FOTD -- October 10, 2004 (Rating 5) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: For today's fractal we turn to the cmplxmarksmand formula of Fractint. By adding an exponent to C, this formula is capable of doing some very rude things to the classic Mandelbrot set, from tearing it apart to turning it inside out. But for today's fractal we have gone easy on the set, merely giving it a slight split along its negative real axis. Though the cmplxmarksmand formula can draw some very curious variations of the M-set, they are still variations of the same set. The interesting fractals are all on the surface. Except along the line where the fractal splits, the depths of the fractals created by this formula are identical to those of the M-set itself. To create today's image, I have taken a midget on a filament extending from a sub-bud on the south shore of the largest bud of the M-set and caught it at the point where both it and its twin on the north shore have just emerged from limbo and are just splitting apart. The result is a curious siamese-midget kind of effect, with both halves sharing the same main-stem midget, and appearing to be in a fight over it. Since such an effect is one of the simplest things to do with this formula, and also the first thing that comes to mind, I could rate the image no higher than a 5. The render time of 3 minutes gives an overall value of 166. The task of rendering the image from the included parameter file may be avoided by downloading the finished GIF image from the FOTD web site at: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> The partly cloudy but hazy skies and temperature of 73F 23C here at Fractal Central on Saturday were good enough to let the fractal house-cats enjoy an afternoon of remaining nearly invisible in the brush at the bottom of the yard. Something in the neighborhood appeared to have then skittish, but when meal time came, they were out of the brush and into the kitchen in less than a minute, eating vigorously. Today's weather is starting the same as yesterday's, though the haze has blown away. I expect another peaceful day for the cats. For me the day looks uneventful, that is if I can talk my way out of the trip to one of the local antique emporiums that the fractal lady is planning for this aftertnoon. Regardless of what happens, the next FOTD fractal will appear in 24 hours or so. Until that moment of triumph, take care, and where did all the angels go? Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START PARAMETER FILE======================================= Twinship { ; time=0:03:00.92--SF5 on a P200 reset=2003 type=cmplxmarksmand passes=1 center-mag=-1.05052918274505500/0/378.5591/1/-90/\ 3.88578058618804789e-016 params=0/0/1.0955/0 float=y maxiter=4500 bailout=1000 inside=0 logmap=34 periodicity=10 colors=000YvlWtjVrgUqeSobRm_PkYOiVKjMNhTQfZTdeWbkZ\ `mdYma_m_`mYamWbmTdmRemPdoAcpHcnNciUccYcY_ZZaU_bR`\ dUaeXbgZciadjdelgfmjgomhpnipoiok`ojXohSmcTk_UiVVoT\ XkSWgRVdRU`QTXPSSMQTORUPRVQRWRRXSRYURZVR_WR`XRaYRa\ ZR``Q_bQZcPYePXfPWhOVjOUkNTmNLpDPqISnNVjSZeXaaabIQ\ cQYdYehakgdmedl_dgTdbNdYHdT8cNBdODeOFfPHgPJhQLiQNj\ RQjRSkSUlSWmTYnT_oUapUdqScpUbpWbpXapZ`o``oa_occraa\ tc_odYmeWmfUmgSmhQmiOmjMmkKmlImmKmlMmkOmjPmjRmiTmh\ UmhWmgYmfcmi`mgZmfWmdUmcSmaPm`NmZLmYImWGmVEqUWuc_x\ scvzdvzevzfvzgvzhvxivvjvtkvrlvpmvnnvlovjpvlqvnrvps\ wrtwtuxvvyvwztxzqyznzzlzzizzfzzdzzazzZzzdzzXzzPzzC\ zzIzzNzzSzzXzzZzz_zzazzbzzczzezzfzzgzzizzjzzkzzmzz\ nzzpzzozzozzozzozzozzozzozzozzozzozzozzozzozzkzzhz\ zezzbzz_zzXzzUzzRzzOzzTzzYzzbzzdzzezzgzzhzzjzzkzzl\ zznzzozzqzzrzztzzuzzyzzvzzszzpzzmzzjzzgzzdzzezzczz\ bzz`zz_zzYzzXzzVzzUzzSzzR } END PARAMETER FILE=========================================