Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts:

I think the problem about my inability to post directly to the Fractint list has been solved.  An xmission customer contacted xmission customer support and explained the problem.  Customer support then pushed a few buttons and the xmission spam filter permitted my posts to the Fractint list to pass through.  How simple when one knows just what to do.

Compare this to my own efforts to solve the problem.  My first thought was that some big spammer had forged my email address as the point of origin of their junk mail, so I set up a new address.  Unfortunately, when I subscribed under the new address, the new address didn't work either.

Next, I went on the Earthlink chat line and explained the problem.  The woman at the other end told me to phone Earthlink technical support.

But when I phoned technical support, I was connected to a man apparently in some overseas country, (my guess is India), who could barely speak English and had even less ability to understand my problem.  When he told me I could not get connected because my payments were behind, I said 'thank you' and hung up.  The payments are charged automatically to a credit card.

Then I subscribed to the Fractint list through the FC business email address.  This new address got through to the list, but the business machine is at a different location, and is usually tied up with other tasks.

By this time I was receiving other ideas from the list.  (I could receive but not send.)  Ideas varied -- it was xmission's fault, it was Earthlink's fault, my email address was at fault, my computer had been hijacked and unknown to me was sending out masses of spam.  (Unlikely for a 10-year-old machine with a dial-up connection that is online only a couple minutes a day.)  I even heard that a hacker (who must have hated fractals) was behind the blockage.

At this time I wondered whether I was being given a sign from above that I should suspend the FOTD and put the extra time to getting my own web site up and running.  (Due to a lack of time, the web site is woefully lagging.)

But then I decided to try the Earthlink technical help chat line once again.  This time I was connected to a technician who understood the problem but could not explain it.  He asked me to send the entire header for him to examine.  (Did you ever try to accurately type an entire email header with an impatient helper on the other end of the line and a hungry cat at your feet asking for food.)  When I finally sent the header, he took another 5-minute break, then told me that xmission had blocked my Earthlink mail server because it had been sending too much spam to xmission, something I already knew.

At this point, I replied with the big threat -- dropping Earthlink -- and he said to wait 5 minutes while he took my problem to a 'higher authority'.  About 8 minutes later, he returned with a report that apparently, someone was abusing Earthlink's mail service, and replied that it would take several days to clear up things.

Leap forward to Saturday morning, one week after the problem appeared.  When I checked my morning email, I found a letter forwarded from the Fractint list stating that the problem had been resolved.  Unfortunately, my old address, jamth@mindspring.com is the only one that presently gets through to the list, though I assume that my new address, jimmuth@earthlink.net, will work once Earthlink settles the entire situation in a few days.

I'm now out of steam from writing.  As for today's image, it's a scene with a bizarre minibrot in the Z^(1.25)+C Mandeloid.  I have put a bit of extra coloring effort into the image, so enjoy it while it lasts.

The name "Freak in the Night" refers to the freakish shape of the minibrot as well as the overall somber hues.  The rating of a 6.5 credits me for 1/2 point of the coloring worth.

The calculation time of 1-1/3 minutes is a real bargain, and even the small inconvenience of running the included parameter file may be avoided by viewing the finished image on the current FOTD web site at:

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

The original web site with all the images and discussions since
April 1997 may be accessed at:

     http://www.Nahee.com/FOTD/

But I have not heard from Paul in several months, and I have no idea how long his web site will remain up.

Morning sun and afternoon clouds made Saturday a day of variety here at Fractal Central.  The fractal cats passed most of the day watching for unwanted cats to appear in the yard.  Their thrashing tails indicated that the unwanted cats were about.

Except for left-over frustration about the fractal situation, my day was reasonably settled.  FL was feeling a bit below par, so we took no antiquing trip.  The next FOTD is scheduled to appear in 24 hours.  Hopefully, it will.  Until then, take care, and why must simple things be made so difficult?

Jim Muth
jamth@mindspring.com


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

Freak_in_the_Night { ; time=0:01:20.14-SF5 on P4-2000
  reset=2004 type=formula formulafile=basicer.frm
  formulaname=MandelbrotBC3 function=ident passes=1
  center-mag=+0.56035189/+3.4634472/795/1/27.5/0
  params=1.25/0/3/0 float=y maxiter=32000
  inside=0 logmap=40 periodicity=6
  colors=00000g00e00c00b00`00Z02X04W06Y08Z0A`0Ca0E`0\
  G_0IZ0KZ0MY0OX0QW0SW0UY0W_1Za2ac3de5gg7ki6mk5im5eo\
  4`p4Xq3Tq2Or2Kr1Gs1Bs07t03t22p32m42j52g62d72`82YA2\
  VB2SC2PD2LE2IF2FG4CH89LCEOGJRKOVMTYOY`QbdSggUljVqm\
  WvfYu`ZtV_sP`sNaqMboKcmJelJgnIiqHksHmvGkxGqzFrwEsu\
  EtsDupDvnCwlCxiBygBzeFydJxcNwcRvbVubYuaataes`iq`mp\
  _po_qnYrmWrmUsmSsmQtmOtmMumKumIvmHvmFwmDwmBzr2xr9x\
  r7yrUyrUzrUnrUorUprUprUqmUqmUrmUrwUswUswUtwVtwTuwQ\
  vwNvwLwwIwwFxwDxwAyw7yw5zw2DzvGzrJzoLzlOziRzfTzcWz\
  `ZzY`zVczRezOhzLkzImzFpzCsz9uz6xz3xzGyzFyzEyzEyzDy\
  zDyzCyzCyzByzByzAyz9yz9yz8yz8zz7zz7zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz\
  zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzczzczzczzczzbzzjzzrzzkzzlzzlz\
  zmzzmzznzznzzozzozzpzzpzzqzzqzzrzzrzzszzszzszztzzt\
  zzuzzuzzvzzvzzwzzwzzxzzxzzyzzyzzzzzzzzmzzmzzmzzmzz\
  mzzmzzmzzmzzmzzmzzPzzRzzTzzVzzXzz_zzazzczzezzgzziz\
  zkzznzzpzzrzztzzvzzxzzczz }

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=========================================