There are compile-time techniques that can mitigate the compile-time cost of monomorphization to a degree: optimizing on a generic IR (MIR) and polymorphization (merging functions that produce equivalent bodies) come to mind as immediate examples that have been talked about or implemented to a degree in rustc.

While not a proper product, you can buy a small ESP32C6 devboard for up-to-5 USD/EUR and flash an example from esp-idf. This is paired with some software that runs on posix systems (think your HA host) that together form the necessary commissioning and border routing functionality. Its ends up being a relatively simple device that just takes IP packets off the radio and puts then somewhere else, so I've no doubt somebody will shortly make one (I've been working on one such for myself as an experiment.)

For what you're looking to do in principle you don't really need any of this after the initial commissioning. So long as the radio waves can reach the devices they will be able to talk to each other.

It'd likely be a side-grade, unless you care specifically for the exact features that were introduced with 30/40/50 series (such as increasingly elaborate upscaling, other AI-driven features.)

Although we don't know how 5050 will perform, 50 series have roughly ~same perf in render as models from 40 series at the same tier. 40 series in turn are only a mild bump over 30 at the same tier. And 30-series was a reasonable improvement over 20, but mostly in perf/$ measure and not raw perf. Extrapolating, 5050 is likely not going to give much of a boost if any, and spending money on a 8GB card in 2025 is just throwing money away at this point as software is now increasingly expecting to be able to work with >8GB of VRAM.

Yes, although NanoKVM is probably a product with most caveats out of competing ones to recommend. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plJGZQ35Q6I. I'd recommend JetKVM instead, but unfortunately it is still only available to obtain through late pledges on Kickstarter.

Amazon pays really well. Amazon also has a number of interesting projects (e.g. a number of contributors to the rust compiler are employed by Amazon to work on rustc.) It also looks nice enough on a resume to give people a nice stepping stone towards even better opportunities.

I mildly recall them looking to do something about the sort of malicious compliance that cookie banners are, but I haven't been following that work too closely.

supermini boards with esp32c6 on it can be had for approximately 4 euro each.

What is the point you're trying to make with this? Majority of the cost of electricity in the Baltics come from taxes and distribution fees – these well exceed 5 cents by themselves – just like elsewhere in the EU. None of the Baltic countries actually trade electricity with Belarus or Russia for quite some time either, so if there is an effect on prices due to synchronizing with the EU infrastructure, it is going to be minimal. In fact the spot market price already follows the capacity in Sweden & Finland quite closely.

As another data point, the electricity price was already ~16 cents/kWh 10 years ago and ~12c/kWh in 2009. High despite trading with Russia being a thing back then.