RanDome Shelter

Thursday, August 25, 2011

RanDome to be Exhibited at The 35th Common Ground Country Fair at MOFGA

Meet Richard Fischbeck.at the booth at MOFGA.
Click to view more of this 2004 version made out of foam core.

The annual Common Ground Country Fair of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) begins on Friday, September 23, 2011 and continues through the weekend. RanDome will be there with a version of it's patented geodesic shelter in corrugated polyethylene plastic. Stop by the booth and learn hands on how to make a RanDome emergency shelter at our educational geodesic activities table. Polyethylene is a very lightweight yet resistant material used to make a well known type of fishing boat. How resistant is polyethylene plastic you ask? When RanDome conducted it's search for yet another lightweight resistant material to use instead of aluminum for the upcoming fair we stopped by Hamilton Marine in Unity, Maine to ask some questions. The salesman told us of an incident where a small polyethylene boat was on display outside the store. A man in a pick up truck drove in, grabbed the boat, threw it on his truck and sped away. The police were immediately contacted and a chase ensued. During the pursuit the boat flew off the pick up truck, bounced off the front of an 18-wheeler truck and bounced along the road finally coming to rest on the shoulder. Fortunately no one was injured and the was returned to the store it was in almost perfect condition. It was placed directly back on display for the next interested store visitor. A few minor scratches were later quickly repaired by applying heat. In 2010 the MOFGA fair drew nearly 60,000 visitors over the entire weekend.

Friday, August 5, 2011

Oswego SNEC summer workshop 2003

Here are some shots of the foam core project built at that workshop.

America's city of broken dreams: 50 jobless and destitute people set up forest community on New York's doorstep | Mail Online

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Kenya: Refugee Camp Extension at Dadaab for Somali Famine Victims

Thursday, June 30, 2011

From a rock to a hard place: The neglected victims of the conflict in Libya

Date Published: 30/06/2011 12:40

Since war broke out in Libya, over one million people have fled fighting, violence and abuses. They include men, women, children and the elderly, and they are fleeing for their lives.

These victims of war are seeking refuge wherever they can, in the hope of finding safety. As well as Libyans, there are people from Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, Bangladesh and at least 20 other countries.

Most crossed land borders, while others have risk their lives on the Mediterranean Sea to reach Malta and Italy.

This is the hidden story of the Libyan conflict. The war is having an impact not only on Libyan nationals, but also on the 2.5 million migrants working, living or passing through the country.

http://www.msf.org.uk/Libya_refugees_20110630.news

Monday, May 16, 2011

Children should be given marks for mistakes. Mistakes are how we learn and improve.

The freedom to fail

Amy Chua has opened a debate on learning. While we should challenge children and give them every chance to succeed, we should give them the space to get things wrong.

The U.S. is founded on wrong-thinkers: people who changed the world by challenging the conventional. Risk-taking pioneers such as the Wright brothers,Buckminster Fuller and Henry Ford shared a fearless attitude and willingness to embrace mistakes. Thomas Edisonfamously said of invention: "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." Children should be given marks for mistakes. Mistakes are how we learn and improve. U.S. students need an alternative to ticking boxes in standardized tests. A failed science experiment is a lesson in itself.

We're launching a foundation in Chicago that encourages children to make things — and make mistakes — in after-school engineering clubs. There are no correct answers: new ideas come out of experimenting. The aim is to show children that science and engineering are enormously creative and can solve real world problems, from domestic chores to improving the environment.

In a competitive world, driven by new technology and ideas, we need to foster free-thinking, creative individuals. The U.S. can help inspire more to take up science and engineering by tapping into what makes these subjects so inspirational in the first place: the freedom to fail and try something new.

James Dyson, inventor; Bath, England