I have amassed a large collection of software available for Mac OS computers.
Most of these are shareware or freeware. Some were used to create the graphics
included in this book. Others were used for inspiration or entertainment. Recommended
programs are highlighted in yellow. Files archived on this server were compressed
using StuffIt 5.5.
I have not used the screen saver After Dark since 1998 and will no longer review After Dark modules for this book.
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Clouds. Robert Geisler. 1993-95.
clouds.sit [ 92k]
This module draws fractal clouds that drift across your desktop. Nicely
done. |
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Fractal Forest. Scott Armitage, Berkeley Systems Inc. 1992.
fractal-forest.sit [ 27k]
Draws simple, cartoon-like fractal trees on your desktop. |
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Fractals Bundle. Alessandro Levi Montalcini. 1992.
fractals-bundle.sit [ 37k]
A suite of programs designed to run on 68k Macs with a math coprocessor.
The After Dark module (called "Fractal" in the last version, but
known as "Mandelbrot" in earlier versions) draws regions of the
Mandelbrot set, which it then saves as Pict files. Comes with a program
for viewing the picts and a mover based on the old Font/DA mover. As the
author seems to admit, such a system
is of little use now. There is no mention of this bundle at his website. |
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IFS Dream. Justin Sands. 1994.
ifs-dream.sit [ 7k]
Draws animated IFS fractals from evolving parameter sets. |
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Newton Map, Newton-EXP. Huangxin Wang. 1994.
newtonmap.sit [ 32k]
Far too slow. I assume they draw Julia sets using Newton's method, but I
couldn't stand the wait. Requires an FPU. |
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Ocean Child. Paul Cantrell. 1994.
ocean-child.sit [ 12k]
Perpetual, random Julia cascade with options for different surreal effects.
A nice piece of eye candy. |
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Planetmaker. Adam Miller. 1992.
planetmaker.sit [ 5k]
Draws green on blue patterns that look something like continents and oceans.
It's a real stretch to call it a "fractal planet maker," however.
Uncomfortably slow. |
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Sierpinski's Gasket. WinterBright Software (David Thompson). 1992-93.
sierpinskis-gasket.sit [ 14k]
Crash Warning. Gives "Error 10" when launched, even with an FPU
emulator. Thus, it does nothing. |
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TerrainMaker. Jakub Buchowski, Adam Miller. 1991.
terrainmaker.sit [ 14k]
Fractal terrain modeler. Old-fashioned looking color scheme and resolution. |
With the ascent of the World Wide Web there really doesn't seem to be much
of a need for HyperCard anymore. It was a great application for its time, but
I doubt I will add anything new to this category.
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BirdSong Engine. David Benz. 1993.
birdsong-engine.sit [ 69k]
Clever HyperCard stack that converts L-System-type fractals into bird songs. |
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Chaos Theory. Mike Atanasio, Wild Card Software. No date.
chaos-theory.sit [ 11k]
HyperCard stack. Listen to the time-series of the logistic equation. A one
card stack. No date, but it appears that it was created in 1990. |
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HyperCard Chaos. A.J. Roberts, University of Adelaide. 1991.
hypercard-chaos.sit [ 511k]
The most technical of the HyperCard stacks. A tutorial in dynamical systems
with applications and interactive demos. Serious stuff, but doesn't always
display well. The interactive demos are a bit erratic. I loved many of them,
but a few were complete mysteries. |
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Mandelbrot Fractal Companion. Evan T. Yeager. 1993.
mandelbrotfractalcompanion.sit
[ 955k]
A brief HyperCard tutorial of complex numbers, fractals, the Mandelbrot
set, and how to construct a computer program. In living color (something
rare in HyperCard). |
|
MandelMusic. Roger R. Espinosa, Donna Iadipaolo, Jim Brunberg.
No date.
mandelmusic.sit [ 134k]
HyperCard stack. They call it a chaotic music generator, but I can't confirm
this. No mathematical description of what it actually does. Your choice
of 12 different instruments. |
A Floating Point Unit (FPU) is a coprocessor that handles intensive mathematical
calculations to relieve some of the burden on a computer's Central Processor Unit
(CPU). Applications designed to access an FPU's subroutines will run faster than
those that don't; that is, if your computer has one. FPUs are currently extinct
and have been so since about 1995. Computers are no longer designed or manufactured
with these units. If you try to run an FPU program on a machine without one it
will likely crash. If you're lucky you might just get an error message. There
is a workaround for those who insist on trying things for themselves. I've managed
to execute almost all of these applications on a 603 PPC Mac using a control panel
called SoftwareFPU, but with only mixed
results. Some programs run awkwardly under the emulator. Some run just fine. I
have not tried this on a G3 or newer machine nor will I ever. There are so many
non-FPU programs out there with similar capabilities that these few dinosaurs
won't be missed. I present them here in an effort to maintain a complete archive.
 |
ab Fractal. Eden Software, L. Pieniazek. 1994.
ab-fractal.sit [ 440k]
I don't have time for this. It draws the Mandelbrot set, Julia sets, and
maybe some other sets, but is intolerably slow. I couldn't believe that
anyone would ask a shareware fee for this. Requires an FPU. |
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Animated Fractal Generator. Jerry Goldstein. 1990.
animated-fractal-generator.sit
[ 83k]
One of the slowest programs around. I estimate that a 300 MHz PPC machine
would take an hour to complete one 640 x 480 image. I can't confirm
this as I didn't feel like waiting. According to the manual, this program
can render Mandelbrot, Julia, and "other specialized varieties of fractals."
Requires an FPU. |
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ARTAbrot. George Warner. 1994.
artabrot.sit [ 180k]
Does not require and FPU but does require a DSP3210, which means
it will only run on a Quadra 840AV or Centris 660AV -- the two machines
that used the AT&T 3210 Digital Signal Processor to run the ARTA (whatever
that is). I cannot review this program since I do not have either of those
machines. |
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FracHill, FracBlob. Paul Bourke. 1991.
Paul Bourke [external link]
Wire frame fractal terrain generator. Runs slow and doesn't look very good.
I'm not impressed. FracHill models on a plane while FracBlob models on
a sphere. Requires an FPU. |
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Fractal Wizard. Thomas Okken. 1992
fractal-wizard.sit [ 225k]
Mandelbrot sets, Julia sets, Newton's method, IFS, and a few others. Quite
a range of different sets, but it's basically another slow antique. Has
a nice pull down menus briefly explaining the mathematics. Requires an FPU. |
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Kaos. Reinoud Lamberts. 1990.
kaos.sit [ 44k]
Kaos produces IFS images that are quite unique, but it is painfully slow.
After running half an hour on a 300 MHz 603e PPC, I had a smudge that
occupied one-third of the screen. An interesting looking smudge, but it
wasn't worth the wait. The author's
home page from 1996 still exists, but it doesn't mention the program
(or much of anything else). |
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MacMandelMovieMaker. pad-parrot productions, J. Geagan. 1993.
macmandelmoviemaker.sit [ 247k]
Creates a sequence of PICT files spiraling into a point on the Mandelbrot
set. In only 28 hours I was able to generate a ten second movie of a 101
frames. It was a truly stunning accomplishment [read sentence dripping with
sarcasm]. Requires an FPU. Geagan is also responsible for the Mac shareware
classic 99 Bottles [ 168k]; an application that sings the famous time-killing, travel song for you.
Set it at a thousand bottles and pretend your in the audience at an Andy
Kaufman performance. Set it to a million bottles and have it sing along
with MacMandelMovieMaker while it generates a half hour video for you. On
second thought, a million bottles may not be enough. 99 Bottles does not
require an FPU. |
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MandelScope, MandelMaker. Anthony S. Ku. 1993.
mandelscope.sit [ 405k]
Explore the Mandelbrot set with MandelScope and then draw it using MandelMaker.
Why not combine these features into one program? MandelScope has an unusual
interface that might have seemed clever at the time, but looks ridiculous
now. MandelMaker uses a divide and conquer algorithm that should speed things
up, but still runs slowly. Doesn't use the symmetry of the Mandelbrot set
across the real axis. Requires an FPU. |
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MandelTV. Ed Ludwig & Ken Abbott, Abbott Systems. 1990.
mandeltv.sit [ 21k]
A relic from the days of System 6. MandelTV is a desk accessory for exploring
the Mandelbrot set. Abbott Systems
also sells a commercial fractal software package called Kaleidoscope
that I have not reviewed. It also requires an FPU! |
