Experiment // live
An experiment in whether editorial judgment can be written down.
Nearside is a field guide to the real-world tech and real news headlines quietly turning ordinary life into cyberpunk. Producing the publication relies heavily on LLMs, and I’m documenting how I do it as yet another way to showcase that we’re living in a cyberpunk era. Each issue is produced by an LLM under an evolving editorial operating manual, and every edition ships with a changelog of what the system learned. So, in addition to consuming the publication, you’re also watching it—and its editorial machine—get built at the same time.
How an issue gets made
- 01Research
- 02Verify
- 03Draft
- 04QA
- 05Ship
Nothing Happens Where You Think It Does
Five stories trace how care, disaster response, government surveillance, machine permissions and radio vision now reach ordinary rooms from somewhere else.
The Physical World Has a Command Line
Five stories trace the physical world’s new command line through searchable clothing, pathology drones, humanoid surgery, software-gated farm repair and silent speech.
Everyday Carry Is a Threat Model
A six-object pocket dump shows how a hardened phone, neural-control glasses, hardware keys, cellular-surveillance detection, telehealth sensors and satellite messaging trade default systems for new dependencies.
Everything Wants Proof
Five stories trace verification as it migrates from institutions into inbox agents, pocket-scale AI, post-quantum messaging, operating-system age checks and continuous home health sensors.
Nothing Here Looks Like the Future
Six scenes reveal thermal vision, local AI, neighborhood mesh radio, quantified bodies, trainable home robots and mercenary spyware already operating behind the facade of an ordinary street.