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In article <[email protected]> [email protected] (Ian D Romanick) writes: |
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> One thing: a small change in initial conditions can cause a huge |
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> change in final conditions. There are certain things about the way |
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> the plate tektoniks and volcanic activity effect a land scape that |
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> is, while not entirely random, unpredictable. This is also true with |
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> fractals, so one could also conclude that you could model this |
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> fractally. |
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Yeah, and it's also true most long complicated sequences of events, |
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calculations, or big computer programs in general. I don't argue |
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that you can get similar and maybe useful results from fractals, I |
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just question whether you >should<. |
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The fractal fiends seem to be saying that any part of a system that we |
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can't model should be replaced with a random number generator. That |
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has been useful, for instance, in making data more palatable to human |
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perception or for torture testing the rest of the system, but I don't |
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think it has much to do with fractals, and I certainly would rather |
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that the model be improved in a more explicable manner. |
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I guess I just haven't seen all these earth-shaking fractal models |
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that explain and correlate to the universe as it actually exists. I |
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really hope I do, but I'm not holding my self-similar breath. |
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> There is one other thing that fractals are good for: fractal |
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> image compression. |
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Uh huh. I'll believe it when I see it. I've been chasing fractal |
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compression for a few years, and I still don't believe in it. If it's so |
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great, how come we don't see it competing with JPEG? 'Cause it can't, |
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I'll wager. |
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Actually, I have wagered, I quit trying to make fractal compression |
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work- and I was trying- because I don't think it's a reasonable |
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alternative to other techniques. It is neat, though. :-) |
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I'll reiterate my disbelief that everything is fractal. That's why I |
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don't think fractal compression as it is widely explained is |
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practical. I know Barnsley and Sloan have some tricks up their |
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sleeves that make their demos work, but I don't see anyone using it in a |
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real product. It's been six years since Iterated Systems was formed, |
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right? |
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"There are always going to be questions until there's a product |
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out there," Sloan replies. The company plans to ship its first |
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encoding devices in the summer, he says. In March, Iterated |
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Systems will have the other half of the system: the decoders. |
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- Scientific American, March 1990, page 77 |
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Allen B (Don't even get me started :-) ) |
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