FOTD -- January 22, 2002 (Rating 8) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: When I opened my e-mailbox this morning, I found the usual pile of unwanted spam. I deleted all but one of the letters at once without reading them. The subject of the one letter I hesitated to delete told me that I could get a bigger hammer. When I saw this, I rushed to the tool rack in the basement to see if I needed a bigger hammer. I found that I already had five hammers and had no need for another big hammer, so I returned to my computer and deleted the final piece of spam. This is the first time anyone has tried to sell me a hammer by e-mail. Today's fractal I did not delete. The image is one of a tiny midget on the negative stem of the Mandelbrot set, pictured under unusual conditions. The first unusual condition is that in today's image, the bailout radius has been set to 3. Such a small bailout radius means that some of the M-set is cut off, but it also means that strange things happen to the remaining parts which happen to lie very near the reduced bailout radius. The second unusual (at least for me) condition is that the outside parts of the image have been colored by the <fmod> algorithm, with the proximity set to an unusually low 0.003. This is what gives the image its resemblance to a wheel with spider webs strung between the spokes. And the resemblance to a wheel with spider webs is what inspired the name "Web Wheel". The image is not named for the semi-abstraction known as the Worldwide Web. Due to its unusual nature, the image rates a lofty 8, which makes it almost worth the 26 minutes required to run the parameter file. The image is more than worth the minute or two required to download it from Scott's web site at: <http://sdboyd.dyndns.org/~sdboyd/fotd/index.html> I have not yet checked to see if Paul Lee's web site has been updated. So I will not include the address of his web site. The fractal weather Monday here at Fractal Central started threatening, with clouds and a heavy flurry of snow, but shortly after noon the sun appeared and the temperature shot up to 45F 7C. Most of the snow already on the ground had melted by nightfall, but not in time to please the cats, who once again had to content themselves with the consolational treat of tuna. Today, however, appears headed for far more cat-friendly conditions. Hopefully, I can finish the modicum of serious work in time to give them a lengthy romp in the yard. Until tomorrow, same time, same place, new fractal, take care, and when the going gets tough, fractals are always there. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START PARAMETER FILE======================================= Web-Wheel { ; time=0:26:01.59--SF5 on a P200 reset=2002 type=mandel passes=1 center-mag=-1.7320\ 49935562321170263812/0/4.30354e+020 params=0/0 float=y maxiter=5000 bailout=3 inside=0 proximity=0.003 outside=fmod symmetry=xaxis colors=000rMXpLZoK_mJalIcjHdiFfgEgfDidCkcBlaAn`9pZ\ 8qY7sX6tW7rW7pV7nV8lV8kU8iU9gT9eT9cTAbSA`S9ZS9XR8V\ R7UQ6SQ7QQ7OP7MP8LP8JO8HO9FN9DN9CNAAMA8MA6MA5KD9JF\ CIHGHJJGMMFOQEQTDSWBV_AXb9Ze8`i7cl6eo5gs4iv3ky5lw7\ lu9ltBlrDlqFloGmmImlKnjMoiOpgQqfRsdTsbVsaXs_ZsZ`sX\ asWbqVcoVdmVelVfjVghVhgVieVjcVkaUl`UmZUnXUnWUoUUpS\ UqRUrPUsNTtLTuKTvITwGTxFTyDTzBTzATxCSwERuFQtHPrJOq\ KNpMMnNLmPKkRJjSIhUHgVGfXFdZEc_DaaC`bBZdAYf9Xg8Vi7\ Uj6Sl5Rn4Po3Oq2Nr1Pq2Qp2Rp2So3To3Un3Vn3Wm4Xm4Yl4_l\ 5`k5ak5bj5cj6di6eh6fh7gg7hg7if7kf8le8me8nd9od9pc9q\ c9rbAsbAtaAuaAsdDrfGphJojMnlPlnSkpVjrYkpWloUmnSnmQ\ olOpkMqiKrhIsgGtfEueCvdAvc9ugDukGuoJtsNtwQtzTtzWsz\ XrzXqzXpzXpzXozXnzXmzXmzXlzXkzXjzXizXizXhzXgzXfzXf\ zXezXdzXczXbzXbzXazX`zX_zX_zXC`fJhdPpcNpfLphJpjHpl\ GpnFrmFtmFvmExmEzmEzmEzmHzkJyjLwiOuhQsgSqfVoeXmdZj\ cahbcfaed`hb_j`ZlZYnXX040 } END PARAMETER FILE=========================================