FOTD -- April 10, 2009 (Rating 7) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: After all these years, an occasional trip back to that king of all fractals, the Mandelbrot set, always seems to yield a sur- prise or two. Today's scene lies far out on a filament in the interior of the north branch of Seahorse Valley of the large minibrot on the main spike of the Mandelbrot set, and after all this description, it's no wonder there's a little surprise in it. What I find surprising in today's image is the thin ring of debris surrounding the central minibrot. Normally, the Mandelbrot debris fields are much broader. There is not much more to be said about the image, but one thing virtually certain is that if this universe is limited and if it is the only one that exists, then this particular minibrot has never before appeared on the screen of a computer. By contrast, if this universe is infinite or if an infinity of similar para- llel limited universes exist, then this minibrot has appeared on an infinity of computer screens. Bombastic speculation aside, after not-too-careful considera- tion, I rated the image at a 7. Then I noticed the narrow ring of chaos surrounding the minibrot, and named it "Mandelbrot Ringlet". Despite being well beyond the range of conventional math, the image calculates in a not-too-slow time of 3-3/4 minutes. An even faster way to enjoy the image is to hop like the Easter Bunny out to the FOTD web site at: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> and gaze in awe and wonder at the already calculated image there. Thursday here at Fractal Central was much improved. Partly cloudy skies and a temperature of 61F 16C are hardly ideal, but the periods of sun came at just the right time, and the fractal cats had a very pleasant day. With a customer who was unhappy when we gave him what he asked for and he saw that it did not work, my day was not so pleasant. But that's how it goes sometimes. Tomorrow however should be better, permitting more time for a better FOTD. Until next time, take care, and though the commandment says 'thou shalt not steal' I also hear that God helps those who help themselves. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START PARAMETER FILE======================================= Mandelbrot_Ringlet { ; time=0:03:44.66-SF5 on P4-2000 reset=2004 type=mandel passes=t center-mag=-1.7693\ 815837260665074818/0.00428779035481775236759/1.434\ 916e+017/1/-122.5/0 params=0/0 float=y maxiter=1200 bailout=25 inside=0 logmap=189 colors=0009Cb8Ee7Fh7GkEHnKIqQJtWKw_NzZQu`Vr_Yng`ki\ egjhdcP2fYEheQkmaWFl`Qmd`mikmmumhlfdc__VTWMMRDFKAX\ L8RM7LM6FN59EDAUU8UU6UU4UU3SVBUTCVRCXPDYOD_MD`KEbI\ Ef85iKElQNsZWAzzDzzGfzIYzLPK7jmH70NGBSPMXYXafgkmwf\ oqaplXrgSsbNuYJvTRjUZZUFoFGmIHkLIiOJhQKfTLdWMbZN`a\ O_cNefMjiMplLuoLzrNyjzzbzzVizNczFUz7lQVnRUoRUqRUrR\ UtSTuSTwSTxSTtRWpQZlPaiOdeNgaMjZMlXOlVPlUQlSRlQSlP\ UlNVlLWlKXlIYlHZlJWgLTcNQZPNVRLRSHOTELUBIV7FW4CW1A\ X5JY9SZC`_Gi`Kr`NzRSwIWt9_q0cnIRd_EVq1Mn6PlBSjGVhK\ XeP_cUbaZe_bgXgjVlmTqpRurUsqWrqYqq`opbnpdmpbnpaop`\ pp_qpZrpYspXtpVupUvpTwpSxpRypQzpPzpQwqRtrRqrSosTls\ TitUgtUduVauW_vWXvXUwXSwZTu`TtbTscTreUqgUohUnjUmlV\ lmVkoViqVhrWgtWfvWewWdhZgUajGdmHejIfhIgfJhdJibKi`L\ jYLkWMlUMmSNnQNnOJoYGpfJqgkrQMshztezubzv`zwYzxWzyT\ zzDzzIzzMzzRzzuzznzzgzz`zzVzzTzzGzzKzzOzzSzzWzz_Hz\ qGziFzbEzVDzOCzGoz_Bz9AzA } END PARAMETER FILE=========================================