FOTD -- March 09, 2004 (Rating 7) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: After a three-day delay, today's image takes us into the oversized fractal that results when unlikely portions of Z^(-1.1) and Z^(-3.1) are combined and (1/C) is added. The parent fractal is an oversized thing, too large for the most interesting part to fit on the default screen. But one outzoom reveals two Mandeloids, sitting butt to butt, with their East Valleys connected by a most extraordinary filament. I have not yet examined the filament, which I suspect has the same appearance regardless of how deep one looks into it. What I did examine was the southern shoreline of the East Valley of the western Mandeloid. A short distance inland I found a network of lacy filaments, spotted with midgets resembling jewels on a string. The midgets are surrounded by the basic 'East Valley' patterns, but these 'brain-like' patterns are surrounded in turn by most interesting networks of filaments, a good example of which is illustrated in today's image. Extending southwest-northeast from the central midget is a lovely network of jeweled filaments like the filament network on which today's image lies. Extending northwest-southeast from the midget are filaments like those that connect the two large Mandeloids in the parent fractal. Most likely, in their depths, these filaments simply go on and on forever. I named the image "Jeweled Minibrot", which fairly well describes it. The unlucky-appearing render time of 13 minutes, 13.13 seconds is one of those unlikely statistical coincidences that happen now and then. But the image itself is worth a moderately high 7, and those who spend 13 minutes watching it slowly appear on their screens will be lucky indeed. They will be lucky because most machines now in use are faster than my old P200 unit, and will render the image in far less time. When the render time is considered, the overall value is 53. Those who download the finished GIF image from Paul's web site at: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> will save the most time, but miss some of the fun. The greatest weather excitement since the last FOTD came on Saturday afternoon, when an unexpected severe squall struck the harbor and flipped over a water taxi. Sunday was bright and chilly. Monday was cold and blustery, with occasional flurries of snow. The fractal cats did not appreciate the Monday condi- tions at all, and showed their disapproval by returning inside only a few minutes after going out. Today is starting in a similar manner. We'll see what the cats think of this. For me, the greatest amusement so far today came when I opened my e-mail box and found a spam letter with a subject line telling me that the sender had gotten my password and credit- card information. Imagine that -- an honest thief who warns me of his theft and gives me a chance to cancel the card before he uses it. I wonder what was for sale on the web site the letter directed me to. The graphic-design work is still heavy, but under control. The next FOTD will appear in 24 hours. Until then, take care, and be alert for runaway fractals. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START 20.0 PAR-FORMULA FILE================================ Jeweled_Minibrot { ; time=0:13:13.13--SF5 on a P200 reset=2003 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm formulaname=MandelbrotMix4 function=recip passes=1 center-mag=-6.56488536701683900/+0.815957995544778\ 90/8.81e+005/1/45/-2.44425623421862248e-008 params=0.55/-1.1/0.11/-3.1/0/0 float=y maxiter=3200 inside=0 logmap=279 periodicity=10 colors=000DGMDGNEHOFHPGIQGIRHJSHJTIKUIKVJLWJLXKMYK\ MZLN_LN_MO_MO`NPaNPbOQcOQdPRePRfQSgQShPTiOTjNUkNUl\ MWmMYnL_oKapPcqTerXgs`itdkuhmvlmwpmxtmyumzvmzwmzwm\ zwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzw\ mzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmz\ wmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwm\ zwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwmzwnzwozwozwnzwmzwlzwlzwkzw\ jzwizwizwhzwhzwhzwizwjzwkzwlwymtxmqwmnwmkvmhvmcrmZ\ rmUomPokKmmHmhFhfChdAeb7ce4cf2fh0ij0ml0po0sn0vr0sp\ 0pp0nn0km4ik8fiDdgHafL_dPXbTVaXT_VSZTRYRPXQOWONVML\ UKKTJJSHHRFGQDFPCIQBLRBOSBRTBUUBXVB_WBbWBeXBhYBkZB\ n_Bq`BtaBwbBybBq_GjXKcUOWRSPOWIL_BIcLRNU_7XX5_V3aX\ 1cY0d_0f`0ha0ic0kd0mf0ng0ph0rj0sk0um0wn0xo0wn0vo0u\ p0tq0sr0rs0qt2pu4ov7nw9mxClyEkzG4zF6zE8zEAzEBzEDzE\ FzEGzEIzDKzDMzDNzDPzDRzDSzDQzAOz8Mz5Kz3Iz1Gz0Ez0Cz\ 0Hz2Mz9RzHlzGzzZkzTYzNKzH } 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==================================