FOTD -- July 26, 2007 (Rating 7) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: To create today's parent fractal I corrected the error that has plagued the FOTD images for the past two days. I changed 1.68 to 1.618. This change makes a surprisingly large difference in the appearance of the resulting fractal, which grows even larger and looses even more of its main stem, while the Elephant Valley wedge grows narrower and more chaotic. Today's image is located in an area of near total chaos in Elephant Valley. I named the image "Before or Behind" because the depth of its elements is ambiguous. Is the large chaotic area that contains the midget in front of the light blue background or is it behind that background? Its position is especially confusing when the blue background turns a bright red, then fades to black spirals, curling around and apparently now in front of the chaotic area. Actually, the question is meaningless, for no depth is involved at all. It's all done with colors. When I finished tweaking the colors, I rated the image at a 7. It might not be the grandest 7-rated image of all time, but what the h...? I decided to reward myself for the extra effort I put into the color palette. No one can complain about the calculation time of 42 seconds. Such a brief wait would make even a zero-rated image a bargain. And everyone loves a fractal with no wait at all. For this sur- prise go to the FOTD web site at: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> and view the finished GIF image there instantly. An average (partly cloudy, 84F 29C) midsummer day went un- noticed here at Fractal Central on Wednesday. Of course, I noticed it. Otherwise, how would I know it was average? The fractal cats scampered around the house all afternoon. They were angels most of the time, but Cassie managed to get into trouble when she grabbed an incoming fax from the tray and ran off with it. The fractal cats are fascinated by the workings of fax machines. My day was average. Tomorrow will likely be the same. The next FOTD will appear in 24 hours. Until then, take care, and some- times a fractal doesn't know whether it's coming or going. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START PARAMETER FILE======================================= Before_or_Behind { ; time=0:00:41.58-SF5 on P4-2000 reset=2004 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm formulaname=MandAutoCritInZ function=ident passes=1 center-mag=-0.86993121549170300/-0.075331779451652\ 18/342.6201/1/101.3/-5.90179849435656934e-011 params=-1/1.618/1/1.4142/0/0/0/0 float=y maxiter=1500 inside=0 logmap=20 periodicity=10 colors=000EYzHZzJ_zM`zPazSazVbzYcz_dzbezefzhfzkfzn\ fupekoWXnNSmENiDIfDDcDA`D9YD8VD8SD7PD6LC5I94F64C33\ 9026013000000H50L90PD0UI0UM0UQ0UU4UQ8UNDUKHUHLUEQU\ BUU8YU5bU2fU0jU0kU0kU0lW0lY0m_0ma1nc2nc3oc3oc4pc5p\ c6pc6oc9ocCncEncHncKmcMmcPmcSlcUlcXlc_kcakcdkcgjci\ jcljcnecgacaXcVTgPOlIKqDKqILoNMmSMkXNiaOgfOejPcnPa\ nQ_nQYnQWnQVnQTnRRnRQnROnRMnRLnUKnXKnZKnaKncKnfJnh\ JnkJnmJnpJnrJnlKnfKn`KnVLnPLnKLnJRnJWnJ`nIfnIknIpn\ MlnPinSfnVbnY_n`XndTngQnjNnmJnpGnsDnpFnnGnlHniInhK\ nhLnhMnhNnhOnhQnhRnhSnhTnhUnhTnhTnhTnhUnhVnhWnhXnh\ YnhYnhhnhfnhdnhbnh`nhGnhEnhCnhAnh8nh6nh4nh2nh0nh4n\ h7nhAngDndGnaKnZNnWQnSTn9inPWnM_nJbnGenDhnAknqHneQ\ nUYnIfn7sn7rn7qn7pn7pn7on7nnOinJknFlnBmn7An7En7Gn7\ Jn7Ln7On7Qn7Tn7Vn7Yn7_n7bn7dn7gn7in7lnWknTlnRlnPln\ NlnLmnJmnHmnFmnDnnBnn9nnR_n2pn3on4on5on5nn6nn7nn8H\ n7Mn7Rn7Wn7`n7en7jnoPnlRn } frm:MandAutoCritInZ {; 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)+(p4)), 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=========================================