FOTD -- December 30, 2002 (Rating 4) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: When I first saw today's scene, which lies deep in the Mandelbrot set, it reminded me of something that I could not place. Then I noticed the eight straight sword-like features radiating from the central midget, and thought of the power- swords of the 'Star Wars' series. In a moment of inspiration I named the image "The Power". As I recall, the actual swords glowed greenish and didn't appear until they were needed for combat. But today's image comes just barely close enough to justify the name. Since it is merely another scene in the M-set, and something that has been seen many times before, I could rate it no higher than a 4. Hope- fully, tomorrow's FOTD will close the year in a better manner. The render time of 17 minutes can be avoided by downloading the pre-rendered GIF file from: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> or from: <http://sdboyd.dyndns.org/~sdboyd/fotd/index.html> I see in the news that claims of the birth of the first human clone are circulating. The questions that are raised by the possibility are truly interesting, and will give me much philofractal material to ponder in the days to come. The weather here at Fractal Central on Sunday was of the fractal variety -- some sun, some clouds, little breeze, and a tempera- ture of 46F 8C, which is somewhat above normal. The cats were somewhat happy with the conditions in the yard, especially with the drying mud, but it's still quite muddy down in the holly thicket, so they avoided that area. For me, it's back to normal work today, but I will always manage to find time for fractals. Until next FOTD, which will appear in 24 hours, take care, and life is never dull as long as the world has fractals and clones in it. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START PARAMETER FILE======================================= The_Power { ; time=0:17:50.12--SF5 on a P200 reset=2002 type=mandel passes=1 center-mag=-0.5060745485994828105/0.69278139119482\ 1783/3.686536e+014/1/-140/3.88578058618804789e-016 params=0/0 float=y maxiter=1500 inside=0 colors=000zk_wj`ujarjbpicmickidhiefhfchgahgZghXgiU\ gjSgjRehQcfPadP_bOZ`NX_NVYMTWLSUKQSKORJMPILNIJLHHJ\ GFIFEGFCEEACD8AD79F6BH6CI6DK6FM6GN6HP5IQ5KS5LU5MV5\ NX5PY4Q_4Ra4Sb4Ud4Vf4Wg3Xi3Zj3_l3`n3ao3cq2dr2et2fv\ 2hw2iy2jz2ky4ly6ly8myAmyCmyEnxGnxIoxJoxLoxNpxPpxRp\ wTqwVqwXrwZrw_rwasvcsvetvgtvitvkuvmuvnutnsrnrpnqon\ pmnoknninlhnkfnjdnicnhang_neYndXncVnbTnaSn`QnZOnYM\ nXLnWJnVHnUGnTHmUHmUImUIlVJlVJlVKlVKkWLkWLkWMjXMjX\ NjXNjXNiYOiYOiYPhZPhZQhZQhZRg_Rg_Sg_Sf`Tf`Tf`Tf`Rf\ _QeYPeXNeWMdULdTJdRIcQGcOFcNEbLCbKBbJAaH8aG7aE6`D4\ `B3`A2`96Y8AW8DT7HR7KP6OM6SK5VH5ZF4aD4aBHa9Ta7ea6q\ b7nc7ld8id8ge9df9bf9_gAYhAVhBTiBRjBOjCMkCJlDHlDEmD\ CnE9nE7oF4pF2pF0nG3mG6kH9jHChHFgIIeILdIObJRaJU`JXZ\ K_YKbWKeVLhTLkSLnQMqPMtOMwPNuPNsPOqPOoPPnPPlPPjPQh\ PQgPRePRcPSaPS`PSZPTXPTVPUUPUSPVQPVOPVNOWNNXNNYNMY\ NMZNL_NL`NK`NKaNJbNJbNIcN } END PARAMETER FILE=========================================