Comments for mike.texasdomes.com http://mike.texasdomes.com seize the dome Wed, 14 May 2008 00:05:40 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=MU Comment on Featured Dome Project in Temple, TX by John Lambiase http://mike.texasdomes.com/2008/05/05/temple/#comment-44 John Lambiase Tue, 13 May 2008 06:16:16 +0000 http://texasdomes.wordpress.com/?p=25#comment-44 Where is this dome located in Temple? My wife and I moved to Temple from Port St. Lucie, Florida (Home of Hurricane Francis and Jeanne in 2004.) A dome could be in my families future. My problem was finding a company to build it. Now that I see you have built one here in Temple, I am going to seek some more information. We are about 2 years out from building. Thanks for your time. I would love to see this particular dome if a location can be provided. Thanks in advance. John Where is this dome located in Temple? My wife and I moved to Temple from Port St. Lucie, Florida (Home of Hurricane Francis and Jeanne in 2004.) A dome could be in my families future. My problem was finding a company to build it. Now that I see you have built one here in Temple, I am going to seek some more information. We are about 2 years out from building. Thanks for your time. I would love to see this particular dome if a location can be provided.

Thanks in advance.

John

]]> Comment on My Conference Presentation by mjsouth http://mike.texasdomes.com/2008/03/07/my-conference-presentation/#comment-39 mjsouth Mon, 28 Apr 2008 21:19:13 +0000 http://texasdomes.wordpress.com/?p=20#comment-39 Thanks for the question Frank. We have been doing some of that experimenting, and we will be doing some more of it at our next <a href="http://static.monolithic.com/workshops/index.html" rel="nofollow">workshop.</a> I will try to write something about it in the coming weeks, to show the results. For now, you can check out a <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=BPw0Oj0b0yk" rel="nofollow">video about reground styrofoam mixed in the concrete</a> that I posted on YouTube a while back. Thanks again, Mike Thanks for the question Frank. We have been doing some of that experimenting, and we will be doing some more of it at our next workshop.

I will try to write something about it in the coming weeks, to show the results. For now, you can check out a video about reground styrofoam mixed in the concrete that I posted on YouTube a while back.

Thanks again,

Mike

]]> Comment on My Conference Presentation by Frank Walsh http://mike.texasdomes.com/2008/03/07/my-conference-presentation/#comment-38 Frank Walsh Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:47:14 +0000 http://texasdomes.wordpress.com/?p=20#comment-38 Hello David, I have some questions about dome construction that are not related to this blog. I have been researching domes for a number of years and recently I have read about foam concrete. I would like to know if it is feasible to use foam in shotcrete form to Create a thin shell dome using the inflatable airform and spraying a thin layer of dense concrete followed by rebar and a layer of low density foam concrete, followed by a thicker layer of dense concrete on the interior. I also considered using denser concrete for the bottom of the dome, graduating to less dense material at the top (like the dome of the Pantheon). Do you know if it is possible to combine these two technologies (foam concrete and shotcrete)? The foam concrete manufacturers say that because the foam used is “closed cell” it prevents water from seeping through. If so, you could end up with a lighter, cheaper, water proof, and insulated thin shell that could be used for emergency shelters. What do you think? Frank Walsh frank.walsh@att.net Hello David,

I have some questions about dome construction that are not related to this blog. I have been researching domes for a number of years and recently I have read about foam concrete.

I would like to know if it is feasible to use foam in shotcrete form to Create a thin shell dome using the inflatable airform and spraying a thin layer of dense concrete followed by rebar and a layer of low density foam concrete, followed by a thicker layer of dense concrete on the interior.

I also considered using denser concrete for the bottom of the dome, graduating to less dense material at the top (like the dome of the Pantheon).

Do you know if it is possible to combine these two technologies (foam concrete and shotcrete)?

The foam concrete manufacturers say that because the foam used is “closed cell” it prevents water from seeping through. If so, you could end up with a lighter, cheaper, water proof, and insulated thin shell that could be used for emergency shelters. What do you think?

Frank Walsh frank.walsh@att.net

]]> Comment on My search for data storage by mjsouth http://mike.texasdomes.com/2008/02/03/my-search-for-data-storage/#comment-34 mjsouth Mon, 25 Feb 2008 00:40:51 +0000 http://mike.texasdomes.com/?p=14#comment-34 Like I said, I haven't gone into a lot of detail about my plans for many reasons. But I will tell you that you are wrong about Time Machine. Time machine isn't limited to internal or external drives, it can also backup to network shares (as long as both computers are running Leopard). My plan is to have our server use Time Machine to do an incremental, fully restorable backup, to a computer that is on our network but out of our office. Backing up to an off site location, like you said, is pretty much the only protection from fire, theft, etc. In our office, we have 5 MacBooks, a MacBook Air, and a MacBook Pro. All of these laptops are using Time Machine, and are backing up to a Mac Mini with 2 500Gb drives hooked to it. We bought our lead draftsman a new MacBook Pro and it took it about 2 hours to restore about 30 Gb of data over our Gigabit network. When it was done, it was exactly like he had left it. Time Machine works. One more quick note: The reason I am so excited about Time Machine, is that if my server room burned to the ground, it would be simple to restore. Just buy a new server, turn it on, point it to the network shared Time Machine Backup, and let it do the work. If I were to restore it from a standard backup, I would be able to restore all the data, but the preferences, users, groups, shares, etc. would have to be restored by hand. Jeff, you have triggered a lot of questions in my mind about exactly how well the xServe would restore. I got a new xServe yesterday, and I am going to do some Time Machine tests and post them online. Then we can see if my theory is right or if I will run into some other problems. Thanks for the comment. Like I said, I haven’t gone into a lot of detail about my plans for many reasons. But I will tell you that you are wrong about Time Machine. Time machine isn’t limited to internal or external drives, it can also backup to network shares (as long as both computers are running Leopard). My plan is to have our server use Time Machine to do an incremental, fully restorable backup, to a computer that is on our network but out of our office. Backing up to an off site location, like you said, is pretty much the only protection from fire, theft, etc.

In our office, we have 5 MacBooks, a MacBook Air, and a MacBook Pro. All of these laptops are using Time Machine, and are backing up to a Mac Mini with 2 500Gb drives hooked to it. We bought our lead draftsman a new MacBook Pro and it took it about 2 hours to restore about 30 Gb of data over our Gigabit network. When it was done, it was exactly like he had left it. Time Machine works.

One more quick note: The reason I am so excited about Time Machine, is that if my server room burned to the ground, it would be simple to restore. Just buy a new server, turn it on, point it to the network shared Time Machine Backup, and let it do the work. If I were to restore it from a standard backup, I would be able to restore all the data, but the preferences, users, groups, shares, etc. would have to be restored by hand.

Jeff, you have triggered a lot of questions in my mind about exactly how well the xServe would restore. I got a new xServe yesterday, and I am going to do some Time Machine tests and post them online. Then we can see if my theory is right or if I will run into some other problems. Thanks for the comment.

]]> Comment on My search for data storage by jeff http://mike.texasdomes.com/2008/02/03/my-search-for-data-storage/#comment-33 jeff Sun, 24 Feb 2008 23:15:40 +0000 http://mike.texasdomes.com/?p=14#comment-33 I know a tiny amount about Time Machine. It isn't a real backup solution. It is a 'oops I deleted some files I really didn't mean to' solution. A backup solution will copy your data <i>elsewhere</i>. If your machine fail, the backup is separate. If the hard drives fail, the backup is separate. You need something that holds the data, that you can pick up and move elsewhere. Personally, I store my backups in my fireproof safe. Think about what you would do to secure your data if someone <i>stole</i> your xServe. Think about the computers in the twin towers at 9/11. The companies that didn't have offsite backup, all went out of business. One solution, is to buy another xServe, and copy all the data from one to another, and store the second one in a safe location. Not the cheapest solution, but perhaps the simplest one. jeff I know a tiny amount about Time Machine. It isn’t a real backup solution. It is a ‘oops I deleted some files I really didn’t mean to’ solution. A backup solution will copy your data elsewhere. If your machine fail, the backup is separate. If the hard drives fail, the backup is separate. You need something that holds the data, that you can pick up and move elsewhere. Personally, I store my backups in my fireproof safe. Think about what you would do to secure your data if someone stole your xServe. Think about the computers in the twin towers at 9/11. The companies that didn’t have offsite backup, all went out of business.

One solution, is to buy another xServe, and copy all the data from one to another, and store the second one in a safe location. Not the cheapest solution, but perhaps the
simplest one.

jeff

]]> Comment on About by mjsouth http://mike.texasdomes.com/about/#comment-32 mjsouth Fri, 22 Feb 2008 19:07:55 +0000 #comment-32 We don't have any real training on the web now, but we plan on having some very soon. As you know, the training tapes are very old. The new training video will be made in episodes, and each episode will be available online, or through purchasing the DVDs. We don’t have any real training on the web now, but we plan on having some very soon. As you know, the training tapes are very old. The new training video will be made in episodes, and each episode will be available online, or through purchasing the DVDs.

]]> Comment on About by Kevin Pearson http://mike.texasdomes.com/about/#comment-31 Kevin Pearson Fri, 22 Feb 2008 17:12:04 +0000 #comment-31 Hello Mike, I bought some small domes from Monolithic years ago for the NWS in Hawaii to build instrumentation shelters on remote islands. and I had a company called YES Consulting to try and sell domes in the islands. any how I still have your training tapes I bought back then and was wondering if you offer your training on line now? I have an interest in aircraft hangers and schools now and would love to get going again. drop me a line. Kevin. Hello Mike,
I bought some small domes from Monolithic years ago for the NWS in Hawaii to build instrumentation shelters on remote islands. and I had a company called YES Consulting to try and sell domes in the islands. any how I still have your training tapes I bought back then and was wondering if you offer your training on line now?
I have an interest in aircraft hangers and schools now and would love to get going again.
drop me a line.
Kevin.

]]> Comment on Concrete, Cement, what’s the difference by Mike http://mike.texasdomes.com/2008/01/18/concrete-cement-whats-the-difference/#comment-29 Mike Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:53:46 +0000 http://mike.texasdomes.com/2008/01/18/concrete-cement-whats-the-difference/#comment-29 Not a good sign but it was sure nice of the driver to fill up your pump hopper with sand, I'm wondering if the cement company that you contracted with made everything right for you to your satisfaction? Not a good sign but it was sure nice of the driver to fill up your pump hopper with sand, I’m wondering if the cement company that you contracted with made everything right for you to your satisfaction?

]]> Comment on My search for data storage by TerryG http://mike.texasdomes.com/2008/02/03/my-search-for-data-storage/#comment-28 TerryG Sun, 17 Feb 2008 16:23:13 +0000 http://mike.texasdomes.com/?p=14#comment-28 Hi Mike, I recently built a workstation and discovered that there are actually different classes/grades of hard drives, consumer and enterprise. Consumer drives are not intended to be run 24/7 while enterprise drives are specifically designed and engineered to be used 24/7. They are more tolerant of vibration and environmental temperatures. I'd guess that the xRaid server is equipped with the enterprise class hard drives. Good Luck! TerryG Hi Mike,

I recently built a workstation and discovered that there are actually different classes/grades of hard drives, consumer and enterprise. Consumer drives are not intended to be run 24/7 while enterprise drives are specifically designed and engineered to be used 24/7. They are more tolerant of vibration and environmental temperatures. I’d guess that the xRaid server is equipped with the enterprise class hard drives. Good Luck!

TerryG

]]> Comment on My search for data storage by Rebecca http://mike.texasdomes.com/2008/02/03/my-search-for-data-storage/#comment-27 Rebecca Tue, 12 Feb 2008 20:12:14 +0000 http://mike.texasdomes.com/?p=14#comment-27 Nice blog, Mike! Nice blog, Mike!

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