FOTD -- January 10, 2004 (Rating 5) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: Against my better judgement, I tried one more time to find a quality image in the parent fractal I have been exploring for the past several days. Once again I came up short. With a rating of an average 5, today's image is not bad, but it is not good either. This will be my final venture into this particular fractal. To emphasize this point, I have named today's image "The Last Try". The image is a harlequin kind of a thing -- patches of brilliant but unorganized color and apparently random shapes surrounding the usual central midget. The image was rendered in the traditional manner, with the inside set to 'zero' and the outside set to 'iter'. Some of the other options do as good a job of rendering the scene, but I used the traditional method because I wanted to emphasize how this particular area of this particular fractal 'really' looks. Of course, when working with fractals, the word 'really' is relative. Fractals are actually nothing more than numbers -- total abstractions. It is what we do with those numbers to make them register on our senses that creates the 'reality'. The numbers can be used to create sounds as easily as images. The numbers could also be used to create tactile impressions. It is harder to imagine how one might turn a fractal formula into something that can be tasted or smelled, but stranger things have happened. Today's image renders in 26 minutes. This, combined with the rating of 5, gives a total fractal value of 19. The image may be seen by running the included parameter file or by downloading the completed GIF image from: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> Those who wish to feel, taste or smell the numbers will need to invent an appropriate means of doing so. With a temperature of 28F -2C, Friday was too cold for the cats' whiskers. They seemed quite happy to spend the day sleeping by the heat. This morning the temperature is 3F -16C, and though the sun has appeared, this kind of cold is far too severe for sensitive cats to be outdoors. They will certainly be satisfied with another day by the radiator and a dab or two of tuna. I have enough work waiting to keep me busy for a good part of the day. When the work is finished, I'll have time to find a fractal in a different fractal world. In 24 hours I'll return with the fractal I find. Until then, take care, and if in the southern hemisphere, keep cool. Otherwise, keep warm. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START 20.0 PAR-FORMULA FILE================================ The_Last_Try { ; time=0:26:04.66--SF5 on a P200 reset=2002 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm formulaname=MandelbrotMix4 function=recip passes=1 center-mag=+1.51767124083257100/+0.951548168001671\ 90/2041548/1/-27.5/2.17169040875320185e-008 params=1.2/-2.1/-2.1/-1.2/0/525 float=y maxiter=2700 inside=0 logmap=300 periodicity=10 colors=0000J00F00F00A005005001000000100A00F00J00F0\ 0A01A0550A10A10F00J00O00U00U00Z00c00h00l00l00q00v0\ 0z00z00z00h00O001100F00O00c00q00z00zz00z00z00z00z0\ 0z00z00z00z00z10z50zA0zF0zJ0zO0zU0zZ0zc0zc0zl0zq0z\ v0zz0zz0zz5zzFzzUqzclzlhzvczzZzzOzzJzzFzzAzz1zz0zz\ 0zz0zz0zzlzzzOzz0zz0zzOzzqzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz\ zzzqzzhzzUzzJzz5zz0zz0zz0zz0zz0zz0zz0zz0zz0zz0zq0z\ O0z10z00z00z00z00z00z00z00z00z00v00l00h00Z00U00J00\ F00500100000000100A00O00Z00l00v00z00z00z00z00z00z0\ 0z00z00z00z00z00z00z00z00z00z00z01z05z0Az0Fz0Jz0Uz\ 0Zz0cv0hv0qv0vq0zq0zq0zq0zl0zl0zl0zl0zl0zl0zl0zl0z\ F0z00q00l00zl1UlAOlJFlUAlc1ll0lv0lz0cv0Zv0Uv1Ov5Jv\ AFqFAqJ5qO1qU0qZ0lc0lh0ll0lq0lv0hz0hz0hz0hz0hz0cz0\ cz0cz0cz0cz0Zz0Zz0Zz0Zz0Zz0Zz0hz0hz0lz0qz1vzAzzJzz\ Uzzczzlzzvzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz\ zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz } 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 20.0 PAR-FORMULA FILE==================================