FOTD -- February 03, 2008 (Rating 7.5) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: Skeptics know that ghosts are not real, though I doubt that the ghosts know it. Ghosts or no ghosts, today's image is a picture of a bonafide ghost, or what I call a ghost bud. The perturbed Mandelbrot sets are filled with ghost buds that can be returned to their unperturbed glory by resetting initial Z to 0,0. But the ghost in today's image cannot be returned to its full glory because I don't know where to find it. All 4 parts of initial Z, (p1) and (p2), are already set to zero. Like all ghosts, the one in today's image seems to exist in another world, and only fleeting glimpses of it can be seen in this world. The location of today's scene is in the vicinity of East Valley, though some distance offshore, where nothing but trapped inside points should exist. I named it "Astral Adventure" because the astral plane is where ghosts are supposed to exist. The actual nature of the astral plane is another topic for another day, but at this time I will say that, though I am a skeptic, I am not a born-again skeptic. And I hear a lot of talk among theoretical physicists about many, though not necessarily astral, worlds, as well as much rebuttal from the born-again skeptics. I would like to have been able to rate the image at an 8 or 9, but I just couldn't find anything in it worth such a rating, so the scene ended up rated at a 7.5. The parallel comb-like fore- ground arms plus my coloting add the extra point. The calculation time of 9 minutes is not too much for such an unexpected image. But if this time is a little inconvenient, convenience may be regained on the FOTD web site at: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> where the finished image will soon be posted. I'm slightly sorry for the lateness of today's image, but I had to make an unscheduled trip to Old Fractal Central on Saturday, and didn't get back to New Fractal Central until near midnight. I can report that the old fractal cats, Thomas and Tippy, are still as lazy as ever. They actually raised their heads when I walked in. The new fractal cats, Nicholas and Cassie, stayed here with fractal lady all day, and she says they hardly noticed that I was gone. The next FOTD will appear in around 12 hours. Until then, take care, and rational thinkers know that ghosts are mere fantasies in the minds of the superstitious, but the ghosts, who have not heard that they are mere fantasies, continue their haunting. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START PARAMETER FILE======================================= Astral_Adventure { ; time=0:09:49.37-SF5 on P4-2000 reset=2004 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm formulaname=HyperMandelbrot2 passes=1 center-mag=+0.09608900268348/+0.0117053191216819/\ 1114.51/1/15/0 params=0/0/0/0/10/0/1e-100/0 float=y maxiter=7500 inside=0 logmap=820 periodicity=0 colors=000YOEYOEZOEZODZODZOCZOCZOC_OB_OB_OB_OA_OA`\ O9`O9`O9`O8`O8aO7aO7aO7aO6aO6bO5aO6aO6aO6aO6`O6`O6\ `O6`O6_O6_O6_O6_O6_O7_O7ZO7ZO7ZO7ZO7ZO7ZO7ZO7ZO7ZO\ 7ZO7YO8XO8XO8XO8WO8WO8WO8WO8WO8VO8VO8VO8VO9UO9UO9U\ O9UO9UO9UO9TO9TO9TO9TO9TO9SPASPASPASPARPARPARPARPA\ RPAQPAQPAQPAQQBQQBPQBPQBPQBPQBPQBOQBOQBOQBOQBOQBNR\ CNRCNRCNRCMRCMRCMRCMRCMRCLRCLRCLRCLSALSAKSAKSmKSmK\ SmKSmJSmJSmJSmJSmIRmJSmJSmKSmKSmLSmLSmMTmMTmNTmNTm\ NTmOTmOUmPUmPUmQUmQUmRUmRUmSUmSUmSTmTTmTSmUSmUSmVS\ mVRmWRmWQmXQmXPmXQmYPmYPmZPmZPm_Om_Pm`Om`OmaOmaOma\ OmbPmbPmcPmcPmdPmdPoePqeQsfQufQwfQygQzgQzhRzhRziRz\ iRzjRzjRzjRziSziTzhTzhUzhVzgWzgXzgYzfZzf_zg`zfazfb\ zfczedzeezefzdgzdhzdizcjzckzclzcmzbmzbmzbmzamzamza\ mz`mz`mz`mz_mz_mz_mz_mzZmzZmzZmzYmzYmzYmzXmzXmzXmz\ WmzWmzWmzWmzVmzVmzVmzUmzUmzUmzTmzTmzTmzSmzSmzSmzSm\ zRmzRmzRmzQmzQmzQmzPmzPmz } frm:HyperMandelbrot2 {; periodicity must be turned off a=(p1),b=(p2): q=sqr(a)-sqr(b)+pixel, b=(p3+2)*a*b+p4, a=q, |a|+|b| <= 100 } END PARAMETER FILE=========================================