FOTD -- August 10, 2002 (Rating 6) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: Today's image is named "Levanter". If I remember correctly, a levanter is a strong wind on the Mediterranean Sea. I have no idea why I gave today's rather harmless fractal such an unlikely name. I guess I simply liked the sound of the word. Actually, when I began trying to think of a name, my thoughts were of politics and had drifted to the Middle East. I had done a lot of thinking earlier Friday, trying to convince myself that the U.S.A. is not about ready to launch a war in the Middle East, the purpose of which would be to secure the oil fields in an effort to boost its lagging economy. I might be imagining all this neo-imperialism, but the older I get, the more I realize that the only problem with my cynicism is that I'm usually not cynical enough. Remembering my resolution never to discuss politics, I will now confine my comments to the fractal at hand. The iterated formula, Z^(10)-10(1/Z)+C, is another whimsical expression I entered into the M-Mix4 formula at random. It draws a tiny M-set far beyond the right edge of the default screen. This M-set is surrounded by even tinier cut-off M-sets, like our galaxy is surrounded by globular clusters. Today's scene, with its obviously cut-off features, reveals one of these tinier 'globular' M-sets. When calculated with the normal equal-iteration bands on the outside, today's image was dull and flat. To add a little life, I re-calculated the scene with the outside set to <tdis>, and tweaked the colors a bit. The resulting picture improved from a 4 to its current rating of a 6. Perhaps the best feature of the image is its super-rapid render time of 44 seconds. Even the download of the completed image file from: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> or from: <http://sdboyd.dyndns.org/~sdboyd/fotd/index.html> can't beat that time. The fractal weather Friday was wonderful here at Fractal Central, with a temperature of 86F 30C, sapphire blue skies decorated with cottonpuff clouds, low humidity and a gentle breeze. The fractal duo approved heartily by actually romping in the yard a few times in between their bouts of sleeping on the porch. They are indeed in touch with their inner kittens. As for me, I'd best get in touch with the work that needs to be done. I know it's Saturday, and Saturday is supposed to be an off day, but when a job comes in on Friday afternoon and needs to be delivered Monday, it means working on the weekend, especially since the customer is paying extra for rush service. So until next time, which will arrive on the 12th, take care and for peace's sake, avoid politics. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com START 20.0 PAR-FORMULA FILE================================ Levanter { ; time=0:00:44.65--SF5 on a P200 reset=2002 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm formulaname=MandelbrotMix4 function=ident passes=1 center-mag=+11.48064466578638/-2.778123424321501/2\ .234309e+008/1/15/-0.000284086357036986148 float=y params=1/10/-10/-1 maxiter=270 inside=0 outside=tdis colors=000MnzMmzMlzMkzMjyNixNhwNgzNfyOexOdw000MHRV\ KPbOMmQJzUHpPKlLMkHPjDRi9TaJaVSiNaqGjyMixShwYhwcgv\ ifunfuofupfupguqgurhushushuritqitpitojtnjtnjsSpmmj\ slkskksjksilsilrhlrglrfmremrdmrdnqcnqbnqanq`oq_oq_\ opZppYppXppWppVqpVqoUqoTroSroRrotvvquunutktshtsetr\ bsq_sqXrpUrojVxiWwiWwhXwhXwgYwgYvgZvfZvf_ve_ve`ue`\ udaudaucbucbucctbctbdtadtaetaes`fs`fs_gs_gsZhsZhrZ\ irYirYjrXjrXkqXkqWlqWlqVmqVmqVnpUnpUopTopTppTpoSqo\ SqoRroRro5T46U67V78W98XA9YCAYDAZFB_GC`ICaJDaLEbMEc\ OFdPGeRGeSHfUIgVJhXJiYKj_Lj`LkbMlcNmeNnfOnhPoiPpkQ\ qlRrnd36c58c69c7Ab8Bb9CbADaCEaDFaEG`FH`GI`HJ_JK_KL\ _LM_MNZNOZOPZPQYRRYSSYTTXUUXVVXWWWYXWZYW_ZV`_Va`Vb\ aVcbUecUfdUgeThfTigTjhSliSmjSnkRolRpmRqnPAIQGNQMRQ\ RVQXZRbcRggRmkD2oE3oE4oE5oE6oF7oF7oF8oF9oFAoGBoGCo\ GCoGDoHEoHFoHGoHHoHHoIIoIJoIKoILoJMoJMoJNoJOoJPoKQ\ oKRoKRoKSoKToLUoLVoLVoLWo } 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==================================