FOTD -- July 04, 2016 (Rating A-8, M-8.5) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: Welcome back to the latest incarnation of the FOTD, a real blast from the past, when the art aspect of fractals, along with their complex math, was the trendy thing among the intelligentsia of the then modern world. Those halcyon days are gone of course, along with the final traces of my optimistic view of the world and its burden of humanity. But the abstract world of fractals continues unchanged, and always will continue in its strange state of semi-existence, even long after the planet has vanished and no life remains in the heat-dead universe. Due to recent world events and the poor outlook for the future, my mood of cynical depression has grown stronger over the past several weeks. The fractals have been so few and far between because I find it hard to write the FOTD discussion without drifting into controversial, off-topic things such as religion, philosophy, science and technology, mysticism, not to mention politics. And all of these would likely lead to debates on the list that would be more appropriate elsewhere on the net. Today's fractal, which I named "Mangled MandelMini" features a mangled minibrot that is filled with strange fractal stuff rather than being empty, as all proper mandel midgets should be. The generating formula draws weird four-dimensional Mandelbrot sets. I'm not sure how the formula works, since today's real(p4) parameter is so minute that it should have no effect. But change this parameter to total zero and see how important that infinitesimal one-googolth is to the appearance of the central minibrot, which loses all its detail and can be made into a flat black. The art rates an 8, since I did put a little extra effort into the image. The math rates an 8.5 because of the mysteriously great effect of the tiny real(p4) parameter. The weather here at Fractal Central today was cloudy with occasional rain, a most depressing Independence Day outcome. The fractal cats spent most of the day watching for stray cats and pigeons. When a prowling tomcat leaped onto the outer window sill, Nicholas sent it scampering for safety with one mighty yell, startling even the two lady fractal cats. FL spent a half hour or so telling me I should develop a more positive attitude, but was unable to give me any good reason to look for a 'bright side'.
From the way it looks now, the next FOTD will be posted in a few days. Of course there is absolutely no guarantee. Until whenever, take care, and I'll cheer up when religion, science and politics join together in one harmonious self-consistent discipline that satisfies and brings peace to everyone on earth. Now does anyone wish to tell me that I am not a dreamer?
Jim Muth jimmuth@earthlink.net START PARAMETER FILE======================================= Mangled_MandelMini { ; time=0:12:24.40 SF5 at 200MHZ reset=2004 type=formula formulafile=basicer.frm formulaname=HyperMandelbrot2 passes=1 inside=255 center-mag=-0.1547030358398/+1.0375015318446/\ 3.5e+007/1/90/0 params=0/0/0/0/0.125/0/1e-100/0 float=y maxiter=4200 logmap=-1040 periodicity=0 colors=000000Ng9Le7Jc5Hb4JZ8LWBNTEPQHRNKSKNUHQWETY\ BW_8Z`5aX4`T4_Q4ZM4YJ4YF4XC4W84V54V66W67X78Y79Z7A_\ 8B_8C`8Da9Eb9Fc9Gc8Fb8Fz8Fz7Em7EZ7EY6DX6DW6DV5CU5C\ T5CS7FV8HXAKZBM`CPbEReFUgGWiIYkJ`mLbpMerNgtPjvQlxR\ nzRzuRzpRhlSgjSehScfSadT_bTY`TWZUUVTVXSWYRX_QX`QYb\ PZcOZdN_fM`gMaiLajKblJcmIbuJcnJdhKdbKeXKfQLfKLgEMn\ ALg8Ka7JW6JP4IJ3HD2H71oKVlNSjQQgSNeVLcYJ`_GZbEXeCU\ g9Sj7Ql5Vj6_i6cg6hf7md7qc7rfDshJtjOulUvnZwpdfBZwri\ unftjcsg`rcZq_WpXTnTRmQOlMLkIJjFGiBDj37h8BfDFeHJcM\ MbQQ`VUZ_XYc`WhdRmkVlgYkd`jacjZfiWihTlhQmfOndMnbKo\ `IoZGpXEtZ5pVCmRJiOPfKWbGb_DhW9oS3tT6uT8uTAuTCuTEv\ TGvUJvULvUNwUPwURwUTwUVwVXvWYvW_vsaosYlJAFIAEIAEzA\ EzADzBDzBCzBCzJCzQCzXDzNDzUjsQhsMffOQV09T0AR0AP0AN\ 0AL0AJ0AH0AF0AD0AC0AB00A00800700600500E0PNMNWKLdUJ\ mbHziFvhBwnmxrmywmzuJzwPzxUzyYzzazzezzizzmzzrzzvzz\ zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz } frm:HyperMandelbrot2 {; periodicity must be off a=(p1),b=(p2): q=sqr(a)-sqr(b)+pixel, b=(p3+2)*a*b+p4, a=q, |a|+|b| <= 100 } END PARAMETER FILE=========================================