Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts:

I have been having trouble posting messages to the Fractint list lately.  So on Monday I decided to check to see what was wrong.

I began my quest by calling Earthlink's 'help' line, where I was connected to someone overseas who could barely speak English.  After about 15 minutes, when the 'helper' finally grasped the situation, he called his supervisor.  It took the supervisor only 5 minutes to grasp my problem.  He seemed to think that my bill payments were behind, but when I checked the Earthlink 'My Account' page I saw that all was in order.  Then I said something un-nice and hung up.

Next, I set up a new Earthlink e-mail address and joined the Fractint list under the new e-mail address, but that didn't work either.  The FOTD still bounced back.  Then I called xmission, where I was told that [207.69.200.58], whatever server or computer this might be, has been blacklisted for sending too much spam to xmission mail lists.  I was referred to a web site, where I clicked an 'unblacklist' button, but when I tried again to send the FOTD to the Fractint list, the message simply vanished into the aether instead of bouncing back.  At least it was a change, but hardly the kind I was looking for!

Finally, I said 'to hell with it'.  I do not have time for such SNL comedy skits.  I'll continue going through the routine of posting the FOTD's to the Fractint list as though nothing were wrong, and hope for the best.  If the best doesn't happen in a reasonable time, I'll stop trying to post to the Fractint list, suspend writing the FOTD, and devote the time I save to getting my own FOTD web site up and running, a project that has been seriously lagging due to a lack of time.  Now on to more relaxing things.

Today's image with its rating of a 6 is somewhat of an improvement over yesterday's image, which rated only a 5.  But it is hardly in the top rank of FOTD images.

The parent fractal was created by subtracting 2 parts of Z^2 from Z^3 and adding straight C.  This parent fractal is basically a Mandeloid with a few large extra bays to the west of the main bay.  Today's scene is located in a disconnected point rather deep in the East Valley of this parent.

The name "An Old Friend" refers to the color palette, which is the very familiar default test palette, revved up by a bit of tweaking of a few color registers.  The rating of a 6 is far enough above average to make the calculation time of 41 seconds worth the effort.

Another way to enjoy the image is to surf down to the current
FOTD web site at:

http://www.emarketingiseasy.com/TESTS/FOTD/jim_muths_fotd.html

and view it, already calculated, there.

The original FOTD web site may be accessed at:

      http://www.Nahee.com/FOTD/

About 5 inches or 13cm of snow fell overnight Sunday here at Fractal Central.  Today, (Monday), dawned with light snow and a temperature of exactly freezing.  The snow soon ended, but the temperature hovered around freezing all day.  Another 10cm of snow is forecast for tonight, so we'll see what happens.  The fractal cats took a quick glance at the outside conditions, then decided to spend the day on their shelf by the heat.  They did have one thrill when a fight between two hardy tomcats broke out nearby.

My day was occupied by clearing the sidewalk, the commercial work and creating the day's FOTD, while FL kept the coffee hot and did her share of the work.  The next FOTD will be posted in 24 hours.  Until then, take care, and find peace in the everyday routine.

Jim Muth
jamth@mindspring.com


START PARAMETER FILE=======================================

An_Old_Friend      { ; time=0:00:41.36-SF5 on P4-2000
  reset=2004 type=formula formulafile=basicer.frm
  formulaname=MandAutoCritInZ function=ident
  center-mag=+2.6343292065912/-0.0003337941617046/\
  6.814826e+010/1/167.5/0 params=1/3/-2/2/0/0/0/0
  float=y maxiter=1500 logmap=121 periodicity=6
  colors=000zzzEEUFFZGGcHKhIPmJUrKcvLmzLvzLzzzLLzLzz\
  zLzzz000555888BBBEEEHHHKKKOOOSSSWWW___ccchhhmmmsss\
  zzzp0zp0zs0zu0sv8nvBfzGVzLGxP0zT0zZ0zb0zg0zl0zq0zz\
  czzozzz0zV0zj0zz0jz0Vz0GzVVzbVzjVzrVzzVzzVrzVjzVbz\
  VVzbVzjVzrVzzVrzVjzVbzVVzVVzbVzjVzrVzzVwzVzzVtzhnz\
  lmzqhzuhzzhzzhuzhqzhlzhhzlhzqhzuhzzhuzhqzhlzhhzhhz\
  lhzqhzuhzzhuzhqzhlz00S70SE0SL0SS0SS0LS0ES07S00S70S\
  E0SL0SS0LS0ES07Y00c00m70zE0mL0cS0US0KS07SEESHESLES\
  OESSESSEOSELSEHSEESHESLESOESSEOSELSEHSEESEESHESLES\
  OESSEOSELSEHSKKSMKSOKSQKSSKSSKQSKOSKMSKKSMKSOKSQKS\
  SzQczOczMczKczKSzKSzKSzKSzKQSKOSKMS00G40G80GC0GG0G\
  G0CG08G04G00G40G80GC0GG0CG08G04G00G00G40G80GC0GG0C\
  G08G04G88GA8GC8GE8GG8GG8EG8CG8AG88GA8GC8GE8GG8EG8C\
  G8AG88G88GA8GC8GE8GG8EG8CG8AGBBGCBGDBGFBGGBGGBFGBD\
  GBCGBBGCBGDBGFBGGBFGBDGBCGBBGBBGCBGDBGFBGGBFGBDGBC\
  G000000000000000000000000 }

frm:MandAutoCritInZ {; 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)+(p4)),
k=real(p3)+1, l=imag(p3)+100, c=fn1(pixel):
z=k*((a*(z^b))+(d*(z^f)))+c,
|z| < l }

END PARAMETER FILE=========================================