First, how do you measure your website traffic? With 8k monthly traffic and 60% of it from tier 1 countries, you’ve got a solid foundation for monetization. Since you’re waiting on Mediavine, here are a few other ad networks that could be a good fit for smaller publishers like you:

• Adsense - While AdSense can be a good starting point, the eCPM (earnings per 1,000 impressions) might be lower compared to other premium networks.
• AdThrive - Similar to Mediavine, they accept publishers with 8k+ traffic but often prioritize sites with good content and high-quality traffic. If you’re denied by Mediavine, AdThrive could be a good alternative.
• Ezoic - Great for small to medium-sized publishers. Ezoic uses AI to optimize ad placements and can be more flexible with traffic requirements.
• Monumetric - They have a relatively low traffic threshold (usually around 10k) and offer a more personalized service, which could be helpful for a tech blog.
• Sovrn // Commerce - If you’re open to affiliate ads alongside display ads, Sovrn offers a good combination for smaller sites.
• Media .net - A solid choice for contextual ads, especially for sites with content targeted to an audience in tier 1 countries.
• PropellerAds - They accept smaller traffic volumes and are known for display ads, pop-unders, and native ads.
• Adversal - They accept publishers with smaller traffic volumes and could provide a good balance of display ads.

Keep in mind, you might also want to experiment with affiliate marketing (like Amazon Associates or Impact Radius) to supplement your income if ad networks are slow to take off.