FOTD -- April 28, 2007 (Rating 7) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: In today's fractal we travel to a world that until now I have virtually ignored -- the world of fractals created with complex exponents of Z. We need only the manzpower formula of Fractint to do this. To begin exploration we check the fractal created by the formula Z^(2+0.1i)+C. This addition of a small imaginary value to the formula of the classic Mandelbrot set makes a world of difference in the appearance of the parent fractal. Instead of the pure M-set, we see a distorted version of it, with Seahorse Valley split into two separate parts. Today's image is located along the flat edge of what appears to be the remains of the north branch of the valley. I named the image "Bolt From the Blue" because of the stylized lightning bolts zig-zagging through the scene. I rated it at a 7 because I kind of enjoy it. At the center there is a small Mandelbrot midget, which has not yet suffered much distortion, though if the imaginary part of the exponent were to be increased much beyond the value in today's formula, the midgets of the parent fractal would soon become unrecognizable. Most of the effect in today's image was achieved by calculating it with the inside set to 'summ' and the bailout radius set to 16. Surprisingly, changing the bailout makes a big difference in the final result. The calculation time of 18 minutes is slower than ideal, but the calculation may be dispensed with by going directly to the FOTD web site at: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> and viewing the image there. Heavy clouds, occasional light rain, and a temperature of 57F 14C kept a damper on things here at Fractal Central on Friday. The fractal cats must have suddenly become interested in the weather, for they spent a good part of the day staring out the window at nothing which I could see except rain. My day was busier than average, but still under control. The next FOTD will appear in 24 hours. Until then, take care, and is reality really real? If it is not real, how can we tell the difference? And if there is a difference, what does it mean? Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START PARAMETER FILE======================================= Bolt_from_the_Blue { ; time=0:18:02.75--SF5 on a P200 reset=2004 type=manzpower passes=1 center-mag=-1.25261975090424200/+0.046477193834191\ 60/3.024927e+007/1/162.5/-4.37373777914876194e-005 params=0/0/2/0.1 float=y maxiter=3400 bailout=16 inside=255 outside=summ periodicity=10 colors=000EPkDdoBttTmVje5cZEXRNQJWJBdC3mFCkJLiNUfO\ RbQNZSJVUFRWBNYLI_WDae8dp3gi7kaBoUFsMJwENrLUlS`f_h\ ilhlyhbuYTqNJmC9h1Gf1Od1Wb1c`1kZ1sX0ncAhjKbqVZmUUi\ TQeSL`RGXQCTP7PO2KMTddtywOy6PnGQbRSR`TFkV3vuYqkSh`\ M_RGRGAHELNCWUCVVBTXBRZAP`AOb9Md9Kf8Ih9KbAMXBPRHRS\ NUUUXV__XebYle_rh`ykbXOm40xA2xG4xM7xS9xZCxWCoSDfYF\ ZcHQiJHOV1THRZ3pcNahfMmz6mvGmqQml`mgjnbunZpnVjmRem\ N_mJVlFPZ`IKvBKsGKpLY6AY6AX6AX6AW6BW6BW6BV6BV6BU7C\ U7CT7CT7CS7CS7DR7DR7DR7DQ7DQ7EZ7EV7EO7EO7Ec8FN8F08\ FM8FM8FL8GL8GK8GK8GJ8GJ8HI8HI8HH8HH8HG9I`69_79Z89Z\ 9AY9AXAAWBBWCBVDBUDCTECTFCSGDRHDQHD`79QIEPJEOKEOLF\ NLFMMFLNGLOGKPGJPHIQHIRHHSIGTIFTIFUJEVJDWJDXKHVKMT\ LRRMWPN`NNeLOjJPoHQmMPkROiWNgaLefKckJapI_vGavFcuEe\ uDgtCitBksAnr9moBklDiiFheIfbKd_MbWPjQfsKymg5gf8`dB\ VbFO`IHZMPUSXPYdKclFit9ptDjtIdtNZtSTtXMiUPZQTONXDJ\ `gIIlGbqExdLsRTmE`h0hbszz } END PARAMETER FILE=========================================