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The Aventon Soltera 3 Is the Most Bikey Ebike on the Market Right Now

The Aventon Soltera 3 Is the Most Bikey Ebike on the Market Right Now

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Belt-drive bikes offer some huge upsides. First, they usually require less maintenance, with many belts often lasting twice as long as a typical chain. Second, there’s no grease to speak of, and therefore, no black smudges on your work pants. Third, in the case of the Soltera 3, the belt comes from the Gates brand, whose drivetrain belts are as good as it gets. Belt-drive bikes are silent and often smoother than their chain-driven counterparts.

That said, the inclusion of a low-maintenance element such as a belt drive paired with hydraulic disc brakes, which require bleeding roughly every year, struck me as an odd choice. If Aventon wanted to make the Soltera 3 as hands-off as possible, cable-actuated brakes would have been a more intuitive choice.

The other thing that immediately jumps out about the Soltera 3 is its relatively light weight. At 37 pounds, the Soltera 3 is heavy for an analog bike. But it’s certainly not heavy for an ebike, and it’s nearly as stiff, nimble, and navigable as a conventional bicycle. One issue I’ve always had with ebikes is their heft. Given that they’re often made to replace a car, they’re built with load bearing in mind. Also, ebike batteries are heavy.

Adding to that sense of “this is just like my other bikes,” the Soltera 3 simply looks cool, which is often not the case when it comes to ebikes. The matte black my tester bike arrived in looks cool because matte black almost never doesn’t look cool. (Additionally, the Soltera 3 is available in dark matte blue and a sleek silver.) But beyond the finish, the bike’s geometry; its wide, almost perfectly flat handlebars; and its narrow (by ebike standards) 700 x 36 tires make it feel closer in DNA to a road bike than a traditional ebike.

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Photograph: Michael Venutolo-Mantovani

I’m 6′4′′, and the extra large Soltera 3 that I tested was at a maximum saddle height. It was suitable for me, but I couldn’t recommend anyone bigger than me riding the Soltera 3. That said, with four sizes ranging from small to extra large, the line covers a wide swath of riders, ranging from my height all the way down to 5′ tall.

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Flipkart on the first day of sale. The sale began at 12 PM IST on July 31. Lava said this was the fastest stockout for the Virat Series on a sale day. The company said the response reflects the growing number of consumers buying smartphones online. According to Lava, buyers are looking for dependable performance, a clean Android experience, and affordable smartphones. The strong demand for the Virat Series highlights this growing preference.

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Lava Virat Series Runs Out of Stock as Flipkart Sale Goes Live Lava’s newly launched Virat Series received a strong response on its first day of sale. The Lava Virat V1 5G and Lava Virat V1 went out of stock on Flipkart on the first day of sale. The sale began at 12 PM IST on July 31. Lava said this was the fastest stockout for the Virat Series on a sale day. The company said the response reflects the growing number of consumers buying smartphones online. According to Lava, buyers are looking for dependable performance, a clean Android experience, and affordable smartphones. The strong demand for the Virat Series highlights this growing preference. Virat V1 Specs Lava Virat V1 5G includes a 6.75-inch HD+ display screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. It contains a 6000mAh battery and the UNISOC T8200 chipset. The phone comes with 64GB of internal memory, expandable up to 1TB. This phone does not have any ads or bloatware; rather, it runs on the Clean Android 16 Operating System. It also has an IP64 rating for dust and water resistance. Another version of the Lava Virat V1 phone includes a 6.75-inch HD+ screen, a 5000mAh battery, and a UNISOC SC9863A chipset. The phone includes 64GB internal memory that is also expandable. The smartphone also carries an IP64 rating for added durability. Lava confirmed that it is working with Flipkart to restore stocks as quickly as possible. Customers who could not buy the smartphones during the first sale will get another chance once the devices are back in stock. #Lava #Virat #Series #Runs #Stock #Flipkart #Sale #LiveLava

Lava Virat V1 5G includes a 6.75-inch HD+ display screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. It contains a 6000mAh battery and the UNISOC T8200 chipset. The phone comes with 64GB of internal memory, expandable up to 1TB. This phone does not have any ads or bloatware; rather, it runs on the Clean Android 16 Operating System. It also has an IP64 rating for dust and water resistance.

Another version of the Lava Virat V1 phone includes a 6.75-inch HD+ screen, a 5000mAh battery, and a UNISOC SC9863A chipset. The phone includes 64GB internal memory that is also expandable. The smartphone also carries an IP64 rating for added durability. Lava confirmed that it is working with Flipkart to restore stocks as quickly as possible. Customers who could not buy the smartphones during the first sale will get another chance once the devices are back in stock.

#Lava #Virat #Series #Runs #Stock #Flipkart #Sale #LiveLava">Lava Virat Series Runs Out of Stock as Flipkart Sale Goes Live Lava’s newly launched Virat Series received a strong response on its first day of sale. The Lava Virat V1 5G and Lava Virat V1 went out of stock on Flipkart on the first day of sale. The sale began at 12 PM IST on July 31. Lava said this was the fastest stockout for the Virat Series on a sale day. The company said the response reflects the growing number of consumers buying smartphones online. According to Lava, buyers are looking for dependable performance, a clean Android experience, and affordable smartphones. The strong demand for the Virat Series highlights this growing preference. Virat V1 Specs Lava Virat V1 5G includes a 6.75-inch HD+ display screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. It contains a 6000mAh battery and the UNISOC T8200 chipset. The phone comes with 64GB of internal memory, expandable up to 1TB. This phone does not have any ads or bloatware; rather, it runs on the Clean Android 16 Operating System. It also has an IP64 rating for dust and water resistance. Another version of the Lava Virat V1 phone includes a 6.75-inch HD+ screen, a 5000mAh battery, and a UNISOC SC9863A chipset. The phone includes 64GB internal memory that is also expandable. The smartphone also carries an IP64 rating for added durability. Lava confirmed that it is working with Flipkart to restore stocks as quickly as possible. Customers who could not buy the smartphones during the first sale will get another chance once the devices are back in stock. #Lava #Virat #Series #Runs #Stock #Flipkart #Sale #LiveLava

on the first day of sale. The sale began at 12 PM IST on July 31. Lava said this was the fastest stockout for the Virat Series on a sale day. The company said the response reflects the growing number of consumers buying smartphones online. According to Lava, buyers are looking for dependable performance, a clean Android experience, and affordable smartphones. The strong demand for the Virat Series highlights this growing preference.

Virat V1 Specs

Lava Virat Series Runs Out of Stock as Flipkart Sale Goes Live Lava’s newly launched Virat Series received a strong response on its first day of sale. The Lava Virat V1 5G and Lava Virat V1 went out of stock on Flipkart on the first day of sale. The sale began at 12 PM IST on July 31. Lava said this was the fastest stockout for the Virat Series on a sale day. The company said the response reflects the growing number of consumers buying smartphones online. According to Lava, buyers are looking for dependable performance, a clean Android experience, and affordable smartphones. The strong demand for the Virat Series highlights this growing preference. Virat V1 Specs Lava Virat V1 5G includes a 6.75-inch HD+ display screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. It contains a 6000mAh battery and the UNISOC T8200 chipset. The phone comes with 64GB of internal memory, expandable up to 1TB. This phone does not have any ads or bloatware; rather, it runs on the Clean Android 16 Operating System. It also has an IP64 rating for dust and water resistance. Another version of the Lava Virat V1 phone includes a 6.75-inch HD+ screen, a 5000mAh battery, and a UNISOC SC9863A chipset. The phone includes 64GB internal memory that is also expandable. The smartphone also carries an IP64 rating for added durability. Lava confirmed that it is working with Flipkart to restore stocks as quickly as possible. Customers who could not buy the smartphones during the first sale will get another chance once the devices are back in stock. #Lava #Virat #Series #Runs #Stock #Flipkart #Sale #LiveLava

Lava Virat V1 5G includes a 6.75-inch HD+ display screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. It contains a 6000mAh battery and the UNISOC T8200 chipset. The phone comes with 64GB of internal memory, expandable up to 1TB. This phone does not have any ads or bloatware; rather, it runs on the Clean Android 16 Operating System. It also has an IP64 rating for dust and water resistance.

Another version of the Lava Virat V1 phone includes a 6.75-inch HD+ screen, a 5000mAh battery, and a UNISOC SC9863A chipset. The phone includes 64GB internal memory that is also expandable. The smartphone also carries an IP64 rating for added durability. Lava confirmed that it is working with Flipkart to restore stocks as quickly as possible. Customers who could not buy the smartphones during the first sale will get another chance once the devices are back in stock.

#Lava #Virat #Series #Runs #Stock #Flipkart #Sale #LiveLava">Lava Virat Series Runs Out of Stock as Flipkart Sale Goes Live

Lava’s newly launched Virat Series received a strong response on its first day of sale. The Lava Virat V1 5G and Lava Virat V1 went out of stock on Flipkart on the first day of sale. The sale began at 12 PM IST on July 31. Lava said this was the fastest stockout for the Virat Series on a sale day. The company said the response reflects the growing number of consumers buying smartphones online. According to Lava, buyers are looking for dependable performance, a clean Android experience, and affordable smartphones. The strong demand for the Virat Series highlights this growing preference.

Virat V1 Specs

Lava Virat Series Runs Out of Stock as Flipkart Sale Goes Live Lava’s newly launched Virat Series received a strong response on its first day of sale. The Lava Virat V1 5G and Lava Virat V1 went out of stock on Flipkart on the first day of sale. The sale began at 12 PM IST on July 31. Lava said this was the fastest stockout for the Virat Series on a sale day. The company said the response reflects the growing number of consumers buying smartphones online. According to Lava, buyers are looking for dependable performance, a clean Android experience, and affordable smartphones. The strong demand for the Virat Series highlights this growing preference. Virat V1 Specs Lava Virat V1 5G includes a 6.75-inch HD+ display screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. It contains a 6000mAh battery and the UNISOC T8200 chipset. The phone comes with 64GB of internal memory, expandable up to 1TB. This phone does not have any ads or bloatware; rather, it runs on the Clean Android 16 Operating System. It also has an IP64 rating for dust and water resistance. Another version of the Lava Virat V1 phone includes a 6.75-inch HD+ screen, a 5000mAh battery, and a UNISOC SC9863A chipset. The phone includes 64GB internal memory that is also expandable. The smartphone also carries an IP64 rating for added durability. Lava confirmed that it is working with Flipkart to restore stocks as quickly as possible. Customers who could not buy the smartphones during the first sale will get another chance once the devices are back in stock. #Lava #Virat #Series #Runs #Stock #Flipkart #Sale #LiveLava

Lava Virat V1 5G includes a 6.75-inch HD+ display screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. It contains a 6000mAh battery and the UNISOC T8200 chipset. The phone comes with 64GB of internal memory, expandable up to 1TB. This phone does not have any ads or bloatware; rather, it runs on the Clean Android 16 Operating System. It also has an IP64 rating for dust and water resistance.

Another version of the Lava Virat V1 phone includes a 6.75-inch HD+ screen, a 5000mAh battery, and a UNISOC SC9863A chipset. The phone includes 64GB internal memory that is also expandable. The smartphone also carries an IP64 rating for added durability. Lava confirmed that it is working with Flipkart to restore stocks as quickly as possible. Customers who could not buy the smartphones during the first sale will get another chance once the devices are back in stock.

#Lava #Virat #Series #Runs #Stock #Flipkart #Sale #LiveLava
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2‘s imminent arrival on Netflix this fall, I’ve been living it up, rewatching the anime and re-reading manga from the folks responsible for its first season being Crunchyroll’s 2023 Anime of the Year.

While I’ve already waxed poetic about writer Bartosz Sztybor‘s Rebecca-centric prequel manga showcasing Night City as having plenty more stories to tell, season one creator Rafał Jaki has spun the block off the momentum of being one of Manga Plus’ first Western manga creators post-Edgerunners with an inventive new manga series that’s giving Inception meets Elden Ring.

Coming off the heels of his refreshingly imaginative sci-fi series No\Name, in which folks’ powers were derived from the meanings of their given names, Jaki and artist Machine Gamu‘s newest series, Brain Alive—which he announced on his official X/Twitter account with a Google Drive link to read its first chapter for free—looks poised to carry that energy forward with a dark fantasy premise geared toward cinephiles and gamers alike.  

In patented Edgerunners heart-shattering fashion, Brain Alive opens with a father named Daniel awakening from a car crash to the news that his wife didn’t survive and his son is in a coma. To keep his son company, Daniel reads him new volumes of the dark fantasy novel that inspired the Soulsborne video games they used to play together as a family. After falling asleep by his son’s bedside, Daniel finds himself stark naked inside a dungeon. Turns out, his dreams run on a kind of Kamen Rider ZETZ rule where he enters his son’s dreamscape influenced by his mind’s imaginings of their favorite video game series. But things are far from fun and games.

‘Cyberpunk: Edgerunners’ Creator’s New Manga Series Is a Love Letter to ‘Inception’ and Soulsborne Games In the time before Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2‘s imminent arrival on Netflix this fall, I’ve been living it up, rewatching the anime and re-reading manga from the folks responsible for its first season being Crunchyroll’s 2023 Anime of the Year. While I’ve already waxed poetic about writer Bartosz Sztybor‘s Rebecca-centric prequel manga showcasing Night City as having plenty more stories to tell, season one creator Rafał Jaki has spun the block off the momentum of being one of Manga Plus’ first Western manga creators post-Edgerunners with an inventive new manga series that’s giving Inception meets Elden Ring. Coming off the heels of his refreshingly imaginative sci-fi series No\Name, in which folks’ powers were derived from the meanings of their given names, Jaki and artist Machine Gamu‘s newest series, Brain Alive—which he announced on his official X/Twitter account with a Google Drive link to read its first chapter for free—looks poised to carry that energy forward with a dark fantasy premise geared toward cinephiles and gamers alike.   [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01qvd0J-6Fc[/embed] In patented Edgerunners heart-shattering fashion, Brain Alive opens with a father named Daniel awakening from a car crash to the news that his wife didn’t survive and his son is in a coma. To keep his son company, Daniel reads him new volumes of the dark fantasy novel that inspired the Soulsborne video games they used to play together as a family. After falling asleep by his son’s bedside, Daniel finds himself stark naked inside a dungeon. Turns out, his dreams run on a kind of Kamen Rider ZETZ rule where he enters his son’s dreamscape influenced by his mind’s imaginings of their favorite video game series. But things are far from fun and games. © Rafał Jaki/Machine Gamu Fortunately, if Daniel dies in the dream, he doesn’t die in real life. Any progress he makes in the dream follows a roguelike-meets-Soulsborne rule, with bonfire checkpoints featuring the dream-eating yokai, Baku, as a save state statue, and he returns a bit stronger as he retraces his steps in his son’s dreams. Unfortunately, Daniel can’t honk shoo-mimimi into his son’s dreams willy-nilly. He’s got a limited number of times he can go into his son’s dreams to make as much progress as he can and inch closer to saving his son’s life. Meaning, runs can’t be redone by closing his eyes and diving into his dreams multiple times a night. Think Persona 3 dungeon runs where, instead of planning dates and going to school in the interim of making doubly sure if you want to get your shit rocked in Tartarus, Daniel dedicates every waking moment to “git gud” at Soulsborne games to save his son’s life. Buddy can’t catch a break. © Rafał Jaki/Machine Gamu As Soulsborne enemies are wont to do, everything from skeleton warriors and giant yokai to poisonous snakes wants to run the dozens with Daniel for keeps, leaving the weary father with nothing but his Soulsbourne techniques, like perfect dodges, attacking enemy weak points, and real-life sword lessons, to keep himself alive. It also doesn’t hurt that Daniel’s got the boon of a fire sabre with the spirit of his dead wife guiding him through his son’s lucid dark fantasy dreams. If the dead wife of it all isn’t the most Christopher Nolan-ism of all time, I don’t know what is. © Rafał Jaki/Machine Gamu © Rafał Jaki/Machine Gamu As is evident from its first chapter, Jaki owes a lot to both anime and the video games he’s played and helped bring into fruition in the stories he crafts. “I create in order to give back even a small fraction of what I have received from loving the work of other creators,” Jaki told IGN. “My hope is to provide someone else with that same moment of awe that I have experienced myself, offering a glimpse into another person’s mind and sharing thoughts and feelings.” © Rafał Jaki/Machine Gamu As a wary fan of the diminishing returns of isekai-adjacent storytelling, what Jaki and Machine Gamu have put forward in Brain Alive‘s first chapter feels far from the derogatory sameness I’ve encountered from manga and anime that take gamified RPG rules for the sake of power fantasy wish-fulfillment while handwaving their many icky implications. It probably helps that Jaki is no stranger to expansive video game scripts, as the writer of Dark Horse’s The Witcher 3: Ronin comic and The Witcher: Old World board game. Like Former Destiny writer Frank Barbiere and Swamp Thing: Twin Branches artist Morgan Beem’s Image Comics series The Author Immortal (which I also strongly recommend folks check out), Brain Alive is a story with stakes and teeth I can’t wait to see pan out. You can read the first chapter of Brain Alive here ahead of its English release coming later this year, and Jaki’s first-ever manga series, No\Name, on MANGA Plus. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #Cyberpunk #Edgerunners #Creators #Manga #Series #Love #Letter #Inception #Soulsborne #GamesCyberpunk: Edgerunners,Manga,Rafal Jaki
© Rafał Jaki/Machine Gamu

Fortunately, if Daniel dies in the dream, he doesn’t die in real life. Any progress he makes in the dream follows a roguelike-meets-Soulsborne rule, with bonfire checkpoints featuring the dream-eating yokai, Baku, as a save state statue, and he returns a bit stronger as he retraces his steps in his son’s dreams. Unfortunately, Daniel can’t honk shoo-mimimi into his son’s dreams willy-nilly. He’s got a limited number of times he can go into his son’s dreams to make as much progress as he can and inch closer to saving his son’s life. Meaning, runs can’t be redone by closing his eyes and diving into his dreams multiple times a night.

Think Persona 3 dungeon runs where, instead of planning dates and going to school in the interim of making doubly sure if you want to get your shit rocked in Tartarus, Daniel dedicates every waking moment to “git gud” at Soulsborne games to save his son’s life. Buddy can’t catch a break.

Brain Alive manga page of Daniel slashing a yokai.
© Rafał Jaki/Machine Gamu

As Soulsborne enemies are wont to do, everything from skeleton warriors and giant yokai to poisonous snakes wants to run the dozens with Daniel for keeps, leaving the weary father with nothing but his Soulsbourne techniques, like perfect dodges, attacking enemy weak points, and real-life sword lessons, to keep himself alive. It also doesn’t hurt that Daniel’s got the boon of a fire sabre with the spirit of his dead wife guiding him through his son’s lucid dark fantasy dreams. If the dead wife of it all isn’t the most Christopher Nolan-ism of all time, I don’t know what is.

As is evident from its first chapter, Jaki owes a lot to both anime and the video games he’s played and helped bring into fruition in the stories he crafts.

“I create in order to give back even a small fraction of what I have received from loving the work of other creators,” Jaki told IGN. “My hope is to provide someone else with that same moment of awe that I have experienced myself, offering a glimpse into another person’s mind and sharing thoughts and feelings.”

Brain Alive manga panel of Daniel reading to his son.
© Rafał Jaki/Machine Gamu

As a wary fan of the diminishing returns of isekai-adjacent storytelling, what Jaki and Machine Gamu have put forward in Brain Alive‘s first chapter feels far from the derogatory sameness I’ve encountered from manga and anime that take gamified RPG rules for the sake of power fantasy wish-fulfillment while handwaving their many icky implications. It probably helps that Jaki is no stranger to expansive video game scripts, as the writer of Dark Horse’s The Witcher 3: Ronin comic and The Witcher: Old World board game. Like Former Destiny writer Frank Barbiere and Swamp Thing: Twin Branches artist Morgan Beem’s Image Comics series The Author Immortal (which I also strongly recommend folks check out), Brain Alive is a story with stakes and teeth I can’t wait to see pan out.

You can read the first chapter of Brain Alive here ahead of its English release coming later this year, and Jaki’s first-ever manga series, No\Name, on MANGA Plus.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

#Cyberpunk #Edgerunners #Creators #Manga #Series #Love #Letter #Inception #Soulsborne #GamesCyberpunk: Edgerunners,Manga,Rafal Jaki">‘Cyberpunk: Edgerunners’ Creator’s New Manga Series Is a Love Letter to ‘Inception’ and Soulsborne Games In the time before Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2‘s imminent arrival on Netflix this fall, I’ve been living it up, rewatching the anime and re-reading manga from the folks responsible for its first season being Crunchyroll’s 2023 Anime of the Year. While I’ve already waxed poetic about writer Bartosz Sztybor‘s Rebecca-centric prequel manga showcasing Night City as having plenty more stories to tell, season one creator Rafał Jaki has spun the block off the momentum of being one of Manga Plus’ first Western manga creators post-Edgerunners with an inventive new manga series that’s giving Inception meets Elden Ring. Coming off the heels of his refreshingly imaginative sci-fi series No\Name, in which folks’ powers were derived from the meanings of their given names, Jaki and artist Machine Gamu‘s newest series, Brain Alive—which he announced on his official X/Twitter account with a Google Drive link to read its first chapter for free—looks poised to carry that energy forward with a dark fantasy premise geared toward cinephiles and gamers alike.   [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01qvd0J-6Fc[/embed] In patented Edgerunners heart-shattering fashion, Brain Alive opens with a father named Daniel awakening from a car crash to the news that his wife didn’t survive and his son is in a coma. To keep his son company, Daniel reads him new volumes of the dark fantasy novel that inspired the Soulsborne video games they used to play together as a family. After falling asleep by his son’s bedside, Daniel finds himself stark naked inside a dungeon. Turns out, his dreams run on a kind of Kamen Rider ZETZ rule where he enters his son’s dreamscape influenced by his mind’s imaginings of their favorite video game series. But things are far from fun and games. © Rafał Jaki/Machine Gamu Fortunately, if Daniel dies in the dream, he doesn’t die in real life. Any progress he makes in the dream follows a roguelike-meets-Soulsborne rule, with bonfire checkpoints featuring the dream-eating yokai, Baku, as a save state statue, and he returns a bit stronger as he retraces his steps in his son’s dreams. Unfortunately, Daniel can’t honk shoo-mimimi into his son’s dreams willy-nilly. He’s got a limited number of times he can go into his son’s dreams to make as much progress as he can and inch closer to saving his son’s life. Meaning, runs can’t be redone by closing his eyes and diving into his dreams multiple times a night. Think Persona 3 dungeon runs where, instead of planning dates and going to school in the interim of making doubly sure if you want to get your shit rocked in Tartarus, Daniel dedicates every waking moment to “git gud” at Soulsborne games to save his son’s life. Buddy can’t catch a break. © Rafał Jaki/Machine Gamu As Soulsborne enemies are wont to do, everything from skeleton warriors and giant yokai to poisonous snakes wants to run the dozens with Daniel for keeps, leaving the weary father with nothing but his Soulsbourne techniques, like perfect dodges, attacking enemy weak points, and real-life sword lessons, to keep himself alive. It also doesn’t hurt that Daniel’s got the boon of a fire sabre with the spirit of his dead wife guiding him through his son’s lucid dark fantasy dreams. If the dead wife of it all isn’t the most Christopher Nolan-ism of all time, I don’t know what is. © Rafał Jaki/Machine Gamu © Rafał Jaki/Machine Gamu As is evident from its first chapter, Jaki owes a lot to both anime and the video games he’s played and helped bring into fruition in the stories he crafts. “I create in order to give back even a small fraction of what I have received from loving the work of other creators,” Jaki told IGN. “My hope is to provide someone else with that same moment of awe that I have experienced myself, offering a glimpse into another person’s mind and sharing thoughts and feelings.” © Rafał Jaki/Machine Gamu As a wary fan of the diminishing returns of isekai-adjacent storytelling, what Jaki and Machine Gamu have put forward in Brain Alive‘s first chapter feels far from the derogatory sameness I’ve encountered from manga and anime that take gamified RPG rules for the sake of power fantasy wish-fulfillment while handwaving their many icky implications. It probably helps that Jaki is no stranger to expansive video game scripts, as the writer of Dark Horse’s The Witcher 3: Ronin comic and The Witcher: Old World board game. Like Former Destiny writer Frank Barbiere and Swamp Thing: Twin Branches artist Morgan Beem’s Image Comics series The Author Immortal (which I also strongly recommend folks check out), Brain Alive is a story with stakes and teeth I can’t wait to see pan out. You can read the first chapter of Brain Alive here ahead of its English release coming later this year, and Jaki’s first-ever manga series, No\Name, on MANGA Plus. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #Cyberpunk #Edgerunners #Creators #Manga #Series #Love #Letter #Inception #Soulsborne #GamesCyberpunk: Edgerunners,Manga,Rafal Jaki

‘s imminent arrival on Netflix this fall, I’ve been living it up, rewatching the anime and re-reading manga from the folks responsible for its first season being Crunchyroll’s 2023 Anime of the Year.

While I’ve already waxed poetic about writer Bartosz Sztybor‘s Rebecca-centric prequel manga showcasing Night City as having plenty more stories to tell, season one creator Rafał Jaki has spun the block off the momentum of being one of Manga Plus’ first Western manga creators post-Edgerunners with an inventive new manga series that’s giving Inception meets Elden Ring.

Coming off the heels of his refreshingly imaginative sci-fi series No\Name, in which folks’ powers were derived from the meanings of their given names, Jaki and artist Machine Gamu‘s newest series, Brain Alive—which he announced on his official X/Twitter account with a Google Drive link to read its first chapter for free—looks poised to carry that energy forward with a dark fantasy premise geared toward cinephiles and gamers alike.  

In patented Edgerunners heart-shattering fashion, Brain Alive opens with a father named Daniel awakening from a car crash to the news that his wife didn’t survive and his son is in a coma. To keep his son company, Daniel reads him new volumes of the dark fantasy novel that inspired the Soulsborne video games they used to play together as a family. After falling asleep by his son’s bedside, Daniel finds himself stark naked inside a dungeon. Turns out, his dreams run on a kind of Kamen Rider ZETZ rule where he enters his son’s dreamscape influenced by his mind’s imaginings of their favorite video game series. But things are far from fun and games.

‘Cyberpunk: Edgerunners’ Creator’s New Manga Series Is a Love Letter to ‘Inception’ and Soulsborne Games In the time before Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2‘s imminent arrival on Netflix this fall, I’ve been living it up, rewatching the anime and re-reading manga from the folks responsible for its first season being Crunchyroll’s 2023 Anime of the Year. While I’ve already waxed poetic about writer Bartosz Sztybor‘s Rebecca-centric prequel manga showcasing Night City as having plenty more stories to tell, season one creator Rafał Jaki has spun the block off the momentum of being one of Manga Plus’ first Western manga creators post-Edgerunners with an inventive new manga series that’s giving Inception meets Elden Ring. Coming off the heels of his refreshingly imaginative sci-fi series No\Name, in which folks’ powers were derived from the meanings of their given names, Jaki and artist Machine Gamu‘s newest series, Brain Alive—which he announced on his official X/Twitter account with a Google Drive link to read its first chapter for free—looks poised to carry that energy forward with a dark fantasy premise geared toward cinephiles and gamers alike.   [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01qvd0J-6Fc[/embed] In patented Edgerunners heart-shattering fashion, Brain Alive opens with a father named Daniel awakening from a car crash to the news that his wife didn’t survive and his son is in a coma. To keep his son company, Daniel reads him new volumes of the dark fantasy novel that inspired the Soulsborne video games they used to play together as a family. After falling asleep by his son’s bedside, Daniel finds himself stark naked inside a dungeon. Turns out, his dreams run on a kind of Kamen Rider ZETZ rule where he enters his son’s dreamscape influenced by his mind’s imaginings of their favorite video game series. But things are far from fun and games. © Rafał Jaki/Machine Gamu Fortunately, if Daniel dies in the dream, he doesn’t die in real life. Any progress he makes in the dream follows a roguelike-meets-Soulsborne rule, with bonfire checkpoints featuring the dream-eating yokai, Baku, as a save state statue, and he returns a bit stronger as he retraces his steps in his son’s dreams. Unfortunately, Daniel can’t honk shoo-mimimi into his son’s dreams willy-nilly. He’s got a limited number of times he can go into his son’s dreams to make as much progress as he can and inch closer to saving his son’s life. Meaning, runs can’t be redone by closing his eyes and diving into his dreams multiple times a night. Think Persona 3 dungeon runs where, instead of planning dates and going to school in the interim of making doubly sure if you want to get your shit rocked in Tartarus, Daniel dedicates every waking moment to “git gud” at Soulsborne games to save his son’s life. Buddy can’t catch a break. © Rafał Jaki/Machine Gamu As Soulsborne enemies are wont to do, everything from skeleton warriors and giant yokai to poisonous snakes wants to run the dozens with Daniel for keeps, leaving the weary father with nothing but his Soulsbourne techniques, like perfect dodges, attacking enemy weak points, and real-life sword lessons, to keep himself alive. It also doesn’t hurt that Daniel’s got the boon of a fire sabre with the spirit of his dead wife guiding him through his son’s lucid dark fantasy dreams. If the dead wife of it all isn’t the most Christopher Nolan-ism of all time, I don’t know what is. © Rafał Jaki/Machine Gamu © Rafał Jaki/Machine Gamu As is evident from its first chapter, Jaki owes a lot to both anime and the video games he’s played and helped bring into fruition in the stories he crafts. “I create in order to give back even a small fraction of what I have received from loving the work of other creators,” Jaki told IGN. “My hope is to provide someone else with that same moment of awe that I have experienced myself, offering a glimpse into another person’s mind and sharing thoughts and feelings.” © Rafał Jaki/Machine Gamu As a wary fan of the diminishing returns of isekai-adjacent storytelling, what Jaki and Machine Gamu have put forward in Brain Alive‘s first chapter feels far from the derogatory sameness I’ve encountered from manga and anime that take gamified RPG rules for the sake of power fantasy wish-fulfillment while handwaving their many icky implications. It probably helps that Jaki is no stranger to expansive video game scripts, as the writer of Dark Horse’s The Witcher 3: Ronin comic and The Witcher: Old World board game. Like Former Destiny writer Frank Barbiere and Swamp Thing: Twin Branches artist Morgan Beem’s Image Comics series The Author Immortal (which I also strongly recommend folks check out), Brain Alive is a story with stakes and teeth I can’t wait to see pan out. You can read the first chapter of Brain Alive here ahead of its English release coming later this year, and Jaki’s first-ever manga series, No\Name, on MANGA Plus. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #Cyberpunk #Edgerunners #Creators #Manga #Series #Love #Letter #Inception #Soulsborne #GamesCyberpunk: Edgerunners,Manga,Rafal Jaki
© Rafał Jaki/Machine Gamu

Fortunately, if Daniel dies in the dream, he doesn’t die in real life. Any progress he makes in the dream follows a roguelike-meets-Soulsborne rule, with bonfire checkpoints featuring the dream-eating yokai, Baku, as a save state statue, and he returns a bit stronger as he retraces his steps in his son’s dreams. Unfortunately, Daniel can’t honk shoo-mimimi into his son’s dreams willy-nilly. He’s got a limited number of times he can go into his son’s dreams to make as much progress as he can and inch closer to saving his son’s life. Meaning, runs can’t be redone by closing his eyes and diving into his dreams multiple times a night.

Think Persona 3 dungeon runs where, instead of planning dates and going to school in the interim of making doubly sure if you want to get your shit rocked in Tartarus, Daniel dedicates every waking moment to “git gud” at Soulsborne games to save his son’s life. Buddy can’t catch a break.

Brain Alive manga page of Daniel slashing a yokai.
© Rafał Jaki/Machine Gamu

As Soulsborne enemies are wont to do, everything from skeleton warriors and giant yokai to poisonous snakes wants to run the dozens with Daniel for keeps, leaving the weary father with nothing but his Soulsbourne techniques, like perfect dodges, attacking enemy weak points, and real-life sword lessons, to keep himself alive. It also doesn’t hurt that Daniel’s got the boon of a fire sabre with the spirit of his dead wife guiding him through his son’s lucid dark fantasy dreams. If the dead wife of it all isn’t the most Christopher Nolan-ism of all time, I don’t know what is.

As is evident from its first chapter, Jaki owes a lot to both anime and the video games he’s played and helped bring into fruition in the stories he crafts.

“I create in order to give back even a small fraction of what I have received from loving the work of other creators,” Jaki told IGN. “My hope is to provide someone else with that same moment of awe that I have experienced myself, offering a glimpse into another person’s mind and sharing thoughts and feelings.”

Brain Alive manga panel of Daniel reading to his son.
© Rafał Jaki/Machine Gamu

As a wary fan of the diminishing returns of isekai-adjacent storytelling, what Jaki and Machine Gamu have put forward in Brain Alive‘s first chapter feels far from the derogatory sameness I’ve encountered from manga and anime that take gamified RPG rules for the sake of power fantasy wish-fulfillment while handwaving their many icky implications. It probably helps that Jaki is no stranger to expansive video game scripts, as the writer of Dark Horse’s The Witcher 3: Ronin comic and The Witcher: Old World board game. Like Former Destiny writer Frank Barbiere and Swamp Thing: Twin Branches artist Morgan Beem’s Image Comics series The Author Immortal (which I also strongly recommend folks check out), Brain Alive is a story with stakes and teeth I can’t wait to see pan out.

You can read the first chapter of Brain Alive here ahead of its English release coming later this year, and Jaki’s first-ever manga series, No\Name, on MANGA Plus.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

#Cyberpunk #Edgerunners #Creators #Manga #Series #Love #Letter #Inception #Soulsborne #GamesCyberpunk: Edgerunners,Manga,Rafal Jaki">‘Cyberpunk: Edgerunners’ Creator’s New Manga Series Is a Love Letter to ‘Inception’ and Soulsborne Games

In the time before Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2‘s imminent arrival on Netflix this fall, I’ve been living it up, rewatching the anime and re-reading manga from the folks responsible for its first season being Crunchyroll’s 2023 Anime of the Year.

While I’ve already waxed poetic about writer Bartosz Sztybor‘s Rebecca-centric prequel manga showcasing Night City as having plenty more stories to tell, season one creator Rafał Jaki has spun the block off the momentum of being one of Manga Plus’ first Western manga creators post-Edgerunners with an inventive new manga series that’s giving Inception meets Elden Ring.

Coming off the heels of his refreshingly imaginative sci-fi series No\Name, in which folks’ powers were derived from the meanings of their given names, Jaki and artist Machine Gamu‘s newest series, Brain Alive—which he announced on his official X/Twitter account with a Google Drive link to read its first chapter for free—looks poised to carry that energy forward with a dark fantasy premise geared toward cinephiles and gamers alike.  

In patented Edgerunners heart-shattering fashion, Brain Alive opens with a father named Daniel awakening from a car crash to the news that his wife didn’t survive and his son is in a coma. To keep his son company, Daniel reads him new volumes of the dark fantasy novel that inspired the Soulsborne video games they used to play together as a family. After falling asleep by his son’s bedside, Daniel finds himself stark naked inside a dungeon. Turns out, his dreams run on a kind of Kamen Rider ZETZ rule where he enters his son’s dreamscape influenced by his mind’s imaginings of their favorite video game series. But things are far from fun and games.

‘Cyberpunk: Edgerunners’ Creator’s New Manga Series Is a Love Letter to ‘Inception’ and Soulsborne Games In the time before Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2‘s imminent arrival on Netflix this fall, I’ve been living it up, rewatching the anime and re-reading manga from the folks responsible for its first season being Crunchyroll’s 2023 Anime of the Year. While I’ve already waxed poetic about writer Bartosz Sztybor‘s Rebecca-centric prequel manga showcasing Night City as having plenty more stories to tell, season one creator Rafał Jaki has spun the block off the momentum of being one of Manga Plus’ first Western manga creators post-Edgerunners with an inventive new manga series that’s giving Inception meets Elden Ring. Coming off the heels of his refreshingly imaginative sci-fi series No\Name, in which folks’ powers were derived from the meanings of their given names, Jaki and artist Machine Gamu‘s newest series, Brain Alive—which he announced on his official X/Twitter account with a Google Drive link to read its first chapter for free—looks poised to carry that energy forward with a dark fantasy premise geared toward cinephiles and gamers alike.   [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01qvd0J-6Fc[/embed] In patented Edgerunners heart-shattering fashion, Brain Alive opens with a father named Daniel awakening from a car crash to the news that his wife didn’t survive and his son is in a coma. To keep his son company, Daniel reads him new volumes of the dark fantasy novel that inspired the Soulsborne video games they used to play together as a family. After falling asleep by his son’s bedside, Daniel finds himself stark naked inside a dungeon. Turns out, his dreams run on a kind of Kamen Rider ZETZ rule where he enters his son’s dreamscape influenced by his mind’s imaginings of their favorite video game series. But things are far from fun and games. © Rafał Jaki/Machine Gamu Fortunately, if Daniel dies in the dream, he doesn’t die in real life. Any progress he makes in the dream follows a roguelike-meets-Soulsborne rule, with bonfire checkpoints featuring the dream-eating yokai, Baku, as a save state statue, and he returns a bit stronger as he retraces his steps in his son’s dreams. Unfortunately, Daniel can’t honk shoo-mimimi into his son’s dreams willy-nilly. He’s got a limited number of times he can go into his son’s dreams to make as much progress as he can and inch closer to saving his son’s life. Meaning, runs can’t be redone by closing his eyes and diving into his dreams multiple times a night. Think Persona 3 dungeon runs where, instead of planning dates and going to school in the interim of making doubly sure if you want to get your shit rocked in Tartarus, Daniel dedicates every waking moment to “git gud” at Soulsborne games to save his son’s life. Buddy can’t catch a break. © Rafał Jaki/Machine Gamu As Soulsborne enemies are wont to do, everything from skeleton warriors and giant yokai to poisonous snakes wants to run the dozens with Daniel for keeps, leaving the weary father with nothing but his Soulsbourne techniques, like perfect dodges, attacking enemy weak points, and real-life sword lessons, to keep himself alive. It also doesn’t hurt that Daniel’s got the boon of a fire sabre with the spirit of his dead wife guiding him through his son’s lucid dark fantasy dreams. If the dead wife of it all isn’t the most Christopher Nolan-ism of all time, I don’t know what is. © Rafał Jaki/Machine Gamu © Rafał Jaki/Machine Gamu As is evident from its first chapter, Jaki owes a lot to both anime and the video games he’s played and helped bring into fruition in the stories he crafts. “I create in order to give back even a small fraction of what I have received from loving the work of other creators,” Jaki told IGN. “My hope is to provide someone else with that same moment of awe that I have experienced myself, offering a glimpse into another person’s mind and sharing thoughts and feelings.” © Rafał Jaki/Machine Gamu As a wary fan of the diminishing returns of isekai-adjacent storytelling, what Jaki and Machine Gamu have put forward in Brain Alive‘s first chapter feels far from the derogatory sameness I’ve encountered from manga and anime that take gamified RPG rules for the sake of power fantasy wish-fulfillment while handwaving their many icky implications. It probably helps that Jaki is no stranger to expansive video game scripts, as the writer of Dark Horse’s The Witcher 3: Ronin comic and The Witcher: Old World board game. Like Former Destiny writer Frank Barbiere and Swamp Thing: Twin Branches artist Morgan Beem’s Image Comics series The Author Immortal (which I also strongly recommend folks check out), Brain Alive is a story with stakes and teeth I can’t wait to see pan out. You can read the first chapter of Brain Alive here ahead of its English release coming later this year, and Jaki’s first-ever manga series, No\Name, on MANGA Plus. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #Cyberpunk #Edgerunners #Creators #Manga #Series #Love #Letter #Inception #Soulsborne #GamesCyberpunk: Edgerunners,Manga,Rafal Jaki
© Rafał Jaki/Machine Gamu

Fortunately, if Daniel dies in the dream, he doesn’t die in real life. Any progress he makes in the dream follows a roguelike-meets-Soulsborne rule, with bonfire checkpoints featuring the dream-eating yokai, Baku, as a save state statue, and he returns a bit stronger as he retraces his steps in his son’s dreams. Unfortunately, Daniel can’t honk shoo-mimimi into his son’s dreams willy-nilly. He’s got a limited number of times he can go into his son’s dreams to make as much progress as he can and inch closer to saving his son’s life. Meaning, runs can’t be redone by closing his eyes and diving into his dreams multiple times a night.

Think Persona 3 dungeon runs where, instead of planning dates and going to school in the interim of making doubly sure if you want to get your shit rocked in Tartarus, Daniel dedicates every waking moment to “git gud” at Soulsborne games to save his son’s life. Buddy can’t catch a break.

Brain Alive manga page of Daniel slashing a yokai.
© Rafał Jaki/Machine Gamu

As Soulsborne enemies are wont to do, everything from skeleton warriors and giant yokai to poisonous snakes wants to run the dozens with Daniel for keeps, leaving the weary father with nothing but his Soulsbourne techniques, like perfect dodges, attacking enemy weak points, and real-life sword lessons, to keep himself alive. It also doesn’t hurt that Daniel’s got the boon of a fire sabre with the spirit of his dead wife guiding him through his son’s lucid dark fantasy dreams. If the dead wife of it all isn’t the most Christopher Nolan-ism of all time, I don’t know what is.

As is evident from its first chapter, Jaki owes a lot to both anime and the video games he’s played and helped bring into fruition in the stories he crafts.

“I create in order to give back even a small fraction of what I have received from loving the work of other creators,” Jaki told IGN. “My hope is to provide someone else with that same moment of awe that I have experienced myself, offering a glimpse into another person’s mind and sharing thoughts and feelings.”

Brain Alive manga panel of Daniel reading to his son.
© Rafał Jaki/Machine Gamu

As a wary fan of the diminishing returns of isekai-adjacent storytelling, what Jaki and Machine Gamu have put forward in Brain Alive‘s first chapter feels far from the derogatory sameness I’ve encountered from manga and anime that take gamified RPG rules for the sake of power fantasy wish-fulfillment while handwaving their many icky implications. It probably helps that Jaki is no stranger to expansive video game scripts, as the writer of Dark Horse’s The Witcher 3: Ronin comic and The Witcher: Old World board game. Like Former Destiny writer Frank Barbiere and Swamp Thing: Twin Branches artist Morgan Beem’s Image Comics series The Author Immortal (which I also strongly recommend folks check out), Brain Alive is a story with stakes and teeth I can’t wait to see pan out.

You can read the first chapter of Brain Alive here ahead of its English release coming later this year, and Jaki’s first-ever manga series, No\Name, on MANGA Plus.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

#Cyberpunk #Edgerunners #Creators #Manga #Series #Love #Letter #Inception #Soulsborne #GamesCyberpunk: Edgerunners,Manga,Rafal Jaki
“I have no idea how they got my contact information,” says the engineer. Unlike other interviews for government jobs, the engineer says, there was no recruiter present—only Coristine was on the interview call. “Normally initial screenings are done over the phone, rather than video, to reduce bias in the process,” they say.

During the engineer’s NDS interview, they say, Coristine didn’t seem to know the skill set he was looking for. “I generally don’t know if this person is capable of evaluating a full-stack engineer,” they say, “because they themselves aren’t aware of the skill sets, tools, and things needed in this profession.” Coristine did not reply to a request for comment. (In January 2025, Coristine was one of several DOGE members who interviewed workers at the General Services Administration’s Technology Transformation Services, who were required to defend their jobs and justify their projects. At the time, employees who spoke to WIRED described meetings in which the DOGE members were not familiar with their work.)

Coristine told the engineer that the role was geared toward supporting what would become Rampart, a tool released in late June to prevent personally identifiable information (PII) from leaving a user’s browser, particularly if they’re using something like a chatbot. In an interview with the Technology Business Programming Network (TBPN) podcast, Coristine described the project as a “side quest ” and told the engineer that the NDS team of about 30 people did not include a machine-learning engineer.

The tool is similar to OpenAI’s browser-based “privacy filter,” which can detect things like a personal email, address, or account number, and mask them automatically. But exactly how this tool is meant to be used in the context of government services is unclear. In the interview with TBPN, Coristine did not offer any particular examples, though he noted the tool is significantly smaller than OpenAI’s, making it potentially more accessible in lower-bandwidth environments.

“It feels very counterintuitive because in most instances, when you are asking for PII, you want PII,” says the engineer, noting that in government work, a user might need to provide PII like their social security number or address in order to access government benefits. “You don’t want that information redacted.”

In many cases, developers can choose to encrypt certain fields that an API sends to the backend of a website, and websites that use HTTPS connections to communicate with their backends also encrypt their requests.

This is not the first time the Trump administration has tried to reinvent the wheel of government technology. Last year, as DOGE promised government efficiency through technology, its members fired technologists who were already working on exactly the kinds of projects it purported to want, even killing a flagship product in the Internal Revenue Service’s free tax filing tool. An OPM memo published last week instructed agencies to prioritize hiring technical talent.

“This does feel superfluous. My most optimistic speculation is that this is indicative of an organization that has no goals,” the engineer says, noting that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) regularly supports the creation of tools to solve complex technical problems around issues like privacy. “Why are these guys who are so closely associated with the White House wasting tax money on this little hacker project?”

#National #Design #Studio #DOGE #Landing #Pad #Big #Balls #Recruitinginner loop,politics,government,doge,elon musk">The National Design Studio Became a DOGE Landing Pad. Now ‘Big Balls’ Is Recruiting“I have no idea how they got my contact information,” says the engineer. Unlike other interviews for government jobs, the engineer says, there was no recruiter present—only Coristine was on the interview call. “Normally initial screenings are done over the phone, rather than video, to reduce bias in the process,” they say.During the engineer’s NDS interview, they say, Coristine didn’t seem to know the skill set he was looking for. “I generally don’t know if this person is capable of evaluating a full-stack engineer,” they say, “because they themselves aren’t aware of the skill sets, tools, and things needed in this profession.” Coristine did not reply to a request for comment. (In January 2025, Coristine was one of several DOGE members who interviewed workers at the General Services Administration’s Technology Transformation Services, who were required to defend their jobs and justify their projects. At the time, employees who spoke to WIRED described meetings in which the DOGE members were not familiar with their work.)Coristine told the engineer that the role was geared toward supporting what would become Rampart, a tool released in late June to prevent personally identifiable information (PII) from leaving a user’s browser, particularly if they’re using something like a chatbot. In an interview with the Technology Business Programming Network (TBPN) podcast, Coristine described the project as a “side quest ” and told the engineer that the NDS team of about 30 people did not include a machine-learning engineer.The tool is similar to OpenAI’s browser-based “privacy filter,” which can detect things like a personal email, address, or account number, and mask them automatically. But exactly how this tool is meant to be used in the context of government services is unclear. In the interview with TBPN, Coristine did not offer any particular examples, though he noted the tool is significantly smaller than OpenAI’s, making it potentially more accessible in lower-bandwidth environments.“It feels very counterintuitive because in most instances, when you are asking for PII, you want PII,” says the engineer, noting that in government work, a user might need to provide PII like their social security number or address in order to access government benefits. “You don’t want that information redacted.”In many cases, developers can choose to encrypt certain fields that an API sends to the backend of a website, and websites that use HTTPS connections to communicate with their backends also encrypt their requests.This is not the first time the Trump administration has tried to reinvent the wheel of government technology. Last year, as DOGE promised government efficiency through technology, its members fired technologists who were already working on exactly the kinds of projects it purported to want, even killing a flagship product in the Internal Revenue Service’s free tax filing tool. An OPM memo published last week instructed agencies to prioritize hiring technical talent.“This does feel superfluous. My most optimistic speculation is that this is indicative of an organization that has no goals,” the engineer says, noting that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) regularly supports the creation of tools to solve complex technical problems around issues like privacy. “Why are these guys who are so closely associated with the White House wasting tax money on this little hacker project?”#National #Design #Studio #DOGE #Landing #Pad #Big #Balls #Recruitinginner loop,politics,government,doge,elon musk

one of several DOGE members who interviewed workers at the General Services Administration’s Technology Transformation Services, who were required to defend their jobs and justify their projects. At the time, employees who spoke to WIRED described meetings in which the DOGE members were not familiar with their work.)

Coristine told the engineer that the role was geared toward supporting what would become Rampart, a tool released in late June to prevent personally identifiable information (PII) from leaving a user’s browser, particularly if they’re using something like a chatbot. In an interview with the Technology Business Programming Network (TBPN) podcast, Coristine described the project as a “side quest ” and told the engineer that the NDS team of about 30 people did not include a machine-learning engineer.

The tool is similar to OpenAI’s browser-based “privacy filter,” which can detect things like a personal email, address, or account number, and mask them automatically. But exactly how this tool is meant to be used in the context of government services is unclear. In the interview with TBPN, Coristine did not offer any particular examples, though he noted the tool is significantly smaller than OpenAI’s, making it potentially more accessible in lower-bandwidth environments.

“It feels very counterintuitive because in most instances, when you are asking for PII, you want PII,” says the engineer, noting that in government work, a user might need to provide PII like their social security number or address in order to access government benefits. “You don’t want that information redacted.”

In many cases, developers can choose to encrypt certain fields that an API sends to the backend of a website, and websites that use HTTPS connections to communicate with their backends also encrypt their requests.

This is not the first time the Trump administration has tried to reinvent the wheel of government technology. Last year, as DOGE promised government efficiency through technology, its members fired technologists who were already working on exactly the kinds of projects it purported to want, even killing a flagship product in the Internal Revenue Service’s free tax filing tool. An OPM memo published last week instructed agencies to prioritize hiring technical talent.

“This does feel superfluous. My most optimistic speculation is that this is indicative of an organization that has no goals,” the engineer says, noting that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) regularly supports the creation of tools to solve complex technical problems around issues like privacy. “Why are these guys who are so closely associated with the White House wasting tax money on this little hacker project?”

#National #Design #Studio #DOGE #Landing #Pad #Big #Balls #Recruitinginner loop,politics,government,doge,elon musk">The National Design Studio Became a DOGE Landing Pad. Now ‘Big Balls’ Is Recruiting

“I have no idea how they got my contact information,” says the engineer. Unlike other interviews for government jobs, the engineer says, there was no recruiter present—only Coristine was on the interview call. “Normally initial screenings are done over the phone, rather than video, to reduce bias in the process,” they say.

During the engineer’s NDS interview, they say, Coristine didn’t seem to know the skill set he was looking for. “I generally don’t know if this person is capable of evaluating a full-stack engineer,” they say, “because they themselves aren’t aware of the skill sets, tools, and things needed in this profession.” Coristine did not reply to a request for comment. (In January 2025, Coristine was one of several DOGE members who interviewed workers at the General Services Administration’s Technology Transformation Services, who were required to defend their jobs and justify their projects. At the time, employees who spoke to WIRED described meetings in which the DOGE members were not familiar with their work.)

Coristine told the engineer that the role was geared toward supporting what would become Rampart, a tool released in late June to prevent personally identifiable information (PII) from leaving a user’s browser, particularly if they’re using something like a chatbot. In an interview with the Technology Business Programming Network (TBPN) podcast, Coristine described the project as a “side quest ” and told the engineer that the NDS team of about 30 people did not include a machine-learning engineer.

The tool is similar to OpenAI’s browser-based “privacy filter,” which can detect things like a personal email, address, or account number, and mask them automatically. But exactly how this tool is meant to be used in the context of government services is unclear. In the interview with TBPN, Coristine did not offer any particular examples, though he noted the tool is significantly smaller than OpenAI’s, making it potentially more accessible in lower-bandwidth environments.

“It feels very counterintuitive because in most instances, when you are asking for PII, you want PII,” says the engineer, noting that in government work, a user might need to provide PII like their social security number or address in order to access government benefits. “You don’t want that information redacted.”

In many cases, developers can choose to encrypt certain fields that an API sends to the backend of a website, and websites that use HTTPS connections to communicate with their backends also encrypt their requests.

This is not the first time the Trump administration has tried to reinvent the wheel of government technology. Last year, as DOGE promised government efficiency through technology, its members fired technologists who were already working on exactly the kinds of projects it purported to want, even killing a flagship product in the Internal Revenue Service’s free tax filing tool. An OPM memo published last week instructed agencies to prioritize hiring technical talent.

“This does feel superfluous. My most optimistic speculation is that this is indicative of an organization that has no goals,” the engineer says, noting that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) regularly supports the creation of tools to solve complex technical problems around issues like privacy. “Why are these guys who are so closely associated with the White House wasting tax money on this little hacker project?”

#National #Design #Studio #DOGE #Landing #Pad #Big #Balls #Recruitinginner loop,politics,government,doge,elon musk

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