FOTD -- July 22, 2003 (Rating 8) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: A day that starts with only 37 spam e-mails and a nearly empty work-shelf can't be all bad. Unfortunately, the 37 spams are a fluke, and fortunately, the nearly empty work shelf is a fluke also. I could eliminate the spam, at least for a while, by changing my e-mail address, but all those 'hi ya!', 'remember me!' and 'mdqwk zutpdxloj' subject lines have become almost like old friends waiting to greet me and then be deleted when I open my e-mail box every morning. Today's bustling image is also filled with activity. In fact, it is so active that it appears almost hectic. Because of its activity, I have given it the not very poetic name "Lots of Activity". The parent fractal was created by subtracting 0.8 parts of Z^(-1.2) from one part of Z^(1.1) before adding (1/C). It is a twisted Mandeloid consisting of a single large main bay edged with unusually small buds, which are so similar in size that the main period-2 bud is nearly impossible to find without checking. Avoiding the impossible, I checked. Today's scene is located very near the tip of the filament extending from the 'main' bud. The hectic effect has been achieved by rendering the scene with the 'outside' coloring option set to 'atan'. The normal 'iter' outside setting also creates an interesting scene, as do several other options, but the 'atan' option gives the best results, at least with today's image. I have had a run of below-average images lately, so maybe I have over-rated today's. But when I saw the result of the 'atan' option, I was so surprised that I gave the image a rating of a much-above-average 8. The recent render times seem to be in inverse co-relation to the quality of the finished images. Today's image, which renders in only 5 minutes, continues that trend. And if rendering fractals is not your 'cup of tea', the completed GIF image may be down- loaded from the FOTD web sites, which are located at: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> and at: <http://sdboyd.dyndns.org/~sdboyd/fotd/index.html> The fractal weather was better than had been expected here at Fractal central on Monday. True, it was oppressively muggy and the temperature reached 91F 33C, but the forecasted rain failed to arrive, permitting the fractal cats an extended romp in the grass. By the time their fun ended, the duo were so tired that they settled to sleep without their customary evening treats. Rain is once again forecast for today, and once again I see great patches of blue sky overhead. A forecast of rain and actual rain are two entirely unrelated things, so I'll believe the forecast of rain when I see actual water falling from the sky. If my cynicism is correct, and it usually is, the cats will have another fun day. And with another slow work day coming, today is sure to be a fun day for me. Until next FOTD, take care and be alert for the rain. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START 20.0 PAR-FORMULA FILE================================ Lots_of_Activity { ; time=0:05:11.15--SF5 on a p200 reset=2002 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm formulaname=MandelbrotMix4 function=recip passes=1 center-mag=-0.05422309850998541/+0.601340703105692\ 80/3.458086e+010/1/-165/0.0022281871845546905 params=1/1.1/-0.8/-1.2/0/0 float=y maxiter=1200 inside=0 outside=atan periodicity=10 colors=000IUFIUHIUJIULJUNJUPJUQJUSJUUJUWKVYKV_KVaK\ VbKVdLVfLVhLVjLVlLVnLVoNYlO_iPafRdcSfaThZVkWWmTXoR\ ZrO_tLcvIhw5myCrxGwwJzvMzuQztTwsWrrZmqbjpekohlnlmm\ onlrrswpovolumhuletjbtiZsgWsfTrePqcMqbIp`Fp_CoY8oX\ 5nX0oW2nV4mV6lU8kT9jTBiSDhSFgRGfQIeQKdPMcPObOPaNR`\ NT_MVZNY`MWZMVYLUWLTVKSTKRSJQQJPPIONINMHMKHLJGJIGI\ GFHFFGDEFCEEADD9DC7CB6CA4B93A60B82BA4BC5BE7BG9CIAC\ KCCMDCOFCQHCSIDUKDWLDYND_PDaQDcSEeTEgVEiXEkYEm_3pf\ 9ocEo`KnYPnVVmT_mQemNjrKkwJmzHorIqjJw_Iz`Ju`Jw`Jr`\ Jo`Jn`Jm`Jl`Jk`Jj`Ji`Jh`Jg`Jf`Je`JdaJcaJbaJaaJ`aJ_\ aJZaJYaJXaJWbJVcJUfJTiJSlJSqHRlJQdKPXLPUMOPNNKOMUQ\ MTRLSSKQTJPUJOVIMXHLYGKZGI_FH`EGaDEcDDdCCeBAfA9g34\ lA8hGBdME`SHYZKUdNQjQMqRGpSIpTJpUKpVMpWNpWOpXPoYRo\ ZSo_To_Uo`WoaXobYocZnc`ndanebnfcngengfnhgnihmjjmkk\ mklmlmmmomnpmoqmnuCUWCUVCUUDUTDUSEUREUPEUOFUNFUMGU\ LGUKGUIHUHHUGIUFIUEHTBIUD } 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==================================