Beyond 2000

Editorial illustration: a lone figure swings an axe at the base of one of many surveillance-camera poles scattered across a vast empty plain under a dusk sky.

‘Get the Flock Out’: The Revolt Against America’s License-Plate Cameras Splits Into Three Fronts

Severed camera poles, unanimous council votes, and a crowdsourced map of the surveillance state — the backlash against Flock Safety has hardened into a movement, and the company is calling it a coordinated attack.

By Joe Lyman · Jul 22, 2026

An illustrated figure swings a giant hammer down onto a shattered heap of video-game studio logos, including Bethesda and id Software, against a bright orange background.

Technology

Gaming’s Midsummer Massacre Triggers the Industry’s First Mass Walkout

A brutal wave of layoffs — led by 3,200 cuts at Microsoft’s Xbox — has gutted studios from id Software to Bethesda. On July 15, game workers answered with the industry’s first coordinated multi-studio walkout.

By Joe Lyman · Jul 18, 2026

A single board split down the middle: the left half a Go board dense with black and white stones on a red field, the right half a sparse chessboard with a few tall pieces — and one lone red pawn — on a blue field.

Technology

China Rallies 29 Nations Into a Rival AI Bloc as the US Walls Off Its Models

Beijing has signed 29 mostly Global South nations into a new Shanghai-based body — the World AI Cooperation Organization — a bid to write the rules of artificial intelligence just as US export controls push America’s own models behind a wall.

By Joe Lyman · Jul 18, 2026

A lone figure stands in a red beam beneath a giant surveillance eye, flanked by security cameras.

World

ICE's Internal Watchdog Turns Its Sights on Online Critics

A poll worker confronted by agents at a Syracuse polling site is the latest sign that ICE’s internal watchdog — meant to police its own — has turned toward monitoring online critics, even as its oversight of detention facilities slips.

By Joe Lyman · Jul 6, 2026