math, the magnitude lies just beyond the range of conventional math, and, aided by the x-axis symmetry, renders in only 5 minutes on my tired old P200 machine. I rated the image at a 7. Considering the less-than-three- minutes I spent on the coloring, the colors turned out surpris- ingly well. When the render time is figured in, the overall value rates 142. The most convenient way to see the image is to download it from the FOTD web site at: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> The fun way is to run the included parameter file. A muggy Wednesday brought several light showers to F.C. -- just enough to wet the grass and keep the dynamic duo's paws damp. Thursday was near perfect, and the duo made the most of it. Today looks to be near perfect again. The question is whether I will make the most of it. The next FOTD will appear in 24, 48, or 72 hours. If I ever get my other business caught up, the FOTD will resume its regular daily appearance. Until next time, take care, and are positivists positive of their positivism? Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START PARAMETER FILE======================================= FirstLightFromVega { ; time=0:04:54.78--SF5 on a P200 reset=2003 type=mandel passes=1 center-mag=-1.790327538975164063/0.0/1.365333e+014 params=0/0 float=y maxiter=1200 bailout=9 inside=0 logmap=127 symmetry=xaxis periodicity=10 colors=00070K80KA0KB0KC0KE0KF0KG1KI2KJ3KK4KJ5KI5KH\ 6JG6IF7HE7GD7FC8DB85A9A99F8AK7AP6AU9FZCKcFPhKUmP_r\ UewZkzgqzqwzzzzqxzhtzcpw_ltXhqXenXbjX`gT_hP_iLZkHZ\ lEZmGRsFTpEVmDXjCZgC`eBbbAc_9eX8gU8iS7kP6mM5oJ5pH3\ `T2Mm17o5UR8X3BZAEIHG1ON7QUDR`ISgOTmTUVLiCExGFvJGu\ MGtPHsSHrVIpYIo`JndKmgKljLjmLipMhsMgvNfyNepT`hYW`b\ RShMKmHCrC4w87wF9wLBwRDwXGwbIwhKwnMwtOwzQjqSZhYVeb\ RbhN_mJXrFUsEVtEWuEXvEYwDZxD_yD`zDazCbzCczCdzCdzDc\ zEbzFazG`zH_zIZzJYzKXzLWzMVzNUzOTzPSyQRwOQuNQsLPqK\ PoJOmHOkGNiENgDMeCMcALa9L_8LNg`MfcMefLdhLckKbnKapG\ osFloEjlDghDeeCbaB`ZAYWAWS9TP8RL7OI7MF8PH9SJ9VLAXN\ B_PBbRCdSCgUDjWElYEo_FraFtbEs`Er_DrZDqYDpWCpVCoUBo\ TBnRBmQAmPAlOAlNBmMCnMDoLEpLEqLHpKJqKLrJNsJQtJSuIU\ vIWwIZxH`yHbzGdzGgzGizFkzFmzFezEZzESzELzDEzD7zDCzA\ Gz8Kz6Oz4KzNGzeCzxGzrKzmOzhRzcSzcTzcUzcVzcWzcXzcXz\ cYzcZzc_zc`zcazcbzc_za5zJ } END PARAMETER FILE=========================================