FOTD -- July 19, 2005 (Rating 2) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: It has been a long time since the FOTD has claimed as its own a fractal with a rating as low as a 2. On most days today's image would have earned a strike of the delete key without a moment's hesitation. But Monday was not an ordinary day. Finding a good fractal image was about as easy as finding a hundred-dollar bill lying on the sidewalk. Despite my searches, I found nothing at all worth a second look. It was almost as though the fractal world had suddenly turned against me, and fought my every effort to find a worthwhile fractal. It is a thing (call it lack of inspiration?) that plagues artists, though I can see no reason why it should afflict me, since I do not claim to be an artist. The parent fractal of today's failure was created by combining Z^(-1.6) with Z^(-8.6) before adding (1/C). It is in the shape of a large unimpressive Mandeloid with a smaller Mandelbrot set nearby to the northeast. The two features are connected by a broken string of fractal nodes. Today's image lies in one of these nodes, very near the point where it breaks off from a period-5 bud. Today's image features ('features' is hardly the right word) a central midget surrounded by disconnected scratchy looking filaments, all of it together adding up to basically nothing. The coloring could be far better, but I fear no amount of coloring could raise the image to above average. While searching for a name, I could not shake the impression of a chicken yard, where, for countless days, countless chickens have been scratching for food, or whatever chickens scratch for. The name "Chicken Scratches" quickly followed. Luckily, the render time of the included parameter file is a fast 1 minute. Even luckier, the finished image is available for download on the FOTD web site at: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> The weather stayed dry here at Fractal Central on Monday, but the 90F 32C heat and the high humidity kept the cats' activity to a minimum. They passed the afternoon sleeping in the holly hollow. Today is starting about the same. It looks like another lazy day for the duo. For me it looks like another active day. A much improved fractal is almost certain in 24 hours. Until then, take care, and don't remember to not forget. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START PARAMETER FILE======================================= Chicken_Scratches { ; time=0:01:14.31--SF5 on a P200 reset=2004 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm formulaname=MandelbrotMix4 function=recip center-mag=+2.06065951153255700/+1.039421012772718\ 00/651103.4/1/35/6.10795031913413666e-009 params=1.38/-1.6/1.38/-8.6/0/525 float=y maxiter=350 inside=0 logmap=44 periodicity=10 colors=0007Ig4Fj6Jl8MmAQnCToEWpG_qIbrKesMitOluQovS\ swUvxWyyczzhzzmzzrzzvzzzzzRUFPRFMPFKMFIJFFHFDEFBBF\ 89F66F44F89ECDDGICKMBNQARV9Vz8Zz7bz6ek6ci8ah9_fBYe\ CWdDUzFSaGQ_IOZJNYKMWNMVQLTTLSWKQZKPaJNdJMfIKiIJlH\ HoHGrGEuGDxGCzHEyIGxJIxKKwLMvLOvMQuNStOUtPWsQYrQ_r\ R`pR`oS`nSamTalTakUajUbiVbhVbgVbfSabP`ZM_WJ_SHZPEY\ LBYH8XE5WA3W79U6FT6LS6RQ6WP6aO6gM6mL6rK6QagSZdUXbW\ V_YTY_RVaOTcMQeKOgIMiGJkDHmBEo9Cq79s57u35tA7tG8sMA\ sSBsZDrdErjGrpHpoKnoMmoPkoRjoUhnWgnZen`dncbneangco\ fdoeeoefodgodhpcipcjpbkpblpampaMuBejIdiIdiIchIbhHb\ gHafHafH`eG`eG_dG_cGZcFZbFYbFYaFX`EW`EW_EVZEVZDUYD\ UYDTXDTWC000SWCSVCRVCRUCQTBPTBPSBOSBORANQANQAMPAMP\ 9LO9LN9KN9JM8JL8IL8IK8HK7HJ7GI7GI7FH6FH6EG6EF6DF6C\ E5CE5BD5BC5AC4AB49A49A4893893783773672562562452441\ 341331231220110110000e9Zd8Yd8Yc8Yc8Xc8Xb8Xb8Wa8Wa8\ Wa8V`8V`7V_7U_7U_7UFO_BLc } 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 PARAMETER FILE=========================================