FOTD -- January 08, 2002 (Rating 8) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: There are angels in today's image -- four golden fractal angels hovering around the midget at the center of the scene. Four does not exactly make a flock, but a closer look will reveal four smaller angels lurking between the large ones. Eight does make a small flock, so I named the image "A Flock of Angels". The gold of the angels on the the dark blue of the celestial sky creates an image worth the rating of 8. I do not know which species of angel today's angels belong to. According to tradition, angels come in 7 varieties. Rated from highest to lowest, they are: Cherubim, Seraphim, Thrones, Dominions, Powers, Archangels, and Angels. The Jinn are up there also, though I have no idea where they fit in. Do I believe in angels of the physical, or more accurately, of the celestial kind? Well, I do not dis-believe in them. That is as far as I will commit myself on the topic, though I shall give a further hint by telling that, even at the risk of being seen as superstitious, I do not consider myself bound by the limits of common sense. After that not surprising admission, it's time to reveal that the parent fractal of today's image was created by adding Z^5.9 to Z^3.1, then adding C. Today's image is located in a cut-off feature of the parent. This cut-off feature resembles nothing as much as a cockroach. The best feature of all is the light-speed render time of the parameter file. Using the passes=b algorithm, which works with this particular image, the parameter file runs in 48 seconds on my weary machine. It will probably run faster than the speed of light on a state-of-the-art 1.5 ghz unit, if one can be found with a Fractint-friendly video card. BTW, I avoid the Fractint-Windows incompatibility by booting DOS 6.22 from a disk in the A drive when I run Fractint. If the video card supports the vesa modes, the fractals work perfectly. True, a number of Windows drivers do not get loaded when I do this, but when searching for fractals, I never need the inaccessible devices. With today's image having a render time of 48 seconds, going online is the least efficient way of viewing the scene. But it is still fun to visit Paul's web site at: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> or Scott's site at: <http://sdboyd.dyndns.org/~sdboyd/fotd/index.html> and download the image from there. The fractal weather Monday was cloudy and blustery with occasional flurries of snow and a temperature around 32F 0C. The cats complained, then resigned themselves to a day by the radiators. And I must resign myself to at least a part day of work. But I'll return on schedule in 24 hours with another fractal. Until then, take care, and be angelic. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com START 20.0 PAR-FORMULA FILE================================ A_Flock_of_Angels { ; time=0:00:48.50--SF5 on a P200 reset=2002 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm formulaname=MandelbrotMix4 function=ident passes=b center-mag=-0.45330361401900880/-0.006615693644764\ 32/106904/1/-142.5/1.17362855545088962e-010 float=y params=1/3.1/1/5.9/0/0 maxiter=1200 inside=255 logmap=26 colors=00000I40M64Q68UDCYJGaPKeVOi`SmfWq\ l_urczxgzzmQxgMrcJm_GgTCcP9YL6TF1OA0J60`7Dp9Vz9jzG\ gzOfzVdx`avg`uo_ruXpzVozTmzSiz9fv0`i7XXPQJfM6xI0zL\ 0zO0zP0zS1zT3xX4uY6r`7oa9lg4im1fs0cy0`z0Yz0Xz0Yy0Y\ u0Yo0_j0_f0_a0`X0`S0`O1aJ3aD4a96c47c09c09c09d07d07\ f06f06f04g04g03i03i01j01j01j03i04i06i06i07g09g09g0\ Ag0Ag1Cf3Df4Df6Ff7Gd9GdAIdAJdCLcDLcFMcGOcIOaJPaLQa\ LSaMS`OT`PV`QV`SX_TY_TY_V__X`_YaY_aY`cYadYcdXcfXdg\ XfiXgiVijVjlVllVmmTmoTopTppTrrSssSusSvuSxvQxxQyxQz\ yQzzPzzPzzPzzPwwPttPqqPnnPkkPhhPeePccPddPdfPffPggP\ ggPiiPiiPjjPllPllPmmPomPooPpoPrpPrpPsrPusPusPvuPvu\ PxvPyvPyxPzyPzyPzzPrzPmzPmzPhzOcwQZtTUqWPnZKlaLlaM\ maOm`Pm`Po`Qo`So_Tp_Vp_Xp_YrYYrY_rY`rYasXcsXdsXfuX\ fuXguVivVjvVlvVmxToxToxTpxTrySsySuySvzSxzQxzQyzQzz\ QzzPzzPzzPzzPzzPzzPzzPzzPzzPzzPzzPzzPzzPzzPzzPzzPz\ zPzzPzzPzzPzzPzzPzzPzzPzzPzzPzzP000 } 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==================================