THE SPANKY FRACTAL DATABASE

Deep Background Info

Why SPANKY :

The name "Spanky" seems to raise a few virtual eyebrows. It seems a little too whimsical and impertinent to be taken seriously, so why use it in application to a serious subject? Well the fact is that this database wasn't created, but evolved in a series of steps. Back when this node was named I had no intention of starting a fractal database. I was just looking for a unique name that fit into the HEPNET hierarchy. High Energy Physicists seem to be an irreverant bunch when it comes to computers and protocol, at least in the early days of networking. All the nodes seemed to have names like Huey Dewey and Luis, or Sneezy, Doc, Grumpy, etc, so Spanky didn't seem so out of place. Now that the net has been inundated with corporate logos and even the Universities have adopted a smooth and sophisticated media presence, the name Spanky seems a little off the mark, but what the hell! I like it.

Who :

My name is Noel Giffin. I have worked with and around computers for a long time, (some people say "Too long"), but I enjoy them. As you probably guessed by now, I also have an avid interest, (some say "Rabid interest"), in fractals.

Where:

I work as a Programmer at the TRIUMF Project on the University of British Columbia campus in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. The project has a nice setting against the boundary of Pacific Spirit Park on the edge of U.B.C. Campus. I can see the trees through my window as we speak. Picturesque no! That's over the substation and beyond the campus landfill and its raining. Sigh!

What :

Spanky is a DEC Microvax 3400 computer that I have turned into a Fractal Database Server for anonymous ftp and the World Wide Web. It sits under a workbench in our lab. In reality, the computer is a stand-by system, that could be called into service elsewhere on short notice. In the meantime it operates as a development machine and is kept up and running to ensure an operational status if and when required.

When:

I have had an interest in Fractals since reading A.K. Dewdney's articles on the Mandelbrot Set in Scientific American in the Late 1980's. I started actively exploring new fractal geometries late in 1989. Spanky came online as an FTP server in the fall of 1992 and joined the growing family of WWW servers in April 1994.

Why :

To me, fractals are a wonderful subject with infinite variations and new avenues to explore. Through the internet, usenet, and the WWW, I became aware of a very diffuse group of people who share this fascination. A variety of fractal information, programs, images and material were available, but not everyone knew of them or could access them. I saw the need to create a common database of information and realized that I had the resources to put it together. It gave me the opportunity to learn about the internet and to provide a useful tool.

How :

My internet connection is through the TRIUMF fibreoptic link to UBCNET and from there out to BCNET and the world. Spanky is covered by the CSLG (Campus Sitewide License Grant) to run various required software packages that make everything possible. It runs the VMS version 5.5 operating system. Layered on top of that is Multinet for VMS from TGV to provide TCP/IP access and anonymous FTP support. The HTTP server software is HTTP_VMS version_1.9 developed at Ohio State by Dave Jones and generously shared to provide the WWW Mosaic and Lynx access. Things started rather unofficially and have remained so but it is all legal as far as I know.

The Spanky Fractal Database maintained by