FOTD -- May 31, 2008 (Rating 6) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: When I was in Catholic elementary school (I did survive it.) and the subject turned to religion, I had a way of asking questions that on several occasions caused me to be told in effect to sit down and shut up. I'm still not sure what I did wrong. Maybe I asked the wrong kind of questions. Or maybe I just had too much trouble believing in things that neither I nor apparently anyone else could see. (This was before I realized that the scientists known as physicists are even better at inventing theories about things that will never be directly seen.) Anyway, one sunny day in May, shortly after Sister Mary Thomas told the class that if we were good on earth, we would all have a seat at the right hand of our Savior when we went to heaven. So far, so good, but then I had a sudden insight. Not only did the thought of an eternal church service seem boring, but I remembered the baseball game I had attended a few days earlier. The crowd there had numbered about 45-thousand, a tiny fraction of the millions of Catholics who would go to heaven and sit next to the Savior, yet even that tiny fraction at the ball game took up so much space that those on the outer fringes were hundreds of feet from the field. If a hundred-million Catholics all had seats at the right hand of the Savior, the stands would stretch for miles. Those in the outer bleachers would be unable to even see Him. Feeling a surge of perhaps foolish bravery, I raised my hand and asked how millions of people could fit by one man's right hand. After a minute's thought, the sister said it's a mystery and told me to sit down and shut up. (Actually she said something like 'the question is silly, so sit down and pray for guidance.) Unfortunately, after all these years, guidance has yet to come. But in the meantime, fractals *have* arrived on the scene, and today's rates an acceptable 6. The parent fractal was created by iterating the formula Z^sqrt(3)+C at a level 123 levels up the logarithmic ladder when no function is applied. This parent is shaped roughly like a distorted Mandelbrot set rotated so that its main bud, which is actually only 0.732 of a bud, faces southwest. This bud is shaped quite like the main buds of the Z^3+C Mandeloid, with a small valley directly opposite its mouth. Today's scene is located in this valley. The colors are unusually brilliant. In fact, they are so brilliant that they actually detract from the worth of the image. But in this case, applying such extreme brilliancy was the only way to add life to the scene. Today's parameter file will reveal its secret in only 3-3/4 minutes running time on a 2000mhz machine, which is about the same time it will take to surf down to the FOTD web site at: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> and view the completed image there. Thursday was absolutely perfect here at Fractal Central, though Friday brought a few too many clouds for perfection. The temp- erature hovered around 79F 16C (13 Reaumur) on both days, while the fractal cats kept an eye on the yard, watching for intruding tomcats. My day on Friday was a lot less busy than Thursday, when I had no time for the FOTD. And speaking of the FOTD, the next one will be posted in 24 hours. Until then, take care, and if you don't know the answer to a question, humiliate the one who asked it by calling the question silly. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START PARAMETER FILE======================================= Coronal_Crisis { ; time=0:03:47.28-SF5 on P4-2000 reset=2004 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm formulaname=MandelbrotBC3 function=ident passes=1 center-mag=-0.8004024479835327/-0.735937934452532/\ 348789/1/-12.5/0 params=1.732/0/123/0 float=y maxiter=5000 inside=0 logmap=174 periodicity=10 colors=000V1TX3VZ5X`7Zb9`dBbfDdhFfjHhlJjnLlpNnrPpt\ RruSsuTsuUsuVsuWsuXsuZsu`subsudsufsuhsujsulsunsups\ uqsursursursursursursurou0eu0Su1Iu69u60uB0uF0uK0uP\ 0qP0lU0gZ0cc0Zc0Ug0Pl0Kq0Fu0Bu06u01u01u00u00u00u00\ u00u00u00u40u90uI0uN0uX0ua0uj0uo0us0us0us0us0us0us\ 0us0ps0ks0ls0ms0nscoskpswzzzzzzzzswoluecuXZrIgl9lg\ 0u_0uU0uP0uM0uS0uZ0uc0ul0uu0uu0lu00u00u00qe0Bs0Ps0\ ca0q90u00u06u0Pu0gu0Uu0Fu01g00K000I00j00s00s00s0u0\ 0u40uD0lI0cS0PX0Fe06j00s00s00s00s00s00s00s00s00s00\ s00s00s00s00s00o00e00X00N00D0040000000000101606F0B\ K0FP0KU0Pc0Ug0Zl0cq0g00g00q00u00u00u00u00u00u00u00\ u00u00u00u04u09u09u0Du0Iu0Nu0Nu0Su0Xu0Xu0ju1su6su6\ suBslFsUFsBKs0Ps0Ps0Zs0gs0ls0us0us0us0us0us0us0us0\ us0us0usBusUusquNuu0uu0uu0uu0uu0uu00us0us0us0us0us\ 0us0uo0ua1uNFu9Uu0gu0uu0uu0uu0uu4uuDuuSuuauujuusuu\ suusuusuusuuscusBuj0uI0uX } frm:MandelbrotBC3 { ; by several Fractint users e=p1, a=imag(p2)+100 p=real(p2)+PI q=2*PI*fn1(p/(2*PI)) r=real(p2)+PI-q Z=C=Pixel: Z=log(Z) IF(imag(Z)>r) Z=Z+flip(2*PI) ENDIF Z=exp(e*(Z+flip(q)))+C |Z|<a } END PARAMETER FILE=========================================