FOTD -- May 09, 2004 (Rating 6) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: Today's image shows a very fine example of what I call a dry lake. It is a place where a midget almost appears, but doesn't quite make it to the surface. It would seem to be easy to track down the midget by varying initial Z until the midget appears, but this plan will not work. To begin, I am not sure that there actually is a midget lying nearby. Also, when initial Z is varied, the scene moves off the screen faster than it can be kept track of. Maybe the midget, if one does exist, lies in an alternate reality, where the universal laws are different. Then again, maybe it does not. Today's scene, at least as far as I tracked it, which is not very far, opens up into a symmetrical hole with no resemblance whatever to a quadratic midget. I named the image "Alternate Reality" because the midget is nowhere to be seen. And also I am fascinated by the idea of alternate realities, from the humble seven or so spirit planes of the occultists to the infinity of alternate realities that are fashionable among physicists. As a side note, I wonder why it is considered kooky and irrational for occultists to speak of a few spirit worlds, and cutting-edge science for physicists to speak of an infinity of alternate universes, where everything possible, presumably including the spirit worlds, actually does exist. While trying to understand this inconsistency, I will remind fractal fans that, even without a midget at its center, today's image rates a 6. And when the 15-minute render time is consi- dered, its overall value registers a 38. When the completed image is downloaded from: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> the value increases. The weather unexpectedly turned sunny on Saturday afternoon here at Fractal Central. There was no rain, and the temperature reached a warmer-than-expected 64F 18C. As a result, the cats were happier than expected. Today is starting sunny and warmer. I expect more happy cats. There is not much for me to do today other than perhaps a bit of yard work. Those 17-year cicadas will be coming out any day now. Their countless holes and mud-turrets are under every tree. They are harmless, except for the noise they make and for the cats who eat them and stuff themselves to the bursting point. Until next time, take care, and spend a little extra time with your favorite fractal. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START 20.0 PAR-FORMULA FILE================================ Alternate_Reality { ; time=0:15:44.94--SF5 on a P200 reset=2003 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm formulaname=MandelbrotMix2 function=recip passes=1 center-mag=-3.959551639/-0.15869233282/509.596/1/\ -22.5/-4.85950169e-012 params=1.5/-1.24/0.19/-7.26\ /0/0/0/0 float=y maxiter=1200 inside=zmag outside=tdis periodicity=10 colors=000zz0zz0zz0zz0yz0xy0vx0tt0ts0sq0qp0pm0nk0m\ j0mg0ke0jd0hb0g_0eY0eW0dV0bS0`Q0_P0YN0YK0WJ0VH1TE1\ SC1QA1Q92P52N42M22K14J04J04H04G05E05C05A05A05A04A0\ 2A01A01A00A00A00A00A00A00A00A00A00A00A00A00C00C00E\ 20E40G50G92HA4HC7JG9JHCKJEKMHMNJMPMNSNNTQKTTMVSMVS\ NVSNVSPWQPWQQWQQWQSWQSYPTYPTYPV`PV`PW`NW`NY`NY`N_`\ N_`M``M`aMbaMbbMdbKdbKebKebKgbKgcJhcJhdJhdJjdJjeHk\ eHkeHmeHmeHngGngGpgGpgGqgGqhEshEshEthEvhEviCvjCxjC\ xjCyjCykAzkAzkAzkAzkAzm9zm9zm9zm9zpAzn9zm9zm9zk9zj\ 9zj7yh7xg7vg7te7sd7qd5pb5n`5m`5k_5jY5hY4gW4eV4dV4b\ T4`S4_S2YQ2WP2VP2TN2SM2QM1PK1NJ1MJ1KH1JG1HG0GE0EC0\ CC0AA05C07A09A09A1A91A92C94C74E75G77G57H59H5AJ5AJ4\ CK4EM4EM2GN2HN2HP1JP1KQ1KS1MS0NT0NT0PV0QV0QW0SY0TY\ 0V_0V_0W`0Y`0Yb0_d0`d0`e0be0dg0dg0eh0gj0gj0hk0jk0j\ m0km0mn0mp0np0pq0pq0qs0sx0tt0ss0sq0qp0qn0pm0pk0ph0\ ng0ne0md0mb0m`0k_0kW0jV0j } frm:MandelbrotMix2 {; 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 20.0 PAR-FORMULA FILE==================================