FOTD -- January 25, 2004 (Rating 6) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: The number one mystery of the day is why fractals exist. The number two mystery is why anyone would open an e-mail with a subject line such as 'blnfus fgoiun sheub ksnfiyve'. And the number three mystery is why so many of my FOTD fractals rate a 6. Today's image rates a 6. There is nothing wrong with a rating of 6 -- it's the rating I give to the greatest percen- tage of my FOTD's -- kind of like getting a 'B' grade in school. But what I want is a series of un-inflated A's and A+'s. The most frequent FOTD rating is a 6, which is a slightly-above- average fractal. Admittedly, this situation is a bit contradic- tory. How can an above-average rating be considered a group average? Well, if 90 percent of the kids in the local school can be far enough above average to be on the honor roll, why not 90 percent of the FOTD fractals? :-) Combined with a render time of 7-3/4 minutes, today's image has an overall worth of 80. It is a scene in the fractal created by combining 0.25 negative parts of Z^(-5.1) with one negative part of Z^(-1.5) and adding (1/C). This parent fractal is one of the typical amorphous things crea- ted by negative powers of Z. It consists of a large irregular bay with a prominent bud on the southwest shore. The southern valley leading to this bay is split into two sections, which made it unusual enough for me to examine closer. The closer examination proved fruitful. The area proved to be rich with midgets of a new variety, strangely similar yet strangely different. Today's image is a sample of what lies in this newly-discovered part of the fractal multiverse. I named the image "The Best Dressed". Whether it is actually best-dressed or not is up to the viewer to decide. But before making such a decision, one must view the object in question, and the way to view the object is to run the included parameter file or download the completed GIF image from Paul's web site at: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> Light fluffy snow fell until midday here at Fractal Central on Saturday. When it ended, 5-cm of fluffy snow was on the ground and the fractal cats were completely unhappy. The temperature of 25F -4C would have been too cold for their ears even if the ground had been bare. Today is even colder, the temperature is 14F -10C, the snow is still there, and much more snow is coming. I have yet to break the bad news to the not-so-dynamic duo. As for me, I'm ready to have a relaxing day doing as little as possible. I might find a great fractal or two in between spells of relaxation. And in 24 hours I will return with the best fractal that I find. Until then, take care, and the fact that we can give no reason for fractal existence does not mean that no reason exists. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START 20.0 PAR-FORMULA FILE================================ The_Best_Dressed { ; time=0:07:48.46--SF5 on a p200 reset=2003 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm formulaname=MandelbrotMix2 function=recip passes=1 center-mag=-0.13405699332489620/-2.142627954268001\ 00/1428134/1/-75/-5.16187510977983433e-007 params=-1/-1.5/-0.25/-5.1/0/0/0/0 float=y maxiter=1000 inside=0 logmap=149 periodicity=10 colors=000000000000gdZid`kbambbo`dq`eq_fq`hp`ho`kn\ `klankanjapiargbsfbtebvdbwactZcrWcrTcmQcoOciLcjIcd\ FcfCc`AcZA7_99d9Bh9Dl9Fp9GtALtBQtBUuCZsCcqDgoDlnEq\ mEumwIDzXEzkFxrGweDw`AwP7oTIgWT_ZcTanRZmQWlOTkNRkL\ OjKLiJJiMLhPNhSPgVRgYSf`UfcWffYei_el`dobdrhcuicxrc\ vo`ulYsiVrfSpcPoaMm`Jl_GaSSRLbGDn66y55w55v45u44t34\ r34q33p23o23m12l12k12j97nGBqNFtMJsMMsMQrLTrLXqL_qK\ bpKfpKioJmoJpnJsnMohPlbSiXVeRYbL`_FbX9aVDaUGaSJaRN\ aPQ`OT`MX`L_`Jb`IeaJbbJ`cJZdJXeJVfJTgJQhJOiJMjJKkJ\ IlJGmKElPDlUDlZClcCkhBkmBkrAkrAkwAjjCiiEhgGhfIgeKf\ cMfbOe`Qd_SdZTYUORPJKKEDF96A4060h5JdBHaHFZMDWSBTYA\ Qb8Nh6Kn4Hs3Ip7ImAIkDJhHJfKJcNKaRKZUKXXLU`LScLPfLN\ iOPjRRjUTjXUkZWkaYkdZlg`libllcmoemrgmthmsdlsakrZkr\ WjqTiqQiqMhqJgsGguDgwAix7ky5mz4oz3qz2rz1sz0tz2uz4v\ z6wz7xz9yzBzzCzzEzzGzzIzzJzzLzzNzzOzzPzzPzzPzzPzzP\ zzPzzPzzPzzPzzPzzPzzPzzPz } frm:MandelbrotMix2 {; 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)+(p4)), 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==================================