FOTD -- December 13, 2002 (Rating 6) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: Today is Friday the 13th here at Fractal Central. Am I worried about bad luck? Not in the slightest. I doubt that bad luck exists. What passes as bad luck is probably nothing more than normal statistical variation. But I admit that fate seems against me during those spells when, regardless of how long and hard I search, I can't find a good fractal anywhere. With its rating of 6, today's fractal is leaning toward good, but closer to average. In yesterday's FOTD discussion I told of a curious rectangular hole in one of the Julia sets of the Z^2.003+C fractal. Today's image shows that rectangle, not in its pure form, but slightly distorted by a double rotation. I have also added interest by filling the open area with < fmod > inside fill. The result looks rather artificial, even unreal. It appears to have been assembled from several fractals, which is why I named it "An Unreal Object". The entire image gives the impression of a surreal bird flying toward outer space, moving so rapidly through the atmosphere that it is actually ionizing the air as it moves through. The violet glow surrounding the bird-like shape could be a result of this ionization. I almost named the picture "Sunbird" after an old computer animation of a bird in space, flying beyond earth on its way to the sun. When viewing this short animation, I have always wondered how a bird can maneuver in the vacuum of space, with nothing to beat its wings against. Well, if those space fighters in the "Star Wars" series can do impossible things like turning and banking in a vacuum, why not a bird? The four odd perpendicular aspects of this area each have their unique features, and the odd oblique slices also hold some inter- esting scenery. But none are as interesting as the Mandelbrot and especially the Julia aspects. In its Mandelbrot aspect, today's scene is located in the East Valley area of the prominent midget on the main stem of its parent fractal. But in this parent fractal, created by Z^2.003, the main stem, including the East Valley of the midget, has started to split apart, revealing some entirely new material, including a curious tiny bay right on the X-axis. To see the 'unreal' bird that in today's image flies into space, boot Fractint and run the attached parameter file. After a wait of 7 minutes, the bird will be in full view, violet aura and all. Or the wait can be avoided by downloading the pre-rendered GIF image from the internet at: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> or at: <http://sdboyd.dyndns.org/~sdboyd/fotd/index.html> Thursday was a cloudy day here at F.C. The temperature of 45F 7C was reasonable enough, but the combination of snow and mud in the yard kept the fractal cats confined to the porch. Their moods were surprisingly pleasant considering the situation. Today is once again cloudy, with rain threatening. It remains to be seen how the dynamic duo will pass the day. I know how I'll pass my day -- keeping busy. And at 11:15am, it's already past the time to start. So until next FOTD, take care, and keep fractaling. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START 20.0 PAR-FORMULA FILE================================ An_Unreal_Object { ; time=0:04:28.37--SF5 on a P200 reset=2002 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm formulaname=multirot-XY-ZW-VE function=flip/ident passes=1 center-mag=-0.00476435/-0.00231079/62.790\ 73/1/110/1.31075705844807544e-014 params=89.5/89.4\ /2.003/0/0.00019/0.07388/-1.7435/4e-005/1.77/0 float=y maxiter=1200 inside=fmod proximity=0.05 logmap=yes symmetry=none periodicity=10 colors=000DY`B``9aZ6dZ4fZ2hY0kY0lY0pW0qW0sW0vV0xV0\ zR0yV0yY0y`0xc0xd0xh0xk0vn0vq0vs0Oziczsmzzzzzuz2dx\ 6PqBDpABl9Bk9Ai7Ah79f69d67a47`46Z36Y34W24V23R13P12\ O02N01L01K00H00G00E00D00B00A00900B00D00E10G20H30I4\ 0K70N90OA0PB0RD0TE0VG0WH0ZK0bL0dN0gO0hP0iR0kT0lW0n\ Y0pZ0r`0sa0uc0wd0xf0zc0u`0sZ2qW7pVBnRHkONiNThKZfIc\ dH`fHZhHWiHVkGRlGPlGNnGLpEIqEHsEEuEDuGGsHHsIIqKLqK\ NqLOpNPpOTnOVnPWnRZlT`lTakVckWfkYhiYiiZlh`nhaphaqf\ cufdvdfxdixffyddydcydaydZzdYzdWzdVzdTzdPzcOzcNzcLz\ cKzcHzcGzcEzcDzcBzc9za7za6za4za3za1za0za0za0za0za0\ pW0ZR0IN13I00A20E60HB0KG0NL0RP0VW2Y`4`f6dk9hqBkx0q\ vDnvVkulhxziuzfqzcpvalqZklYhhVdcRcZP`VNZOLWKIVGHzB\ Ez7BN3AK07I06G03E02D04D07D0AB0BB0EB0HA0zA0zz0z90z9\ 0z90z70z71z71z62z63z63z44z46z07y46sA4nG3iL3dP2`W1z\ a1Rh0Nl0Is0Ey0Az06z02z04z07z09z1Bz2Ez3Gz4Iz6Lz7Nz9\ PzATyAVxBYxD`vEavGdIVaGW` } frm:multirot-XY-ZW-VE {; draws 6 planes and rotations ;when fn1-2=i,f, then p1 0,0=M, 0,90=O, 90,0=E, 90,90=J ;when fn1-2=f,i, then p1 0,0=M, 0,90=R, 90,0=P, 90,90=J a=real(p1)*.01745329251994, b=imag(p1)*.01745329251994, z=sin(b)*fn1(real(pixel))+sin(a)*fn2(imag(pixel))+p3, c=cos(b)*real(pixel)+cos(a)*flip(imag(pixel))+p4: z=z^(p2)+c, |z| <= sqr(p5) } END 20.0 PAR-FORMULA FILE==================================