Waste heat recovery is a thing, and the economics usually work out in your favor if the feed material is really hot. If it’s only mildly warm, you’ll need a lot of machinery to concentrate the heat and raise the temperature to a useful level. At some point, the investment just gets absurd and the idea gets scrapped.

Using heat as heat makes the most sense, since there are fewer steps where you lose some of the heat. Theoretically, you could boil water with server heat, but the massive investment is probably the reason why that isn’t happening everywhere. Running reverse osmosis probably won’t work, because you need electricity for the pumps, and converting heat into electricity comes with significant losses.

Speaking of the north, the answer is yes. You totally can, and should, use the heat for something like district heating.

Besides, having your own FS is pretty bad ass in the same way as running Linux From Scratch.

Doesn’t have to be world changing or even practical. A project like that would still teach you a ton about storage hardware, how file systems work, programming, mathematics etc. Some of these lessons could even be useful, but above all, a project like this should be fun and interesting.

Why do you think people install Linux and run Doom on all the weirdest hardware they can find. This is the spirit that drives innovation.

Don’t let expectations hold you back. Make your own FS, and have fun.

I think I’ve read about a similar project where someone would send packages across the internet, and use the delay as a form of memory. The capacity wasn’t great, but the idea was really cool regardless.

Reminds me of something a coworker once told me. If you had a time machine and went back to the year 1825, there would be an absurd amount of basic chemistry you could discover. Some of it doesn’t even require any fancy equipment, but if you had a proper lab at your disposal, you could become famous in no time.

Making something comparable with ext4 would probably take an autistic genius who dedicates their every waking moment to this project. Someone who eats, drinks and breathes numbers.

Other people can hope to make a fun little project that teaches them about file systems and storage hardware. Might not be a competitor to anything, but it doesn’t have to be. People like to tinker with all sorts of weird stuff, like installing doom on a toaster or something. The way I see it, this FS project is probably in that category.

But we’re on Lemmy, and that comes with a huge selection bias. In fact, you don’t really find that many typical individuals here. A significant part of the population here uses Linux as a hobby, or does something technical for a living. Possibly both!

I really don’t think it’s that far fetched to imagine that it’s possible to find someone in here who has the time, energy, enthusiasm, patience knowledge and intelligence to build a new file system. I’m pretty sure you can also find more than one person capable of writing their own drivers or libraries.

Throwing money on lottery can make you rich. Or it might not. Honestly, the odds are stacked against you.

What doesn’t kill you, may make you stronger… unless it maims you for life. People who have survived wars aren’t necessarily stronger. Quite the contrary actually.

LOL. I knew I should have read it 4 times before posting.

Some factories have public tour days every year. Just look it up on their website.

If you have some kind of an organization behind you, it’s also possible to arrange such tours during other times. You could also make your own industrial tour association, get a bus full of people and start arranging tours with different companies. Just contact the PR department in advance, make some phone calls etc. and you should be able to visit a whole bunch of interesting places.

Edit: I swipe too fast

Lovely. Goes to show that everything can be hacked, but that company just made it easier by leaving the back door wide open. It’s just a matter of knowing where the door is.

I’ve seen the same thing too. My guess is, it may have something to do with the instance you’re using.

Oh, so that was fungi? TIL!

What kind of climate shift are you referring to? Like when fungi produce organic acids and aromatic compounds etc, how is that related to shifting the climate in any way?

That’s only a mild annoyance. More serious thought viruses change your behavior by making you buy stuff, join a cult, vote a billionaire or whatever. Those viruses have real consequences.

How about sending some figures about unemployment, global warming, national debt, inflation, and voter turnout. Maybe that’s crossing the line, because these things are well known to cause distress and anxiety.

There’s an entire page for it.

Thanks! Looking forward to seeing it.

Sounds like there’s a story waiting to be unleashed. Please continue.