on the other hand, i've seen cases where an old 12 Volt fan or a crappy harddisk either shorts out or worse induces a lot of noise into the line.

With a power supply per server, this usually affects only that one machine. Now, if you have a power supply per rack, this might affect all servers in that rack. Especially with the noise-on-the-line problem, this might not actually shut down or crash the servers, it might make them unreliable -> much harder to find the bad component!

I'*d say, rather than changing the power supply, we should focus on the power consumption. From what i've seen, most servers in a company are completly over-sized in terms of capabilities because "at some point in the next 5 years (well after the next upgrade...) we'll need that resources". In many of these cases, the companies could save a lot of energy and money by buying slower and "greener" servers without really reducing service.

In one case, i've seen a top-notch AMD Quad-Core Dual-Processor Machine with 8 Gig RAM used as an Email-Server for about 10 people. And yes, it also had a top-notch graphics card, too. Hooked up to a DSL-Line. In this case, a 5 Watt Soekris would have been enough and it probably even would not have slowed email transfer...

Think "Sex, Drugs and Rock'n'Roll". Well, drugs are probably not available and you're too young for Rock'n'Roll. So, that leaves just one thing...

You're right. Hadn't thought it through. A small antenna should be enough.

Anyway, making more local contacts is more interesting in this case anyway (for everything else: HAM sats are available and should work with a small, hendheld yagi)

That's why you probably wont need a big antenna. One of this mobile ones with the magnet on the bottom should be really enough.

May also take a few meters of cable, some solder and a soldering iron with you... if need be, you can put together a simple handheld yagi and call you beloved ones via HAM satellite. And that's what your internet connection comes into play: Spend a few minutes looking up the up-to-date comm passes. Even just listening in could be a very exiting experience for you and your shipmates.. with any luck, you might even make contact with the International Space Station (Callsign: NA1SS)

Check this http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/reference/radio/ and this http://www.issfanclub.com/taxonomy/term/6 out.

A paper journal also gives (at least) me more time to think about what i'm actually writing, because it's a much slower, more intense process than typing on a keyboard.

When you come home. you can always take the text you have written, put it into a text editor and expand on it before putting it on the web... (but: add the scans too!)

Get a HAM radio license and a portable radio (like the VX-7R or whatever works for you).

While you likely wont be able to make worldwide contacts (unless you bring a 30+ meter long antenna with you as well), you should be able to contact many people while you are near the shore.

Believe me, it's much more interesting than surfing the web. And in case of an emergency, you have some means of backup communication.

About blogging: Don't blog. At least not "online". If you really want to blog (a some sort of diary), do it offline but spend as little time as possible on it; just take quick notes. When the semester is over, take that notes, refine them into articles and release them part-by-part over some time. This way, you don't waste precious time of your semester AND you have much more leisure time to really release refined articles.

Put the BlinkenSisters Jump'n'Run on it:

http://www.blinkensisters.org/

I'll be glad to give support via email if required :-)