FOTD -- October 08, 2002 (Rating 5) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: Today's quickly-found fractal is a simple thing. With the MandelbrotBC1 formula I calculated the Z^(3.01)+C Mandeloid and examined the area of the negative X-axis where the western 'Seahorse' valley is beginning to split. I really had no need for the M-BC1 formula, since I could have done the same thing with Fractint's built-in manzpower formula. The resulting figure would not have been exactly the same, but the character- istics of the midgets in the area would have been similar. As I studied the image, I fancied myself looking down through a jungle of fractal material, toward a cubic midget on the forest floor. I considered naming the image "Fractal Jungle", but the name seemed so obvious that I finally decided on "Fractal Vines". And the name is not too far off the mark. The tangles and loops do resemble vines hanging from trees. Unfortunately, the end result is once again only of average fractal quality, and I could rate it no higher than a 5. While working with fractals, I like to consider the outside parts as material and the inside as empty space, which is why I usually color the inside parts of my fractals a dead black. This viewpoint has become my basic fractal world-view. Surpris- ingly, such a view is not too far removed from what is commonly known as the 'real' world-view, in which a vast empty space is seen as filled with tiny islands of material known as stars, planets, etc., all of which, for convenience, is granted an attribute known as objective reality. And the more one studies the current theories of physics, such as super-strings and super- symmetry, the more one realizes that the 'real' world appears to be made of numbers. Why, I wonder, can't the world of fractals also be considered 'real'. It also is made of numbers; it has its empty spaces and its clumps of 'material'. As the 'real' world needs the human senses to make itself manifest, the fractal world needs compu- ters to make itself manifest. Are the two worlds as different as they seem? Would it truly be so surprising if, when the much publicized 'theory of everything' is finally found, (if it is ever found), it turns out to be a fractal? If all this speculation seems confusing, relief may be found in 5 minutes by rendering the parameter file and watching the festooned vines come into existence, remembering of course that they are vines only because I have declared them to be vines. A quicker, simpler method of viewing the image is to visit Paul's web site at: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> and download the completed GIF image from there. On Monday, Scott's site got its script signals crossed, but I assume his site is up and running today at: <http://sdboyd.dyndns.org/~sdboyd/fotd/index.html> The image may also be downloaded from there. Except for a brief period of cloudiness in the afternoon, the fractal weather Monday here at Fractal Central was ideal. The fractal duo would rather have had more sun, but the temperature of 77F 25C was good enough to keep them in a good humor. Today promises to be a near-perfect repeat, so the dynamic duo should stay happy most all day. My own happiness will come when I finish a bit of work that seems to always appear when I expect a slow day. Until 24 hours or so from now, take care, and think for yourself. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START 20.0 PAR-FORMULA FILE================================ Fractal_Vines { ; time=0:05:12.42--SF5 on a P200 reset=2002 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm formulaname=MandelbrotBC1 function=floor passes=1 center-mag=-0.39266886419176980/-0.005167114994956\ 72/8354133 params=3.01/0/0/0 float=y maxiter=2700 inside=0 logmap=152 periodicity=10 colors=0007KE3M98QECUJHYOL`TQdYUhbXokYkgYhdZeaZbZ_\ _V_XS`UP`RMaOJaLFbICbF9cC6e60c93bC5aF8_IAZLCYOFXRH\ VUKSVMT_OSbRQeTPhWOkYNn_KmXImUFmSDmP1kXBmNLoDVp3Ud\ FTTQSH`S6kU9iWChXFgZIf_LeaOdbRcdUbfXag_`ib_jeZlhYm\ lXonWpsVZihIbuETmBKf7A_41T8CXCN`GXdKghMvrNqlOmfPia\ PeWQaQRYLSUFVP9SQAQQANRALRAIRAGSBDSBBTB8RB4U86TB8T\ DASGCSIESKGRNIRPQZDKRREHgFJdFKbFL`FMZFNXFPUFQSFRQF\ SOFTMFUKGXJGZJH`IHbIIdHIfHKkGIhHGeHEbHC_HAXH8UH7RH\ BVHFYHIaHMdHQhHTkHXoH_rHVaUQMeK5sL6qM6oN6nO7lP7kQ7\ iR7gS8fT8dU8cV8a7MB3LBTb`YchbdrYT`THKO63RC4TH4VM4Y\ S4_X4aa5dg5fl5hq5jv5gt6ds7aq8Zp9Xo9UmARlBOjCLiDJhD\ GfEDeFAcG7bH5aH6_I7YI8WJ9UJATKBRKCPLDNLEMMFKMGINHG\ NHFNKLKMRIOXFQbDShAUn8Wt5Yy3Uz8QzCNzGJzLFzPCzT8zY4\ za1zeLzfdzgwzgwz`wzVwzPtzNrzMpzLmzKkzJizHgzGdzFbzE\ `zDXzDZzC`zCbzCdzCfzBhzBjzBlzBnzApzArzAtzAvzAozQhz\ dfzyazsYzmTzgPzaKzWGzQBzK } frm:MandelbrotBC1 { ; by several Fractint users e=p1, a=imag(p2)+100 p=real(p2)+PI q=2*PI*fn1(p/(2*PI)) r=real(p2)-q Z=C=Pixel: Z=log(Z) IF(imag(Z)>r) Z=Z+flip(2*PI) ENDIF Z=exp(e*(Z+flip(q)))+C |Z|<a } END 20.0 PAR-FORMULA FILE==================================