|
Fractal of the Day
by Jim Muth
|
|
Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: The FOTD returns with a burst of undersea glory! Today's 7-rated image is a scene in the Z^(2.02)+C fractal at a location 77 turns up the abstraction I call the logarithmic hyperspiral. At this lofty level the basic Mandelbrot shape has rotates 90 degrees, so that its main bud faces north. This bud has undergone some curious distortions, with major discontinuities and several broad disconnected filaments shooting off in various directions. Today's scene is located near the tip of one of these broad filaments. To bring some extra life to the image, I tried the various 'outside' options. With the proximity set at 3, the 'fmod' option seemed to work best, so that is what I used. Something about the image reminds me of a bed of shellfish, so I named it "Seashore Seashells". With its render time of 3+ minutes and its rating of 7, today's image has an overall worth of 211. Those who enjoy clams and oysters may see the undersea scene by running the included parameter file or by downloading the finished GIF image from the FOTD web site at: Thoughts about the ultimate meaning of life are difficult things to write about, and cannot be rushed. When one does try to rush it, the result is likely to be merely another statement of the problem, which has been known since neanderthal days, and needs no restatement. In today's discussion I will merely introduce the topics I will be discussing, giving few of my own opinions. The standard answer to the question of the meaning of life given by our western religions is that we were created by something known as God and placed here as a test to see if we are worthy of eternal happiness or deserving of eternal punishment. This answer is so filled with obvious inconsistencies and absurdities that a large number have totally abandoned it and chosen the rational but meaningless world view of Atheism. They can hardly be blamed. The religious answer totally fails to solve such things as basic as the problem of why an absolutely good and powerful God would allow bad things to happen to good people. The rational scientific reply is that life has no ultimate meaning and each of us is a lucky but temporary biological accident. This view is the result of our limited sensory observations alone, and is therefore no complete answer at all. It is recognized as a non-answer by those who devote serious thought to the problem. Those who claim that the questions are meaningless inventions without answers have simply avoided thinking about the problems, and need not be seriously considered. No, I am not a nihilist. But yes, I am a thinker. And I will be doing a lot of thinking in the days and weeks to come. Chilly weather over the holiday weekend here at Fractal Central kept the cats' outdoor time limited to under an hour each day, but their moods remained surprisingly good considering the poor conditions. Today is again starting sunny and very cold, with a temperature of 18F -8C. It looks like a repeat. The weather may repeat, but fractals never repeat. The next one will appear right here in 24 hours. Until then, take care, and not only are we ignorant of the answers, we don't even know the questions. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com |
START PARAMETER FILE=======================================
Seashore_Seashells { ; time=0:03:19.11--SF5 on a P200
reset=2004 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm
formulaname=MandelbrotBC2 passes=1 periodicity=10
center-mag=+0.02170866032352817/+1.257911388964956\
00/5.16379e+010/1/180 params=2.02/0/77/0 float=y
maxiter=1500 inside=0 proximity=3 outside=fmod
colors=000lIzlIzmHzmHzmGznFznFznEzoEzoDzpCzpDzpEzp\
GzpHzpJzpKzpMzpNzpPzpQzpSzpTzpVzpWzpYzpZzp`zpazpcz\
pdzpfzpgzpizpjzplypmypoyppyprxprxpuxpvxoxwnxvmwukv\
tjushtrgsqfrpdqocpnaol`nk_mjYliXkhVjgUifSheRgdQfcO\
eaNe`Ld_KdZJcYHcXGbWEbVDaUBaSE`VE`VE_VE_VEZVEZUDYU\
DYUDXUDXUDWTDVTDVTCVTCUTCUSCUSCTSCTSCTSBSRBSRBSRBR\
RBRRBRQBQQAQQAQQAPQAPPAPPAOPAOP9OP9NO9NO9NO9MO9MO9\
MO8LN8LN8LN8KN8KN8KM8JM7JM7JM7IM7IL7IL7HL7HL6HL6GK\
6GK6GK6FK6FK6FJ5EJ5EJ5EJ5DJ5DI5DI5CI4CI4CI4BH4BH4B\
H4AH4AH39G5AH6BH7CH8CH9DGAEGBEGDFGEGFFHFGHFHIFIJFJ\
JEKKEMLENMEOMDPNDQODRODSPDTQCVRCWRCXSCYTBZTB_UB`VB\
bWA_WC_YD__E`aF`cG`eH`gIajK`gI`fI`eI`eI`dI`cI`bI`b\
I`aI``I`_I`_I`ZI`YI`YI`XI`WI`VIaVJaUJaTJaSJaSJaRJa\
QJaPJaPJaOJaNJaNJaMJaLJaKJaKJaJJaIJaHJbHKbGKbFKbEK\
bEKbDKbCKbCKbBKbAKb9Kb9Kb8Kb7Kb6Kb6Kb5Kb4Kc3Lc6Nc9\
QdDTdGVeKYeN`hZcibelhhnmw }
frm:MandelbrotBC2 { ; by several Fractint users
e=p1, a=imag(p2)+100
p=real(p2)+PI
q=2*PI*floor(p/(2*PI))
r=real(p2)-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=========================================
|
times.
