FOTD -- October 04, 2006 (Not Rated) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: Today's image is named "Dark Shadows". This is no tribute to the old TV series that ended over 30 years ago. It describes my dark mood. When bad things happen to good people, it gets me mad. I start wondering why. Like most people, I do not like meaninglessness. And like quite a few others, I am becoming ever more disappointed with a material-based science that is helpless in the face of the big questions of life. At the same time, I am not so naive as to wonder why a God who is all-good etc. permits the bad things to happen. But I do wonder how it was possible for the human mind to evolve such an instinctive need for meaning if behind all the physical glitter there is nothing but a meaningless random accident. In recognition of my dark mood I have created a fractal that is almost entirely darkness. It resembles little more than a dew- sprinkled spider web glistening in the pre-dawn gloom, illumined by the rays of a distant street light. The image was created by combining Z^(-1.5) with Z^(-4.5) and adding (1/C). The somber color palette is an intentional creation. Since I intentionally made the image so gloomy, I gave it no rating. One bit of good news is that the render time of 1-1/2 minutes will try the patience of no one. And the task of rendering may be avoided entirely by viewing the finished image on the FOTD web site at: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> A temperature of 79F 26C and partly cloudy skies went unappreci- ated by the fractal cats, who, because the mouse failed to reappear, joined me in sulking. The evening treat of cheese and tuna only partly eased their disappointment. Except for the bad news on the TV, my day was fairly routine. If all goes well and tomorrow is a repeat, the next FOTD will appear in 24 hours. Until then, take care, and don't be a gloomster. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START PARAMETER FILE======================================= Dark_Shadows { ; time=0:01:36.12--SF5 on a P200 reset=2004 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm formulaname=MandelbrotMix4 function=recip center-mag=+3.494730910064264/+1.143243928066017/\ 7.666195e+011/1/120/0 params=1/-1.5/0.333/-4.5/0/0 float=y maxiter=1000 inside=0 logmap=79 periodicity=10 mathtolerance=0.05/1 colors=0000A00B20B40C70C93DB7DDAEFDFHHHJKJLNLNRNPU\ PRXRT`TVcVYfX_iZaj`ckcelegmhiojkpmmroprrsttvuuzwuz\ xuzzuzzuzzuzxqzvnwukrshmrehrccqaZp_UpYQoWNnUKnSImQ\ FlOClMAhLDdKGaJJYJMUIPRHSNGVKGXdUfygpp0mgQo_oqVnpR\ moNlnJkmFjlIdnLZpOTqRNsUItceIZYJVQJQJJMBJI4JJ8IJBI\ KFIKIIKLILPHLSHLVHMZHMaHNeGNhGNkGOoGOrGOuGRtKUsNWr\ QZrT`qWcpZfoahoeknhmmkplnslquktxjwzjzvfuscqp`mmYij\ VegRadOYaLUZIQWFMTCIYqmTcaPRQKEE1kE9O8d0xlK8cF6WA5\ O53pRecISS9FnW0_cBQK6grAgrxIQ1HJ2HD2G72tD`_7JxZb1I\ k6CWB6HGUDGMAGF7G84gRZYIOP9DQFzNBjL8WI4H4f_EYyFPjF\ HWG9H_GXVCPQ8HL49n0xtldfXSTHFk9cW5L5uR9bIDKAA4mf0P\ _0JT0DM07wVhlNYaGNR8C5cz9ReDEMCib21h71UC1Gg9KBjV7o\ V3sVOSdh0nf5fdAZcFRZGTUHUPHWKIXFJZAJ_5Ka1KbUVNvd8m\ WDeNIYENQ5SI0XU0Ve2Tg3_i3ek4km4qo4wxTrP0`K1JkaUcSN\ WJGOA9PoEMZAJI65OOBCD80mB0YE0IjQIVDA_nZQQI9GQCBIE6\ AB_VDOLFCBM0TK0MR6OO7L000 } 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=========================================