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#1: Web Paint-By-Number Robot (webpbn) on Nov 23, 2020

Unpublished by hi

Republished without change by hi

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Fractals, exponents, binary -- math!!

Once you figure out the pattern then it was an easy solve.

Interesting. It is a fractal. You can zoom in.

Once I "got" fractals, I no longer fear death.

This is the butterfly of the storms.
See the wings, slightly more ragged than those of the common fritillary. In reality, thanks to the fractal nature of the universe, this means that those ragged edges are infinite – in the same way that the edge of any rugged coastline, when measured to the ultimate microscopic level, is infinitely long – or, if not infinite, then at least so close to it that Infinity can be seen on a clear day.
And therefore, if their edges are infinitely long, the wings must logically be infinitely big.
They may look the right size for a butterfly’s wings, but that’s only because human beings have always preferred common sense to logic.

The Quantum Weather Butterfly (Papilio tempestae) is an undistinguished yellow colour, although the mandelbrot patterns on the wings are of considerable interest. Its outstanding feature is its ability to create weather.
This presumably began as a survival trait, since even a hungry bird would find itself inconvenienced by a nasty localized tornado… From there it possibly became a secondary sexual characteristic, like the plumage of birds or the throat sacs of certain frogs. “Look at me”, the male says, flapping his wings lazily in the canopy of the rain forest. “I may be an undistinguished yellow colour but in a fortnight’s time, a thousand miles away, Freak Gales Cause Road Chaos.”
This is the butterfly of the storms.
It flaps its wings…

Ahh, a Terry Pratchett quote. No wonder it sounded like something Douglas Adams would write. ;)

(I can't make myself read any Pratchett, because Adams is my favorite author, and anything Pratchett wrote just feels derivative to me.)

So it's not random, is it, hmmm?

Kristen, do give Pratchett a go, he's definitely on a par with Douglas Adams, who is also one of my favourites :)

I like Grant Naylor as much as Doug Adams.
Try "Infinity welcomes careful drivers"

Odd and fun.

Oh, Kristen, Pratchett is even better than Adams! Don't deprive yourself! And you MUST read Jasper Fforde.

I tried to start The Colour of Magic, but it just read too much like Adams fanfic. I made it through Equal Rites, which was okay, I guess.

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Besmirched -- I looked up "Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers." My local library is usually well-stocked, but doesn't have it. On Amazon a paperback version is $46. Finally I found a beat-up copy on eBay for $4.

Kristen -- I've waded through a little Terry Pratchett, though not recently, and haven't ever managed to find what it is that other people like about his writing. I keep meaning to try again. But I've had the same experience as you of not being able to make Pratchett work.

Bill -- My local library has lots of Jasper Fforde. Any advice about which book to start with?

Fforde's latest, The Constant Rabbit, has been eyeing me from the new books display. Perhaps when I've finished my current queue of three, I'll check it out next.

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Valerie you must read the Tuesday Next series, preferably in order. It starts with The Eyre Affair. Then the Nursery Crime series. Then Shades of Grey.
I hope you like them!

And I'm surprised you didn't get into Terry Pratchett. I've read his entire oeuvre and find him to be absolutely Shakespearean in his understanding and portrayals of humanity in all its hopes and shortcomings. Give him another shot! Go to www.terrypratchettbooks.com and explore DiscWorld, and his quotes.

Ok, I've requested The Eyre Affair from my local library. Thanks for the recommendation!

My favorite Jasper Fforde book is Shades of Grey. It is a dystopian romance that dumps you into a very different world than ours and leaves it to you to figure it out. A world where your genetics determine what color you can see (and all the rest of the world is in shades of grey)

I have been waiting 13 years for the sequel, and it has been his "next book" for most of that time (while actually turning out 8 books that were *not* the sequel)

However, good news! It is officially his next... book...

Updating what I said earlier about Terry Pratchett: Someone told me to try starting by reading his Tiffany Aching books, so I read The Wee Free Men, and loved it!

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