FOTD -- June 27, 2002 (Rating 6) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: I enjoy human foolishness and today we have a lot of it. The pledge of allegiance to the flag of the U.S.A. has been declared unconstitutional because it mentions God. I suppose the Declaration of Independence and Constitution are also unconstitutional because they also mention God. And our money is also unconstitutional because 'In God We Trust' is written on it. I wonder why Atheists are so intense in their disbelief. I happen to believe in some-something that in some way fits the description of a God. But I do not become offended when Atheists tell me that I am mistaken, or deluded, or clinging to a crying-towel etc. I simply enjoy the debate, satisfied that I am right and they are wrong, while having fun seeing their futile arguments. Why then do Atheists so often become offended when believers tell them and futilely try to convince them that they are mistaken in their disbelief? Actually, as I see it, Atheism is not so much a disbelief in a god as it is a continued belief in and a defense of the philosophy of positivism, a world-view which, IMO, lost credibility about 100 years ago, and except among Atheists has been declining ever since. As to what world-view will prevail to replace it, I have no idea. But one thing is certain -- a new world-view will need to extend beyond the traditional five senses. Most of the universe is invisible to our senses even aided by the best instruments. And we do have a fractal for today. For a change, there is no quadratic midget at the center. In fact, today's image consists of the entire fractal created by the formula -0.2(Z^(-1.25)-0.2(Z^(-0.8)+(1/C). While studying the image, I had the impression of a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. I named the image "Birth". I rated it at a run-of-the-mill 6. The 11-minute render time can be avoided by downloading the completed GIF file 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 Wednesday here at Fractal Central was hot. In fact, it was the hottest day of the young summer. The temperature of 99F 37C and high humidity kept the cats confined to the shade of the porch and the fractalist confined to the coolness of the air-conditioning. Late in the afternoon a shower threatened, but died out before reaching Fractal Central. Today promises to be a repeat of yesterday, and the cats are already in their lazy mode. As for me, I've got work to do. As long as the air cooler keeps working, I'll be fine. Until next time on the 30th, take care, and see you then. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com START 20.0 PAR-FORMULA FILE================================ Birth { ; time=0:11:53.49--SF5 on a P200 reset=2002 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm formulaname=MandelbrotMix4 function=recip passes=1 center-mag=-53.5822/78.0626/0.003628592/1/-112.5/-\ 3.77822773067748585e-014 params=-0.2/-1.25/-0.2/-0\ .8/0/0 float=y maxiter=12000 inside=0 logmap=yes periodicity=20 colors=000zzzzzxzwxzfvzatzZtzXrzVpz\ TnzRnzPlzNlzLjzJjzHfyFgxDdwBfxBbu9dt9`s7ap7`p7`n5Z\ m5Zj5Zj3Zh3Zh1Zd1Xe1Xb0Xb0XZ0X_0VX0VX0VU0VU0VR0VR0\ TR0TN0TM0TJ0TH0TF0RD0RD0RB0R90R70P70P50P30P10P10P0\ 0N00N00N00N00N00L00L00L00L00L00L00J00J00J00J00J00J\ 00H00H00F00F00F00D00D00D00B00B00B00900900900700700\ 50050050030030030010010010000000000000000000000000\ 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000\ 00300500900B01F05H09L0BN0FR0HT0LX0NZ0Rb0Vd0Xh0`j0b\ n0fp0ht0lv0pz0rz0vz0xz0zz0zz5tz9jzD`vHTrHVrJVrJXrJ\ XpLXpLZpLZpN`nN`nP`nP_nPYlRWlRUhQScRQZSOUTMPULKVJF\ dB1l50n70p90p90rB0rD1tD3tF5vH9vHBxJDxLHzLJzNLzPNzP\ RzRTzTVzTZzV`zXbzXdzZhz`jz`lzbpzdrzdtzfvzhzzhzzjzz\ lzzlzznzzpzzpzzrzztzzrzztzztzztzztzztzzvzzvzzvzzvz\ zvzzvzzxzzxzzxzzxzzxzzxzzzzzzzzzzzzxzzxzzvzztzztzz\ rzzpzzpzznzzlzzlzzjzzjzzhzzfzzfzzdzzbzzb } 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==================================