FOTD -- January 31, 2010 (Rating 6.5) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: The parent of today's image is a near-Mandelbrot set, rotated 180 degrees, with a broad wedge where the point of East Valley should be, and an unexpected bud centered on the X-axis, at the center of this wedge. Today's image shows a cubic minibrot in the north branch of the seahorse-type valley leading to this bud. At this point words become useless, so I recommend running the included parameter file and enjoying the result. The rating of a 6 would have been higher if cubic minibrots were not so common. But I did allow myself a gift of 1/2 point for the extra time I devoted to the coloring. The name "A Three-Way Split" has something to do with the cubic nature of the image. The calculation time of an impressively brief 44 seconds will seem even faster when the finished product comes into view. The trip to the FOTD web site at: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> always passes in a flash. Those who do not relish calculating parameter files or have over-qualified computing machines may view the finished image there. Lots of clouds and a bone-chilling temperature of 14F -10C here at Fractal Central on Saturday kept the fractal cats near the heat. The weather could have been worse however. In the evening I got a call from my sister back at Old Fractal Central, telling me that a couple inches of snow are on the ground down there in glorious Northeast Baltimore. The fractal cats dislike snow even more than cold. Otherwise, my day, and FL's day as well, was without incident. There is a 95-percent chance the next FOTD will be posted in 24 hours. Until then, take care, and get in there with the big- time thinkers. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START PARAMETER FILE======================================= A_Three-Way_Split { ; time=0:00:44.10-SF5 on P4-2000 reset=2004 type=formula formulafile=basicer.frm formulaname=AllNewDivideBrot2 function=recip center-mag=-0.152849815603991/+0.003780648289346/\ 2646816/1/-76.5/0 params=3/5 float=y maxiter=1800 inside=0 logmap=103 symmetry=none periodicity=6 colors=000MCmOCjQCgSCdUCbWD`YEZ_FXaFVcFUeGTgISiJRk\ LQkMPmOOnQNoRMpTLqULpXOp_QobSoeUnhWnkYmn_mqaltclwe\ kucjsbiqaio`hl_gjYghXffWecVeaUd_ScYRcVQbTPaROaPN`Q\ M_QLZQKYQJXQIWRHVRGURFTRESREUPOVOXXMfYLoVKiTKcRJYP\ JSNJNOpwOhwOcvP_uPXtOUsNRrUMqVMpWJoYHn_FmaDlcBke8j\ g8ji8jk7jm7jo7jp7jxALs8Jn7Ij6He5Ga4FjOVrgjzzzeNecO\ haOk_PnYPqWQtVQvZVpaZjebdhfZljTonNgfJ`ZGUSDMKAFC78\ 5482v41TF8oB6b74Q32DWrgSkaOdXKYRGRMCKG8DB4653pC2b9\ 1Q60D31n50f40_30T20L20E1070iv8bm6We5QX4JP3DG2681iW\ ybRpWMgQIZJDQD9H648noDPQ6nhxYUcHFKGKzmrnX_YGIHQgiJ\ XYDMN6BBJgOFZJBQE7H9384`wcVnYQeSLYMmcHmcBmc5mcJmcF\ zcCzc9zc6zc3zcqzcDzc9zc6zc3zc1zc0zm_zmOzmCzmPzmLzm\ HzmEzmAzm7zm3zmDzmBzm9zm8zm6zm4zz3zz1zzjzzbzzVzzNz\ zFzz7zzTzzPzzLzzIzzEzzAzz7zz3PzgKzZFzQAzH5z8KzrGzg\ CzX8zM4zBVzpQzhMz`HzUDzM8zF4z79z`7zW6zR5zN4zI3zD2z\ 91z4mzTfzP`zLVzIPzEXzLVzK } frm:AllNewDivideBrot2 { ; Jim Muth z=(0,0), c=pixel, a=-(real(p1)-2), b=imag(p1)+0.00000000000000000001: z=(-b)*(z*z*fn1(z^(a)+b))+c |z| < 1000000 } END PARAMETER FILE=========================================