Try what? Add some pointless solder to a disk and then what? Wait years to see how long it takes to die? How many do I need for a sample size? Do I need to test the same model? What about workloads the drives should be under?
This is pure untestable unverifiable snake oil.
I ran a cgiproxy instance with proper ssl certs that totally bypassed and trivialized the school's internet filter. It was password protected with unique passwords per user and I had it set up in such a way I could tell when a password "got out" and I'd cancel it. It got added to the blocklist a couple times, but I was ready because I'd already registered like 20 dynamic dns services to point to the server. It would take them months to add it to the manual blocklist but just a minute to change a link on my forum so people used the next address in line. It was an open secret that I was running it, but I was pretty smart in how I ran it and who I provided access to. I also ran a forum that was popular with the student body and the passwords to the proxy were given out there, but only to people I trusted and could reasonably deduce who they were. Even then they didn't know it was me running the whole thing.
I mean most people probably did, but again I did it in such a way there was never any real paper trail. I never made any money or wanted any clout for it. I just thought it was fun that I got pissed off at the internet filter blocking newgrounds one day and thought "absolutely not", and basically trivialized the filter schoolwide.
I'm not "okay with it". Empress is a psycho the scene would be better without, but when they're gone, it doesn't all just burn down. There'll be someone else. There always is.
While I hate that this happened, it's kind of...fun?...to be in a more wild-west corner of the internet again where this kind of shit sometimes happens. I dunno man the lack of stability is refreshing. Less corpo and more chaotic energy. Real wasteland shit.
What will the community do then? Carry on. There's always a new hotshot waiting in the wings. This cycle has been going on since before I was born and it'll continue long after I'm dead. There will always be new cats and new mice in the scene.
I've never heard of a Steam ban for running a pirated game that uses cracked steam_api.dll. The whole point of the cracked .dll is that it doesn't communicate with Steam anymore.
While I personally haven't run into the same roadblocks as you when using alternatives, I appreciate the counter-point and reality check.
I have not had to pirate software since I was a teenager. There are free/FOSS tools that do all of what I need well enough that I haven't needed to even consider non-free options. Documents I just use Google Docs/Sheets, video editing I use kdenlive, sound recording/editing I use audacity, screen recording and game capture I use OBS, photo/image editing I use GIMP, etc.
It's not that I am opposed to software piracy, I just have not had to do it. I would if I needed too but it just hasn't come up. For games I typically either buy them for a console or Steam and don't pirate them.
The only thing I really pirate with any regularity anymore is tv/movies/music, and most of that is just finding things to add to my jellyfin rather than anything that's new/current.
Stock up while you can! Try to download some longer series and then when you're off wifi break them up into an episode a day or so, so that there's always something new to look forward to, in the same way you'd have new content on youtube each day.
Gold does not oxidize in atmosphere. You are spouting nonsense you do not understand.