FOTD -- February 22, 2002 (Rating 4) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: The CD is progressing on schedule, with (so far) only minor problems. If things continue this way, the disk will be ready by this Summer, Winter, wet season, or dry season, depending on the climate where this letter is being read I named today's image 2-of-4, not because it reminds me of a Star-Trek episode, but because it is the second FOTD created with my new experimental formula, which mixes four powers of Z. The formula has been changed since I used it for the most recent FOTD, but the parameter files that were written using the first version of the formula will also work with the present version, (if the function is set to <ident>), so I did not change the formula name. Today's image rates only a 4. But this does not make the formula a failure. Rather, it is a sign that I have not yet become familiar with the things that might be possible when four powers of Z, some negative, some positive, are combined in a single iteration. To be honest, today's image resembles many images that I have passed over while using the M-Mix4 formula. I suspect that adding ever more powers of Z in a single iteration will soon result in diminishing returns, much as raising the exponent does in a formula such as Z^100+C. But I'll give my new formula a fair trial before consigning it to the graveyard of forgotten formulas. (Formulae for the over-educated.) The six-minute render time is bearable. Downloading the completed image is even more bearable. And the image can be downloaded from Paul's web site at: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> or from Scott's site at: <http://sdboyd.dyndns.org/~sdboyd/fotd/index.html> The fractal weather Thursday was ideal for man and cats alike -- warm sun, mild breezes, and a spring-like temperature of 66F 19C. Now that the midday sun has cleared the holly trees, the porch was ideal for Thomas and Tippy, who passed the afternoon there, sunning themselves and watching the robins. As for me, it's back to work and back to the FOTD CD, which is now 14 percent completed. Until next FOTD, take care, and things can only get better. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START 20.0 PAR-FORMULA FILE================================ Two_of_Four { ; time=0:06:48.97--SF5 on a P200 reset=2002 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm formulaname=MandelbrotMix3 function=recip passes=1 center-mag=-1.61207585715358800/+0.192309337238596\ 40/4.616693e+008/1/-92.5/-0.000123449397862948618 params=1/-8/5/-1.8/0.3/2/0.1/1.5/1.96008723426094/\ 300 float=y maxiter=900 inside=0 logmap=75 colors=000EAYG9PH8GI87KHEMQLOZSQgZSpeTxlYofaf`eYVi\ QPmHJq8Du07tCAsNDrZGqiJwdNz`RxWVxSYwNatJeuEiuAlvHj\ wNixUhx_go`kf`nZ`rQ`uI`xGbnEcdCdVAeL9fCdBufIngOgiV\ `j`UkfNmmGns9oy3Tu17r05oC3lO2j_Mkgelnxmupishfq`coU\ _mMXkEUi7RhLXiZbilgiUXISWJRVKQVKPULOULNTMMTMOXWP_e\ QcoRfxLduGcrAao5`mAdiEgfIkcMn`GQkB1uF4qJ7mNAiRDeVG\ aZJYbMUfORSfeEytJwuNvvcvHMgc4UzAXvFZrKaoQckVfg_hda\ jbbl`dnZepXfqVkqRpqNS9IfWJFphUq_gqSL4tVHjcTaleTk44\ nH8pTCseGDf4KmjpHJrUKteK_OafZ3jc8nhCrmG3ChVXWd`nmi\ ZCZHOcIZhJjmKOpu_qhjqWswEtuGusICQymFOoPNqZMshLbPqg\ Xhlc`qjSB8O`DOgRMndLSX7GIZuc4uc1siFrnSpsdoxqdioVem\ LgkBij9kFEmKJoOOqSRsNTuIWwDYx8nyahz`bz`Xz`dzHGzh`z\ WGz7UzCgzG4zMkzXnzTpzQszNkzfnz`pzVszPrzFszHtzJCzin\ zPrzM`zBOzSXzQdzOmzMozvrzbjzUjz0pzAqz4rz8szCtzGmzV\ `zqkz`RzgfzWJzdWzYhzR7zCXzGGzGUzIgzJwzRvzPvzNuzLUz\ rgz`pzrrzisz`tzSNz1EzQEzU } frm:MandelbrotMix3 {; Jim Muth z=real(p5), c=fn1(pixel), a=real(p1), b=imag(p1), d=real(p2), f=imag(p2), g=real(p3), h=imag(p3), j=real(p4), k=imag(p4), l=imag(p5)+100: z=(a*(z^b))+(d*(z^f))+(g*(z^h))+(j*(z^k))+c, |z| <=l } END 20.0 PAR-FORMULA FILE==================================