Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts:

An image recently posted on the Fractint list resembles a fleet of shiny alien space craft deploying in outer space for an attack on earth.  When I was a far younger person, (think age 20), I kind of believed in (or hoped for) aliens from space visiting earth.  I assumed that all those reports of unidentified flying objects and all those fuzzy photographs could not possibly all be wrong.  I supposed that someone with a good camera would eventually take a clear photo of one of the alien ships and perhaps even a clear photo of an alien itself.  Too bad I had to change my mind.

The belief was a lot of fun.

Today it is becoming blatantly obvious that all the reports of aliens and their ships, as well as all the fuzzy photographs, are nothing more than a lot of fun, and always have been.  The thing that changed my mind is the fact that nowadays there are billions of people traveling about with ready-to-aim-and-shoot cameras, yet as far as I know, not a single clear picture of an alien space craft has ever been taken.  By this time, if the aliens actually were here, the laws of chance alone would have produced hundreds, even thousands of clear photographs of the aliens and their ships.

What a let-down.

But there is a consolation prize.  When I was a far younger person, (20), I thought all the reports of paranormal phenomena were a pile of wishful-thinking stuff.  Since then however, I have had enough personal experiences to convince me, despite the rational disagreement of skeptics, that this universe of ours has more dimensions and more unknown stuff happening than we can imagine, and a growing number of physicists seem to share my opinion.

See what a simple fractal fleet of alien space ships can do!

Today's FOTD fractal makes no such grandiose claims.  It is simply a scene in the Z^(2.5)+C Mandeloid as it appears 20 levels up the ladder when no function is applied.  Being purely of average quality, the image rates a purely average 5.  The name "Wiggly Squiggly" has nothing to do with an old cartoon rabbit.  It simply describes a marginally impressive aspect of the image.

The best feature of today's FOTD is the calculation time of 5-2/3 minutes.

BTW, I usually prefer simplicity in my designs, but the new FOTD logo might be a bit too simple.  I might consider adding some interesting but not distracting fractal patterns to the sides of the central gothic arch.  I am undecided.

Absolutely perfect weather held forth all day Monday here at Fractal Central.  The temperature of 81F 27C was made even more pleasant by low humidity, while the kodachrome blue skies and puffy white clouds added the perfect backdrop.  (Too bad they no longer make Kodachrome film.)  All this perfection passed far over the fractal cats' heads.  They spent most of the day sleeping.

My day was average; tomorrow will likely be a repeat.  The next FOTD will be posted in 24 hours.  Until then, take care, and keep looking up.  You probably will see no alien ships, but the sky is filled with countless other equally interesting things.

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


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

Wiggly_Squiggly    { ; time=0:05:40.93-SF5 on P4-2000
  reset=2004 type=formula formulafile=bsoios.par
  formulaname=MandelbrotBC3 function=ident passes=1
  center-mag=+0.225325131960761/-0.2874129121123403/\
  1159076/1/102.5/0 params=2.5/0/20/0 float=y
  maxiter=12500 inside=0 logmap=425 periodicity=6
  colors=000exzWIIVLIUNHUQGTSFSVERYDQ_CQbBPdBOgANi9M\
  l8Mn7Lq6Ks5Jv4Jx4Lv5Mt5Or6Pp6Rn7Sm7Tk8Vi8Wg9Ye9ZdA\
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  YZSX_TX`UXaVXbWXcXXdYXeZWf_Wg`WhaWibWjcWkdWlfQngKo\
  hEpi8qj8qj8pj9pk9pk9pk9pkBnkDlkEjkGhkIfkJdkLbkMagO\
  `cP_`QZXRYTSXQUWMVVIWUFXTBYS8ZRDaSIcTNfUShVXjWamXf\
  oYkrZpt_tv`uwauwauwauwauwauwbvwbvwbvwbvwbvwcvwcvwc\
  wwcwwcww9wwDwwdzwOwwdzjKon`cimWeXccV_XTWTRSOPOKNLG\
  MLEJLCHLBFKCGKDHKEIJFIJFJJGKJHLIILIJMIJNIKOHLOHMPH\
  NQHNRGORGPSGQTGQTFNYFLaFJfFHjENgESeDYbDb`CgZhmWhmU\
  hmShqRhpRhpRmoQmoQmnQmnPmmPmmPmlOzkOzkOzjNzjNziNzi\
  MzzMzzMzzLzzLzzLzzKzzKzzKzzJzzJzzJzzIzzIzzIzzIzzzz\
  zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz\
  zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz\
  zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz }

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