FOTD -- November 24, 2002 (Rating 7) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: The color flap on the Fractint list appears to be winding down. Not surprisingly, it turned out that we were all saying much the same thing in different words. Like the sound of the tree falling in the forest, the answer to the question of whether color exists before it is observed depends on the meaning given to the word 'color'. Today's emerald-colored image, which is surprisingly three- dimensional, vaguely resembles many things. I could have given it many names, but the name I decided on is "Gills". I rendered this otherwise routine scene with the outside set to < tdis >, which colors the points according to the total distance travelled before escaping. The normal equal-iteration-band rendering of the same scene draws a worthwhile image, but one that is not nearly as striking as today's < tdis > version. The parent fractal was created by adding 3.7 parts of Z^(-6.5) to 4.9 parts of Z^(-1.83). It is a three-lobed thing composed of mostly non-critical features. A small critical area does appear on the eastern end of the figure however, and in this area lies a bud with a curved filament extending from it. Today's image is located out near the tip of the filament, near one of the many nodes that lie on it. Due to its striking emerald coloration, I have, perhaps a bit liberally, rated the image at a 7. The render time of 5 minutes is within reason, which helps justify the rating. Those who want still more justice in the rating may download the completed GIF image from one of the two FOTD web sites. Paul's site can be accessed at: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> Scott's site can be found at: <http://sdboyd.dyndns.org/~sdboyd/fotd/index.html> The weather was brisk here at Fractal Central on Saturday. The sun shone at intervals between scudding clouds, but the wind roared and the temperature stopped rising at 44F 6.5C. The cats, who could endure only a few minutes of such conditions, complained mildly, then settled by their favorite radiators. Today is starting better, though it's still a bit brisk. Time will tell how the day will turn out. Regardless of how things develop, I'll return in 24 hours with the next in the unending series of FOTD's. Until that eagerly awaited moment, take care, and if fractals are made of numbers, why not superstrings? I kind of like the idea of the universe being made of numbers, but if this is the case, where do the numbers come from? . . . . . . And what about those membranes of M-theory? . . . . . . Perhaps I ask too many questions. . . . Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START 20.0 PAR-FORMULA FILE================================ Gills { ; time=0:05:26.59--SF5 on a P200 reset=2002 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm formulaname=MandelbrotMix4 function=recip passes=1 center-mag=+1.18141305702516300/+0.114455945659029\ 40/1956272/1/-130/-1.086988873910677e-008 params=4.9/-1.83/3.7/-6.5/0/0 float=y maxiter=1800 inside=0 outside=tdis periodicity=10 colors=000OIjPKiRLhSNfTOeUQdWScXTbYV`ZW_`YZaZYb`Xc\ aW_cYXdZUe_Rf`OgaLhbIicFjdCke9lfH4ONITTWXZi`cwdavc\ `ubZtbYsaWs`Vr`Tq_SpZRpZK`WDMT67RJuzIrvIosIloHjlHg\ hHdeGbaG_ZGXVFVSFSOFPLENHEKEEHAEF73C17E3AG4EH5HJ6L\ L7OM8RO9VQAYRBaTCdVDhWEkYFnZGk_Kh`NeaQbbT_cWXd_Ueb\ RfeOghLhkIhnG`gFU`DNUCGOEOLGVJIaHKiEMpCOwAczCZwDXt\ EUpFSlGQgHHdIH`JGZIGYHGVGGUFFSFFREFPDFOCFNCDR9CV7B\ Y4Aa29d0Cf2Fg4Ii6Kj7Nl9QmBToDVpEYrG`sIcuKzzzzzzzzz\ zzzzzzzzzzzzewJcvHauG`uEZtDXsBVs9Tr8Rq6Qq5X8wTDqPI\ lMNfISaFXXEVVETTERSDPQDNODLNCJLCHJCFIAIL9KO8MQXCUu\ 3Xt6Ts9QsCMrFJrIFqLCqN9dP9TR9HS9IX7Ia6Ie5Jj4Jo3Js2\ Mm6Ph9ScDVZGYUK`PNcKRfFUiAYl5`o0cj5VeAM`FDXK4RTCMa\ JGiRBrY6zdKtXYnQVgXSacPVjMPqKJxNLuQNsTPqWRnZTlaVjd\ XhgZej`cmbaod_mealeckfeiffhghggjegldhmchoaiq`is_it\ ZepYblX_hWWdVTaUQYTMUSJQRGMRDJXCMbBPhASnAVlEZkHajK\ diOhhRkgUnfYre`uKDnMFlNHk } 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==================================