FOTD -- March 25, 2009 (Rating 6) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: A couple days ago Ted wrote that there are times when my rating system makes it really hard to believe that the system exists as something coherent and predictable, hopefully unaffected by the weather, my mood, or the stock market fluctuations. There is a good reason why this is so. My rating system is totally arbitrary, not at all coherent and predictable, with no scientific validity at all, and very much affected by my mood at the moment I decide on the rating. The original letter continues: A coherent rating system would mean a system which takes into account a set of different aspects of the rated object, evaluates some of the most signifi- cant, and by combining these values, offers a usable way of placing the rating of the object somewhere between 'Isn't it wonderful!' and 'What a waste!'. If I rated the images like this, it would be too close to doing statistical science to be much fun. I try to avoid doing things in a scientific manner as much as possible. It makes life far too scientific and far too little fun. For example, look at the trouble I have had since 2001 trying to convince hard-core skeptics that a form of precognition does in fact exist. Their devotion to a rational skeptical view forms a mental block that is almost impossible for them to overcome. (If they even wanted to overcome it.) By contrast, by avoiding the rational approach, I can indulge in far more interesting and outlandish ideas such as the possibil- ity that the universe is a fractal being constantly recalculated on God's cosmic computer. There is more to the original letter, and I'll have more to say about it in future FOTD's. Today's image came about when I calculated the Mandeloid formula Z^(2.01)+C at PI levels up the logarithmic ladder. At this transcendental level the parent fractal is a Mandelbrot set that has split apart on the west side and rotated a few degrees clockwise. Today's image is located in an area of chaos between the two split-apart parts of the main bud of the parent. I named the image "Spring Has Sprung". Its quality is about average, thus the rating of a 6. The name came to mind when I noticed the first yellow daffodil of the season in bloom this afternoon. The calculation time of 55 seconds makes calculating the image a pleasure. Equally joyful is the trip to view the completed image on the FOTD web site at: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> Tuesday dawned clear and cold, with a very un-springlike tempera- ture of 19F -7C, but by afternoon the strong sun had warmed it to 48F +9C and the light winds made the day quite pleasant. The fractal cats agreed as they competed for the best spot on the shelf by the sunny window. My day was rather busy. Tomorrow is likely to be even busier. The next FOTD will be posted in 24 hours. Until then, take care, and when will the common man see the benefits of the space program. Or perhaps the question should be, "where are the much hyped benefits of the space program?" Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START PARAMETER FILE======================================= Spring_Has_Sprung { ; time=0:00:55.64-SF5 on P4-2000 reset=2004 type=formula formulafile=basic.frm formulaname=MandelbrotBC3 function=ident float=y center-mag=-1.242701290941315/+0.0883396256393417/\ 1.217e+007/1/-85/0 params=2.01/0/3.14159265358979/0 maxiter=1500 inside=0 logmap=88 periodicity=10 colors=000Bsq5xx3oi1fW0YI8_MGaQOcUWeXcg`kidskhzmkr\ p_jsOcqC_mFWhHTbJPXLLRNILPEFRB9TDDXEG`FKdGNhHQkFRj\ DRiCRiENeGKaIHZKEVMBSG_XBw`CncDfeEYhEQjFHmG9oG1qL1\ kP1eT1`X1V`1Pd1Kh1El19Z4HL6P88WJ9bTAicBpmCwbQqSckI\ qfKmhLijMelIceFa_C`UldOUmaBuo8jk6_g4Qc2F_05W9C`HJd\ QQiYXmebqf_pgYphVphToiQojOojMoXG`KBM76884B83D92G91\ IC8JFEJIKKLQKOXLRbLUhMXnMSdKNVIILGDBE81DE9KJHQPOXU\ WbZbhQZyP`xPawPcwPdvOeuOguOhtOitLfoIdjFbeC`a9YX6WS\ 3UN0SJ1QO1OS1MX1K`1Ie1GiCLZMQOWUDTOIRINwo`lpWapSRq\ NGqJ5qF6oG6nH7mI7lI7kJ8jK8iL8hLB`ODTQFLTHDVJ6XX7Qi\ 8Jv8CmEDeJDXODPTDGYD8bDEcCJcCPdCUdCZeCdeCifCnfCphM\ qjVslctnlupunmrhjpbhnXelRcjL`hFZfHZZJZSLZLMZET`BZb\ 8dd5je3NchOgcPkZUvZXu__t`btadsbgrcjrdmqeopfrpguohx\ niznjvoisphophlqghrferfaseZtdUfTWdUYbW_`YaZ_cX`eVb\ gTdiRekOMlL3gR9cWE_`KWePSjVOo_Upd_pheqlkqqqruvryip\ vYnsLlp9kmBilDgkVbWPgcImj } frm:MandelbrotBC3 { ; by several Fractint users e=p1, a=imag(p2)+100 p=real(p2)+PI q=2*PI*fn1(p/(2*PI)) r=real(p2)+PI-q Z=C=Pixel: Z=log(Z) IF(imag(Z)>r) Z=Z+flip(2*PI) ENDIF Z=exp(e*(Z+flip(q)))+C |Z|<a } END PARAMETER FILE=========================================