this post was submitted on 15 May 2026
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106
Turns out, nobody wants a data center in their backyard (www.motherjones.com)
submitted 2 hours ago by sanitation@lemmy.radio to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] thinkercharmercoderfarmer@slrpnk.net 11 points 1 hour ago

I would love a (solar-powered) community datacenter that hosts services for the local population. Community bulletin board or forum to share event notices, lost pets, road closures etc, simple messaging and filesharing utilities for those not technical enough to host their own, maybe some simple games like chess or cards.

The problem with the current explosion of datacenters is that they don't benefit the community at all, they're just digital oil rigs that drain the community of resources while also actively poisoning the area they're in. Small wonder communities are against them.

[–] Zephorah@discuss.online 5 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

That’s a lot of city councils betraying their constituency. Wonder what the payoff is, or if it’s a simple matter of human beings avoiding confrontation with people they perceive as being “bigger” than themselves, no payout necessary.

Avoidance of perceived confrontation is and will continue to be our downfall as a civilization.

[–] wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 56 minutes ago (1 children)

Groups like the ones pushing data centers can and do literally hire people to figure out how to get in the politicians' good graces, convince the politicians it is not only a good idea but the best idea, stoke the politicians' ego(s) such that they think they know best/better than the people they supposedly represent, and then literally train the politicians on how they can do an end run around their constituents to get things passed by the letter of the law but clearly not the intent of the law.

I know Louis Rossman can be a controversial figure due to how he communicates things, but he's been doing a good job exposing how Flock surveillance cameras are getting passed/governmentally funded in shady ways in numerous jurisdictions where they have negative public support. It would be silly to expect that the tactics they are using are also not in use by the much larger forces with deeper pockets behind all these data center pushes.

I absolutely have less than zero respect for politicians, but I seriously cannot imagine living a life almost entirely surrounded by people deeply trained to manipulate my emotions, sense of self, and self validation towards corporate ends. Beyond all the obvious life experience/world view differences due to wealth and socioeconomic strata, that's fucking terrifying.

[–] Zephorah@discuss.online 1 points 46 minutes ago

I don’t know why anyone would find Rossman controversial.

He’s great. Gently welcoming you to the show to tell you how you’re getting fucked today. Some attitude on Bambu Labs, but that’s understandable. GemeraNexus is in with him. Can’t imaging Loyal Moses not being so as well.

I’m of that generation that believes when you buy something it is yours. Period. End of sentence. But that’s a GenX thing I think.

To me, the man is stating the obvious. Granted, who knows what mentality corporate America has created in today’s teens and 20-somethings on the topic. Maybe they all just sub to things with little to no hesitation with no resistance, pause, or expectation of better. I don’t know.

[–] RonnyZittledong@lemmy.world 10 points 1 hour ago (2 children)

I don't want a data center in my back yard unless it's MY data center.

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 5 points 1 hour ago

It takes a surprisingly small data center to serve a single house. I run a more reliable streaming service than Netflix from my basement.

[–] CosmoNova@lemmy.world 1 points 36 minutes ago* (last edited 36 minutes ago)

With all the tax breaks and investor money that might be cheaper than buying a gaming PC at this point.

[–] FaceDeer@fedia.io 0 points 37 minutes ago (1 children)

It's a phenomenon called NIMBY and it's not specific to data centers.

[–] KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 1 points 25 minutes ago

The distinction is that NIMBYs only object to the infrastructure when it's in their back yard. I think the majority of people object to these data centers anywhere, but only have voting power to directly oppose them in their back yards, so that's where their effort is spent. I haven't seen anyone say "I definitely want another massive datacenter to go up, just not here."

[–] iopq@lemmy.world -1 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

I do, data centers is how we can self host VPNs

[–] dhork@lemmy.world 1 points 31 minutes ago

Those datacenters are already built, though, and consume a fraction of the power of the new sloppified AI stuff. You can get space in one right now, if you want