FOTD -- May 20, 2008 (Rating 6) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: After all these years, I think I might be growing bored with quadratic minibrots. But despite my best efforts, the ubiquitous things keep coming. Today's little fellow lies in the parent fractal generated when negative Z^(1.25) is combined with negative Z^(3) and (C) is added. This parent is shaped somewhat like a lopsided eggplant, with some pretty ordinary Mandelbrot buds on the east shore but a more chaotic landscape along the west shore. A very prominent minibrot lies a bit inland on the western shore, and today's scene is located in the East Valley of this minibrot. Today's FOTD is a full five point improvement over yesterday's. But yesterday's image rated only an abysmal 1, which means that today's rates a 6, a rating that, while not too bad, is nothing to celebrate either. I named the image "The Total Distance" since it was rendered with the 'outside' set to 'tdis', which colors the points according to the total distance they travel before escaping beyond the specified bailout radius. Perhaps the best thing about the image is its speedy calculation time of 1-1/4 minutes. And the next best thing is that the pre- rendered image is available for immediate viewing on the FOTD web site at: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> As the FOTD progresses, I find myself getting more and more involved in the philosophical aspects of fractals, which are so obviously made of numbers. But after trying to get through a few advanced books of quantum theory, I find that atoms are made of numbers also. And I wonder whether the quantum world determines the numbers or the numbers determine the quantum. I guess we might soon have to admit that the world, including ourselves is composed of numbers, which begs the question 'what are numbers?' Sometimes I wish I could return to the days when things were so much simpler, when I thought the real world was really real and atoms were tiny solar systems made of little orbiting particle-energy things which existed even when no one was looking. But like my faith in the mysterious invisible things of religion, my faith in the equally mysterious invisible things of science has vanished also. In my opinion, Santa Claus is unreal, God as described by religion is unreal, and atoms as described by science are unreal also. If it's all a dream however, who or what is doing the dreaming? Chilly and blustery conditions made Monday quite unseasonal here at Fractal Central. The temperature of 55F 13C and brisk winds made it feel more like mid-March than mid-May. The fractal cats watched the scudding clouds for a few minutes before they got into a spat over who would claim the best window shelf. Cassie won the dispute with a good slap on Nicholas' head. My day (Monday the 19th) was unexpectedly busy, and tomorrow (Tuesday the 20th) will be just as busy. But despite the rush, there will most likely be another FOTD posted in 24 hours. At this time, I'll make no predictions as to its potential quality. Until then, take care, and sometimes putting it off until later is the best choice. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START PARAMETER FILE======================================= The_Total_Distance { ; time=0:01:16.23-SF5 on P4-2000 reset=2004 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm formulaname=MandAutoCritInZ function=ident passes=1 center-mag=-1.00704998814352/+0.2867813765415/3518\ 04.6/1/-23.5/0 params=-1/1.25/-1/3/0/0/0/0 float=y maxiter=1200 inside=0 outside=tdis periodicity=10 colors=000uzeuzouruubukOuG5uV6ukLuuXuVzuRzuNzuLzuG\ zsBzm9zf3z_0zT0zN3zT9zYEzbIzfPzkTzoYzsbzuhwumruqou\ uiuuduu`uuXuuSuuQuuQuuQuuQuuQusQuoOumOuhOueOubOuYO\ uVOuTLuTJuTJuTGuRDuRDuRBuRBuP8uP6uP6uP5uP5uT6uV8uY\ Bu_DubGueJufLukOumQuoSuqVusXuuZuWBNZ5Pa5Rb5P`5P_5N\ Y5NV5LT8LRDIUFIUHG9SG3XE1`E0bN0dT0g_0if0lm0os0pu0r\ u0uu0wu0yu0zu0zu0zu0zu_`uu5uuguuzuozuezuRuuIruGouG\ luGduGZuESoEFhE5bE1VB0PB0IB0BB03B00eXEudTTzkVzfYze\ _z_buYblTedRfZNhSLhLIkSGmZEmbEoiBIz0ooBuLbu5uu5uu5\ uu5uu5uu5uu5uu5uu5uu5uo5uh5ue5sY5sR5ZI5hN5hP5hT5hV\ 5k_5fb5ee5bh5Yk5Vo5Rq5Pu5Lu5Iu56u5Gu5No5Tk5_f5f_5m\ VBsPGuLLuGSu9Xu3`u0du9guGguNguTgu_guhiuoiuuiuuiuui\ uuluuluuluuluuluuluuluulsuosuoquoquoouooupmupmupku\ pkuz0uphuphurfurfureureureuubuubuu_uu_uuYuwYuwVuwV\ uwTuOVuOYuLbuJeuGfuGkuDmuBouBquJsuQuuXuubusiuqpuow\ umzukzuhzuGzufzuuzuuzm_5u } frm:MandAutoCritInZ {; 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)+(p4)), k=real(p3)+1, l=imag(p3)+100, c=fn1(pixel): z=k*((a*(z^b))+(d*(z^f)))+c, |z| < l } END PARAMETER FILE=========================================