FOTD -- November 19, 2004 (Rating 7) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: Today we move on to the manzpower formula, one of my favorites. I have done so much exploring in this formula (and formulas I have written myself that do the same thing) that I already know where the goodies are likely to be found. For today's fractal I calculated the Z^(2.003)+C Mandeloid. This fractal looks quite like the classic Mandelbrot set except along the negative stem, which is broken apart into infinitely divided sub-stems. I chose to explore the area immediately east of the large midget on the stem, an area where the break-up is particularly interesting. After only a few minutes, I tracked down today's scene, which lies on one of the fractured stems. The tiny midget at the center is surrounded by one of the most unexpected patterns in all of fractaldom. To emphasize the unusual pattern, I gave the image a very strong color palette, perhaps going a bit beyond the most pleasing point of color intensity. When the time to name the picture arrived, I had a bit of trouble thinking of a fitting name for such a scene. Then I glanced at the cover of the December issue of 'Scientific American' magazine, which had just arrived in the mail and was lying on the table beside the fractal desk. On the cover is a picture of a virus, illustrating the inside article 'Are Viruses Alive?'. The virus looks quite like a 3-D fractal, with its feelers reaching out, ready to latch onto and burrow into any susceptible cell it happens upon. Then I glanced back at the screen, and saw the same feelers surrounding the midget in the image I had just finished. It was total synchronicity. I immediately named the image "Retro-Virus", one of the varieties of viruses. I was ready to give the image a rating of 8, but then I remem- bered how many times I had been here before, and how I found the scene with almost no effort. I settled on a rating of 7. A rating of 7 is above average however, and at under 6 minutes, the render time is within reason. The render time combines with the rating of 7 to give an overall worth of 123. When I finished the fractal, I read the magazine article. I was not surprised when the article said that whether or not viruses can be considered alive depends on one's definition of the word 'life'. (The writer must be a politician.) One thing not under dispute is that the completed GIF image of today's fractal will soon be available on the FOTD web site. The URL is: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> The clouds cleared away by noon on Thursday here at Fractal Central, leading to a sunny and warm afternoon with a temperature of 66F 19C. The cats had another excellent day in the yard, watching the birds and squirrels. No special treat was needed to end their day happily. Today is starting cloudy and mild. If the sun breaks through, it could be a repeat. In my department, the unexpected rush job has been cleared away, with only a small bit of fine-tuning to do before returning to the world of fractals. Whatever I find there will appear as tomorrow's FOTD. Until then, take care, and viruses may or may not be alive, but what about fractals? Are they alive? Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START PARAMETER FILE======================================= Retro-Virus { ; time=0:05:42.51--SF5 on a P200 reset=2004 type=manzpower passes=1 center-mag=-1.74332121452800500/+0.000087077710564\ 06/5.828169e+007/1/157.5/-5.86284235604139781e-008 params=0/0/2.003/0 float=y maxiter=7500 bailout=9 inside=0 periodicity=10 colors=000rCCrCCoEEmFGkGIiHKgILdJNbKP`LRZMTXNUVOWS\ QYQR_OS`MTbKUdIVfFWhDXiBYk9Zm7_o5`p4eb3jQ2oD2s06o4\ Ak7EgAIcDM_GQWJTTNXPQ`LTdHWhDZl9ao6dn5cm5bl5bl5ak5\ `j5`i4_i4_h4Zg4Yg4Yf4Xe3Xd3Wd3Vc3Vb3Ub3UYAWTHXPOYK\ U_G``Bga7zbzzazz`zz`Hj_JjZLiZOiYQhXShXVgWXgWZfVaeU\ ceUedThdSjcSlcRobQqbQsaPuaPp_OkYNfWNaUMXTLSRLNPKIN\ JDMJELLFLMGKNHKOHJPIJQJIRKISKITJHSJGSIFRIERHDQHDQG\ CPGBPFAPF9OE8OE8ND7ND6MC5MC4LB3LB3LC4KC5JC6JC6IC7H\ C8HD8GD9GDAFDAEDBEDCDDCDEEEFFFGGGHHHIIIJKJKLKLMLMN\ MNONOQOPRPQSQRTRSUSSVSXXVaZYf``nUPeYS0aV0eY0i`07c0\ 8b09b0Ab0Bb0Cb0Db0Eb0Fb0Gb0Hb0Ib0IcAId2Ie6If9IgDIh\ GIgKIeNIcRJaUK_WMYXOWYQUZSU_UU`UULUUUUUaUUcPTc3IcE\ KcPMcaQcZNcWKcUIbRFZOCUMAQJ7G96JD5MH5PL4SP4VT4YX3_\ _3bc3eg2hk2ko2ns1qw1sz1tv2us3uo4vl5vh6we7xa8xZ9yVA\ ySBzOCzLCuJDqIDmGDiFDeDEaCEYAEU9EQ8EX9Jc9NjASw1St6\ UqAWnEYkIZhN`eRbcVcqEDrDC } END PARAMETER FILE=========================================