Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts:

On its outer edges, today's image is a Julia set of Seahorse Valley of the Mandelbrot set.  But it is not a Julia set; it is a Mandelbrot set.  And it is hardly quadratic.  Those circular objects in the center have 32 lobes, which makes them of order-33.

So I leave it to the viewer to decide what to call the image.  As for me, I took it for what it is, rated it at a 6 and named it "Gear World".  I had a quick impression of a gear train as I searched for a name.

The calculation time of 6-1/2 minutes is not the briefest ever, but it is not the longest either.  To see what all the excitement is about, run the included parameter file.

I wisely avoided another meaningless discussion at lunch time on Tuesday, when FL asked me if I think the end of the world is coming.  "Of course it's coming," I told her.  The only questions are when it's coming and what will cause it.  I did not tell her that I believe our current obsession with technology is pathological, and is probably the beginning of the end.  Now for some news that is more immediate.

Lots of clouds prevailed all morning here at Fractal Central on Tuesday.  At noontime a short but heavy shower fell, followed by heavy clouds most of the afternoon.  The sky cleared around 5pm, but the air was so hazy that the clearing was almost invisible.  The high humidity and temperature of 84F 29C merely added to the unpleasantness.  The fractal cats spent the day doing what cats do best.  They slept.  Cassie chose the foot stool, while Nico stretched on the cool floor.

My day was about as peaceful as days ever get.  The next FOTD will be posted in 24 hours, give or take a few.  Until then, take care, and what will we do when the world ends?

Jim Muth
jamth@mindspring.com
jimmuth@aol.com


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

Gear_World         { ; time=0:06:31.77-SF5 on P4-2000
  reset=2004 type=formula formulafile=basicer.frm
  formulaname=FinDivBrot-2 function=recip passes=1
  center-mag=-1.780919193881258/+0.00000021348863863\
  /4.538402e+010/1/-20/0 params=33/1e+118/0/0 float=y
  maxiter=3200 inside=0 logmap=680 periodicity=6
  colors=000GxsHwrEvqIupMtoQsnTrmUqlUqkUpkUpjUojUoiU\
  niUnhUmgUmgUlfUlfUkeWkeUkeSibRh_PfWOeTMcQLbMJ`JI_G\
  GYCFX9DV6CU3FT6HT9JSCMSFORIQRLSQOVQRXPUZPXcNb`P_YR\
  XVTVSVSQWQNYNK_LHaICgKFbGHYDHR9JUALWBMYCO_DQaERcFT\
  fGUhHWjIYlJZnK`pLarLcoMemMgkNiiNkgOmeOocPqaPs_QuYQ\
  zbOvWQrQSnKUjEWM2RX5Vg8Yq5dr8brB`rDZrGYsJWsLUsOTsQ\
  RtTPtWOtYMt`KwdGtbJq`LoZNlXQiVSgTUdRWaQZ_O`XMbUKdS\
  IgPGiMEkK1lKDmKPnK_oKkpMxrLwqKvqJupItpIspHroGqoFpo\
  EonEnnDmnClmBkmBkmKmlTnk`ojiqirrhzsgxqfvoetndsldqk\
  coibnhblfaje`ic`gb_e`ZaZVc_Xd_Ze``g`ah`ciaekaflbhm\
  bjobkpcmqcougtrcpo`mlXjjUfgQcdN`aJY_GUXCRU9OM1HP4J\
  S6LU8MXAO_CQzCfmDZaERPFJ893DFBILJMRRRXZOXjS_gVbeYd\
  bag`diYglWkocnqmzzzzzzzzzoumjscerVapYXo`SmcNmfJmiE\
  ml9mo4mr0mu5mq9mnDmjHmgMmcQm`UzXYzUbzQfzNjzJnzGrzD\
  kzKezQ_zWTzbNzhHznBztEzqGzoJzmLzkNziQzfSzdVzbXz`Zz\
  ZazWczUfzShzQjzOjzO9z89z7 }

frm:FinDivBrot-2   { ; Jim Muth
z=(0,0), c=pixel, a=-(real(p1)-2),
esc=(real(p2)+16), b=imag(p1):
z=(b)*(z*z*fn1(z^(a)+b))+c
|z| < esc }

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