FOTD -- May 25, 2004 (Rating 5) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: I have been doing some pondering since the last FOTD. Yesterday I received in the mail a special report from 'Scientific American' magazine with the title "Are You a Hologram?" At one place the article states that the three-dimensional world we see around us might be an illusion that we are creating, that in reality we are two-dimensional somethings. There is an illustration showing a two-dimensional woman imagining that she is three-dimensional. This revelation nearly knocked me flat! I thought that the assumed number of dimensions in our universe was increasing, not decreasing. And if we really are two-dimensional, then it must be possible to imagine more dimensions. So what is keeping us as 2-D beings from imagining four dimensions. Finally, I wonder about the nature of the 2-D things that are having the illusion of three-dimensional space. It is all so complex. I like things simple. Complexity brings confusion; simplicity brings ease of understanding. At least that's the way it's supposed to work. Of course, it often happens that things which at first appear quite simple turn out to be surprisingly complex. And nowhere is this unexpected complexity more evident than in the world of fractals. The iterated expression behind today's image is Z^1.5+C, as simple an expression as one could hope to run into in the arcane field of mathematics. Yet it has an infinity of infinite worlds hidden within it. Today's parent fractal is but one of these infinity of worlds. It is a shapeless thing with bits and pieces of itself lying scattered to the west of the main bay. This bay has a rudimentary East Valley, and today's scene is located in the chaos along the southern shoreline of this valley. (In this case, the northern shoreline is entirely different.) I named the image "A Hot Midget" because to me at least, the midget at the center looks overheated. It is a curious midget, almost giving the impression that it cannot decide what shape to take, and has decided to try to take all shapes. There is an obvious smaller midget lying on the midget's main filament. I have already checked this smaller midget and found it to be both less interesting and far slower to render. After carefully considering the situation, I rated the image at a 5, which is not good and not bad. After all, this is the kind of stuff I was doing 12 years ago. Back then it would have rated a 7 or 8. Nowadays, the 5 is all I could give it. When the render time of 22 minutes is considered, the overall value rates a 22 also. With images of such mediocre worth, perhaps the wisest way to view them is to download them from the FOTD web site at: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> Another very warm and sunny day here at Fractal Central, with a temperature of 90F 32C, was acceptable for the dynamic duo, who spent an hour in the yard, fighting off the cicadas that were threatening to overwhelm them. Actually, I think the ear-split- ting singing of the bugs disturbs the duo more than the bugs themselves. The singing masks the warning sounds of approaching threats. Today is starting sunny but less warm. The singing is very loud however, and it remains to be seen how the duo will react. As usual, my day will be much improved when the work is finished. Until next FOTD, take care, and see you in the fractal vicinity. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START 20.0 PAR-FORMULA FILE================================ A_Hot_Midget { ; time=0:22:32.59--SF5 on a P200 reset=2003 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm formulaname=MandelbrotBC2 passes=1 center-mag=+0.16011719832039840/-0.003322865380414\ 47/305474.1 params=1.5/0/2/0 float=y maxiter=18000 inside=0 logmap=290 periodicity=10 colors=000XNQYORZOS_PT`PUaQVbQWcRXdRYeSZfS_gT`hTai\ UbjUckUelUfmUhnUigUjaUjVVjPTmIQoCNm5Dl6Ej6Ei7Eh7Eg\ 8Ef8Ee9Ec9EbAEaAE`BE_BEZBFYAHWAKUALT9OR9QQ9RO8SN8T\ L8UK7VI7WH7XF6YE6ZC6_B5`95a85b63c25d56e87eB8dE9cGA\ bJB`MC_PDZSFYUGXXHW_IUbJTeKSgLRjMQmNPpOOrPNsPMsPMs\ PLsQLsQKsQJsQJsRIsRIsRHsRGtRGtSFtSFtSEtSDtTDtTCtTC\ tTBtTBtRDpPEmNFjLGgJHdHIaFJZDKWBLT9MQ7NN5OK3PH1QE5\ RH9RKDRNGSQKSTOSWSSXRRYRRWRQURPSRORRNPRMNQLLQKJQJI\ QIGQHEQGCQFAQE9RDASDATCAUCAVCAWBAXBAYBAZAA_AA`9Aa9\ Ab9Ac8Ad8Ae8Af7Ag7Af5Bg7Ah9AiAAjC9kD9lF9mG8mI8nJ8o\ L7pM7qO7rP7sR6tS6tU6uV5vX5wY5xZ4yZ4z_4z_4wa8tbBqcF\ neIlfKkgLkhLkiLjjMjkMjlMjmNioNipNiqOjrOktOluPmvQov\ UqwYrwasxetxiuymvymwzmxzmyzmzzmzzmzzmzczz`zz_zzZzz\ ZzzYzzYzzXzzWzzWzzVzzVzzUzzUzzWzzYzz_zz`zzbzzdzzez\ zgzzizzjzzlzznzzozzqzzszztzzpzzlzzhzzdzz`zzXzzVzzU\ zzTzzRzzQzzOzzNzzLzzMzzGz } frm:MandelbrotBC2 { ; by several Fractint users e=p1, a=imag(p2)+100 p=real(p2)+PI q=2*PI*floor(p/(2*PI)) r=real(p2)-q Z=C=Pixel: Z=log(Z) IF(imag(Z)>r) Z=Z+flip(2*PI) ENDIF Z=exp(e*(Z+flip(q)))+C |Z|<a } END 20.0 PAR-FORMULA FILE==================================