Building a node can be done for under 20€ with a Heltec V3. Not the most power efficient, but not an issue if you're running it from usb power anyway.
Also a note: the map doesn't show all nodes, my node can see a lot more devices around me than are listed on the map. Maybe some issues with reporting or something (which is optional in the first place)
In general I'm all for the digital euro and have been waiting for it for years. One complained i have about the proposed implementation as explained in the video is the limitation of funds and almost coerced linking to a bank account. That feels like heavy lobbying from banks not too loose their business
Nope, works absolutely fine with cable as well. Not sure how it was in the past, but I'm not particularly missing any feature
I can very well imagine them actually gathering all that data, but this list of permissions is something a lot of apps have nowadays. Even very trivial apps. And 99% of people don't care.
Of course it's another matter if you immediately have the kgb in front of your door, compared to just getting your data collected and sold, but still
Actually even for qr codes the pixel count (or rather camera quality) makes a huge difference. Got a new phone last year with much better camera then previous. Suddenly during presentations i didn't need to awkwardly semi stand up and try to get closer. Just recognized the code immediately
Same for phones. But that's the norm unfortunately
That's solved now that PayPal (and others?) start including this functionality into their mobile apps. No card reader required anymore
So what you can do hardware wise is either any usff pc with 2 drives (used Lenovo's are fairly popular), or diy build with an Intel n150 board and some drives. Both are usually very silent since they don't have active cooling. If you spend the money for ssd's then it's completely silent.
Wouldn't go with off the shelf nas, since it's a trend to move more and more behind subscriptions and you never know how long you'll have a feature.
For Software:
I'd definitely go with jellyfin. Plex is commercializing hard.
Remote access is easy and secure with tailscale
For ebooks calibre-web
Music and torrent i don't know enough to suggest anything
Base system maybe some truenas and all services as containers
How do those networks compare for you? I've considered both but in my area meshtastic seems to have a bigger community