# red flag — RSS Amplifier Recent posts from the 6 feeds in the RSS Amplifier directory that cover red flag. Page: Feed: --- ## [The Reverse Centaur](http://www.mattblodgett.com/2026/07/the-reverse-centaur.html) _2026-07-29 · Matt Blodgett · Matt Blodgett_ I recently watched a couple interviews with Cory Doctorow discussing AI. He explained the concept of the "Reverse Centaur" from the title of his upcoming book . Here's how he defines that term on his blog : In automation theory, a “centaur” is a person who is assisted by a machine. You’re a human head being carried around on a tireless robot body. Driving a car makes you a centaur, and so does… ## [Ricochet: A Book Review-ish](https://2acops.substack.com/p/ricochet-a-book-review-ish) _2026-07-17 · Matt Silvey · 2A Cops-Cops Supporting Gun Rights_ Teeth Gnashing & Name Calling Disguised as Productive Discussion ## ["47 David, Shots Fired"](https://2acops.substack.com/p/47-david-shots-fired) _2026-07-03 · Matt Silvey · 2A Cops-Cops Supporting Gun Rights_ Today is the 15 year anniversary of an event that had a profound effect on me. ## [Who’s defining your user journey?](https://frankspillers.com/whos-defining-your-user-journey/) _2026-07-01 · Frank Spillers · Frank Spillers_ Summary: There is a distinction at the heart of service design that most organisations never fully reckon with. It lurks beneath years of journey mapping workshops, sticky notes, and swim-lane diagrams. It is the difference between mapping how your service works and mapping what it is actually like to use it. Defining or discussing journeys \[ \] The post Who s defining your user journey? appeared… ## [Dysfunctional In a Chill Way](http://www.mattblodgett.com/2026/06/dysfunctional-in-chill-way.html) _2026-06-24 · Matt Blodgett · Matt Blodgett_ I've had many jobs over 20+ years in the software industry, and every one of them has been dysfunctional to some degree. Of course, that's normal. No person is without flaws, and the same is true of jobs. Even my best jobs had dysfunction. There are many ways for a job to be dysfunctional... Micromanagement Unreasonable deadlines Poor communication Etc. But something I've learned over time is that… ## [Red Flag Failure](https://2acops.substack.com/p/red-flag-failure) _2026-05-24 · Matt Silvey · 2A Cops-Cops Supporting Gun Rights_ CA's Red Flag Law Failed To Keep Public Safe ## [A Human Writes This Blog](http://www.mattblodgett.com/2026/05/a-human-writes-this-blog.html) _2026-05-20 · Matt Blodgett · Matt Blodgett_ I had to turn off comments on this blog several years ago because most of the comments were being left by bots, and it felt like an uphill battle trying to manually remove them over hundreds of blog posts. I'm really bummed about that, because (back when people still read blogs) I would get a steady trickle of comments from real people who wanted to say something about my posts. It feels more like… ## [Women are expected to be “cool” about everything](https://ansaadvice.substack.com/p/women-are-expected-to-be-cool-about) _2026-05-15 · Ansa Edim · Is This Normal?_ And we're done with that ## [Who Wrote This Crap?](http://www.mattblodgett.com/2026/04/who-wrote-this-crap.html) _2026-04-22 · Matt Blodgett · Matt Blodgett_ I remember many years ago interviewing at a software consultancy where one of the consultants in the meeting was talking about a project they had going on. He was marveling at how fast the team of junior developers on the project was " cranking...out...code. " I'll never forget the way he said it, and the look of awe on his face as he slowly shook his head back and forth. This of course happened… ## Red Flags _2026-04-20 · Red Flags_ [Listen](https://feeds.fountain.fm/E5Z8vwywPotayiHOEAr7/items/vsemrsbfxgJGEnrxbWzr/files/AUDIO---DEFAULT---9d27b224-15bc-4a3a-81af-d175760c6ff3.wav) ## [Screen Share With Real Control (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/h8tkxQNd0PLe) _2026-04-20 · **Sponsored**_ Collaborative screen sharing with simultaneous remote control — open source, like Screenhero. ## [Why UX org charts are so important](https://frankspillers.com/why-ux-org-charts-are-so-important/) _2026-04-13 · Frank Spillers · Frank Spillers_ Summary: UX and Service Design roles needs to be clearly understood for UX management to be effective. The most common misperception rests with the UX Designer role. UX needs a lot of U (user) representation. Its absence is a marker of failure in software projects. Therefore, the User Researcher role is as critical a role \[ \] The post Why UX org charts are so important appeared first on Frank… ## [Don't Mess With Delivery](http://www.mattblodgett.com/2026/03/dont-mess-with-delivery.html) _2026-03-25 · Matt Blodgett · Matt Blodgett_ If your team has consistent, reliable delivery of working software to production, you’re crushing . Don’t mess with it. It's astonishing how many teams in real world software development can't do this. I've witnessed it over and over and over in my career. If you have a backlog, sprint planning, a dependable QA function (even if manual and/or slow), and scripted deployments on-demand, you are very… ## [The Death of Two Toxic Thoughts in AI Strategy](https://frankspillers.com/the-death-of-two-toxic-thoughts-in-ai-strategy/) _2026-03-17 · Frank Spillers · Frank Spillers_ Summary: Two narratives that saw heavy rotation in 2025 ought to be challenged. The first challenge is that AI is not a feature. It changes workflows and decisions. The second is that AI replaces humans or replaces human intelligence (both linked to AI job loss forecasts), and the use of not being able to remember \[ \] The post The Death of Two Toxic Thoughts in AI Strategy appeared first on Frank… ## [AI Writing Etiquette Manifesto](https://www.blakestockton.com/ai-writing-etiquette-manifesto/) _2026-03-10 · Blake Stockton · AI Writers Room_ We are in the Wild West of AI writing. Everyone is using AI to move faster. Yet workplace norms are still blurry. We have tools, prompts, and output but very little shared etiquette. Should you use AI to help write: the team's weekly motivational message in Slack? your ## [Defining Agentic UX](https://frankspillers.com/defining-agentic-ux/) _2026-03-09 · Frank Spillers · Frank Spillers_ Summary: We need to build clearer, human-centred approaches to how we hand over control to generative AI agents. Agentic AI or automation using AI-assisted workflows, including generative AI, is emerging quickly. It builds on the excitement around generative AI, which is not fully baked in terms of safety, bias, ethics, and harm. Likewise, without clearly \[ \] The post Defining Agentic UX appeared… ## [User Advocate vs. Front-End Engineer](http://www.mattblodgett.com/2026/02/user-advocate-vs-front-end-engineer.html) _2026-02-25 · Matt Blodgett · Matt Blodgett_ I really enjoy doing UI work: being close to the user's mind, thinking deeply about interaction design, and how small changes can massively improve someone's day. But in order to market oneself as a “Front-End Engineer” in the current landscape requires dogged attention to fashion trends, and I'm on Team Evergreen , baby. Early in my career in web development, I loved reading Jakob Nielsen and… ## [Above All Else, Sustainability](http://www.mattblodgett.com/2026/01/above-all-else-sustainability.html) _2026-01-28 · Matt Blodgett · Matt Blodgett_ From the principles of the Agile Manifesto : Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely . Extreme measures are always doomed beyond a limited time horizon. Whether we're talking about diets or software development practices, without sustainability you have nothing. Initiatives to increase… ## [Minnesota, Alex Pretti and the Second Amendment](https://2acops.substack.com/p/minnesota-alex-pretti-and-the-second) _2026-01-26 · Matt Silvey · 2A Cops-Cops Supporting Gun Rights_ We are living in a very weird time. ## [Happy New Year—Unless It’s NOT](https://frankspillers.com/happy-new-year-unless-its-not/) _2026-01-02 · Frank Spillers · Frank Spillers_ Summary: Content, products and services across channels can and often do reflect your cultural biases, not those of your audience. UX has always been about aligning with the user, but when it comes to cultural awareness, there s a big gap. Addressing this with a cross-cultural UX strategy is critical to user adoption, whether designing for \[ \] The post Happy New Year—Unless It s NOT appeared first… ## [More Guns = Safer Country](https://2acops.substack.com/p/more-guns-safer-country) _2025-12-28 · Matt Silvey · 2A Cops-Cops Supporting Gun Rights_ Despite the emotional pleading for gun control from some organizations, guns are more prevalent today and the US is safer for it. ## [Retro Grid Dungeon Crawler (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/IHblpQF7g38Y) _2025-12-28 · **Sponsored**_ Retro grid movement with first-person combat, loot and skill-tree progression. ## [Service Design Has Two Jobs. Most Teams Only Do One.](https://frankspillers.com/service-design-has-two-jobs-most-teams-only-do-one/) _2025-12-15 · Frank Spillers · Frank Spillers_ Summary: Tactical service design improves experiences within existing constraints, while strategic service design changes the systems that create those experiences. Most organisations expect transformation but only fund or demand tactical work, which leads to repeated fixes and rising complexity. Service design delivers real impact when both are clearly distinguished and intentionally connected.… ## [Seven Can Comparison](https://2acops.substack.com/p/seven-can-comparison) _2025-12-11 · Matt Silvey · 2A Cops-Cops Supporting Gun Rights_ And the winner is... ## [Giffords Proves Gun Laws Do Not Reduce Homicides](https://2acops.substack.com/p/giffords-proves-gun-laws-do-not-reduce) _2025-12-09 · Matt Silvey · 2A Cops-Cops Supporting Gun Rights_ Of course they did so accidentally ## [Agile as Progressive Enhancement](http://www.mattblodgett.com/2025/12/agile-as-progressive-enhancement.html) _2025-12-09 · Matt Blodgett · Matt Blodgett_ When I was coming up as a young web developer. the concept of progressive enhancement was kind of at the hipster vanguard of web development. This was in the phase of the web where JavaScript and CSS feature parity amongst browsers could not be taken for granted like it is today. The idea of progressive enhancement was that you started by making your web application work on an essential… ## [Legibility](http://www.mattblodgett.com/2025/11/legibility.html) _2025-11-19 · Matt Blodgett · Matt Blodgett_ I recently came across a blog post called Seeing Like a Software Company by Sean Goedecke on Hacker News . The post hooked me right away by introducing to my vocabulary the term "legibility": By “legible”, I mean work that is predictable, well-estimated, has a paper trail, and doesn’t depend on any contingent factors (like the availability of specific people). Quarterly planning, OKRs, and Jira… ## [The Financial Architecture of Software](http://www.mattblodgett.com/2025/10/the-financial-architecture-of-software.html) _2025-10-24 · Matt Blodgett · Matt Blodgett_ Conway's Law is foundational to software engineering. It says: Organizations which design systems...are constrained to produce designs which are copies of the communication structures of these organizations. If you've ever had any job in the software industry, you've almost certainly seen this play out in the architecture of your codebase. Group A works on Thing X and Group B works on Thing Y, so… ## [DesertTech MDRx - Dubious Gun, Horrific Customer Service](https://2acops.substack.com/p/deserttech-mdrx-dubious-gun-horrific) _2025-10-17 · Matt Silvey · 2A Cops-Cops Supporting Gun Rights_ This is a long story, really long, but it is much shorter than the two and a half year customer service nightmare that one gun owner has been enduring, all courtesy of Desert Tech - Tomorrows Firearms (because they don’t work today). ## [The Invisible Cost of Invisible UX in AI Design](https://frankspillers.com/the-invisible-cost-of-invisible-ux-in-ai-design/) _2025-10-01 · Frank Spillers · Frank Spillers_ AI products are being roadmapped with dazzling demos and bold claims. Specifically, MIT finds that 95% of these AI pilots fail. Worse, we re seeing a resurgence of a tech-led approach to AI, which, as an approach, has a history of failure. See Red Flag: No AI without UX Yes, the tech is important in AI, \[ \] The post The Invisible Cost of Invisible UX in AI Design appeared first on Frank Spillers . ## [Slow Is Smooth, Smooth Is Fast](http://www.mattblodgett.com/2025/09/slow-is-smooth-smooth-is-fast.html) _2025-09-24 · Matt Blodgett · Matt Blodgett_ If you want to move fast, don’t make speed your goal. Make smoothness your goal. Fast naturally follows smooth. Every software organization wants to be fast. And fast has a certain look to it. Buzzing Slack channels, video calls, people huddled around a screen or whiteboard. It's very easy to conflate "high touch" work practices with speed. As I mentioned in my previous post , one of the huge… ## [Why Agentic AI Needs User Values](https://frankspillers.com/why-agentic-ai-needs-user-values/) _2025-08-27 · Frank Spillers · Frank Spillers_ Summary: Agentic AI, or AI that completes tasks end-to-end, requires the intent and steering of user values. Using user values with context and intent interpreting, we can better guide generative AI (genAI). Without user values as a navigational aid and guardrail for acceptable quality output, agentic AI will stumble. Why Values? For Agentic AI? Let \[ \] The post Why Agentic AI Needs User Values… ## [Web Coding With AI, Live (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/NpilsBhhB1pp) _2025-08-27 · **Sponsored**_ Collaborative screen sharing with simultaneous remote control, open source. ## [Sprints Balance Consistent Delivery With Optimal Value](http://www.mattblodgett.com/2025/08/sprints-balance-consistent-delivery.html) _2025-08-27 · Matt Blodgett · Matt Blodgett_ Value, value, getting value to users. Work on the most valuable thing, always. You could probably summarize the Agile philosophy as "deliver value to end users faster." What's the next most valuable thing we could work on, get it done, and get it out to production. With a sprint cadence, we commit to a strategy for two weeks, we work as a team through the items in our sprint backlog, and we… ## [F\*\*k Cancer!](https://2acops.substack.com/p/fk-cancer) _2025-08-24 · Matt Silvey · 2A Cops-Cops Supporting Gun Rights_ I have been absent from 2A Cops for nearly a month without any explanation (unless you follow me on X or Facebook). ## [Don't Write Like AI: 10 Takeaways from Wikipedia's Signs of AI Writing](https://www.blakestockton.com/takeaways-from-wikipedias-signs-of-ai-writing-2/) _2025-08-07 · Blake Stockton · AI Writers Room_ Wikipedia says: enough AI writing in our pages! What they say to edit out before publishing. ## [Sprints Need a Cooldown](http://www.mattblodgett.com/2025/07/sprints-need-cooldown.html) _2025-07-29 · Matt Blodgett · Matt Blodgett_ Teams vary in the amount of handwringing their leaders do about sprints that aren't perfectly rightsized. What if we bit off too much work at the start of the sprint and can't finish it all by the end? What if we overestimated the work and didn't fit in as many tickets as we could have? I've worked with teams where having work incomplete on the last day of the sprint was no big deal, it happened… ## [YouTube Is Run By Anti-gun Morons](https://2acops.substack.com/p/youtube-is-run-by-anti-gun-morons) _2025-07-27 · Matt Silvey · 2A Cops-Cops Supporting Gun Rights_ Springfield Kuna & The Disappearing Ammo Explained Removed ## [Stealthgear USA Ventcore 2.0](https://2acops.substack.com/p/stealthgear-usa-ventcore-20) _2025-07-27 · Matt Silvey · 2A Cops-Cops Supporting Gun Rights_ A great holster line just got even better. ## [Did A Sig P320 Just Kill An Airman?](https://2acops.substack.com/p/did-a-sig-p320-just-kill-an-airman) _2025-07-23 · Matt Silvey · 2A Cops-Cops Supporting Gun Rights_ Did a USAF airman just get killed by a Sig P320 (M18) pistol? ## [Why We Work in Silos](https://frankspillers.com/why-we-work-in-silos/) _2025-07-22 · Frank Spillers · Frank Spillers_ Summary: Despite decades of talk about breaking down silos, they persist. In every large organisation, teams still hoard information, avoid collaboration, and stick tightly to their turf. The problem isn’t just structure. It’s social, cultural and personal. If we want to fix silos, we need to understand what fuels them. Why do we work in \[ \] The post Why We Work in Silos appeared first on Frank… ## [Springfield Armory 2020 Heatseeker](https://2acops.substack.com/p/springfield-armory-2020-heatseeker) _2025-07-18 · Matt Silvey · 2A Cops-Cops Supporting Gun Rights_ A Nice Addition to the 2020 Series of Rifles ## [Star 6 Crash, 20 Years Later](https://2acops.substack.com/p/star-6-crash-20-years-later) _2025-07-13 · Matt Silvey · 2A Cops-Cops Supporting Gun Rights_ And how it has shaped my thoughts on the gun industry. ## [Don't Write Like AI (6 of 101): Why "In Today's World" Is a Red Flag](https://www.blakestockton.com/vague-change-intros/) _2025-07-08 · Blake Stockton · AI Writers Room_ "In today's competitive business environment..." No, that’s not it. "As businesses navigate the evolving landscape of..." Still wrong. "With the rise of AI efficiency..." Dangit! These intros are the worst . If you've ever used AI to write, you& ## [Don't Write Like AI (5 of 101): Red Flag Phrases](https://www.blakestockton.com/red-flag-phrases/) _2025-07-07 · Blake Stockton · AI Writers Room_ Continuing the theme from the last post on red flag words , we need to discuss r ed flag phrases . Red flag phrases are high-probability outputs that sound like something you’ve read a thousand times. Because you probably have. Think of lines like: "In today's ## [Don't Write Like AI (4 of 101): Red Flag Words](https://www.blakestockton.com/red-flag-words/) _2025-07-07 · Blake Stockton · AI Writers Room_ It’s difficult to write about most AI writing tells because the advice usually isn’t “don’t do this.” More often, it’s “be aware of the tell and evaluate it in context with others.” I know that can be confusing. ## [Sig Sauer Has Done It Again](https://2acops.substack.com/p/sig-sauer-has-done-it-again) _2025-07-04 · Matt Silvey · 2A Cops-Cops Supporting Gun Rights_ Yet Another Cop Has Been Shot By Her Holstered P320 ## [Is Support For Anti-gun Organizations Falling?](https://2acops.substack.com/p/is-support-for-anti-gun-organizations) _2025-07-03 · Matt Silvey · 2A Cops-Cops Supporting Gun Rights_ If a recent X post by Giffords is an indicator, the answer is yes. ## [Don't Write Like AI (3 of 101): Colons, Colons Everywhere](https://www.blakestockton.com/colons-everywhere/) _2025-06-30 · Blake Stockton · AI Writers Room_ Another favorite writing technique of AI? The colon. Colons are great. I love colons. Even the one in your gut serves a beneficial purpose. But when ChatGPT overuses those two dots in your writing, it starts to feel…robotic. Because generative AI aims for efficiency, you’ll often ## [There's a Fine Line Between Increasing Productivity and De-skilling](http://www.mattblodgett.com/2025/06/theres-fine-line-between-increasing.html) _2025-06-24 · Matt Blodgett · Matt Blodgett_ In the software engineering profession, there's a concept called "resumeware". It's software that was made with the engineers involved in the design specifically making choices about technology stacks in order to have marketable experience to put on their resume in order to improve their future job prospects, regardless of whether they're a reasonable choice for the system at hand. You can kind of… ## [Red Flag: No AI without UX](https://frankspillers.com/red-flag-no-ai-without-ux/) _2025-06-19 · Frank Spillers · Frank Spillers_ Summary: Call centre customers are rejecting AI-only support roll-outs. This is a major red flag for UX and service designers. It’s not enough for AI to be functional or cost-effective. If AI undermines user trust, strips out context, or removes human options, it becomes a liability. A Warning for AI-First: Why Customers Are Rejecting AI-Only \[ \] The post Red Flag: No AI without UX appeared first… ## [Blake's Popular TikTok Vids on AI Writing](https://www.blakestockton.com/blakes-popular-tiktok-vids-on-ai-writing/) _2025-06-16 · Blake Stockton · AI Writers Room_ @blake.stockton My favorite ai quote rn #writing #aiwritersroom #marketing #copy #aitools #linkedin #aiwriting #marketingtips #marketingstrategy #contentwriting #content #greenscreen ♬ original sound - Blake | AI Writers Room @blake.stockton AI first = bad writing. That’s what I’m seeing ♬ original sound - Blake | AI Writers Room @blake.stockton Please ## [Matt's "Coming Out" Story](https://2acops.substack.com/p/matts-coming-out-story) _2025-06-12 · Matt Silvey · 2A Cops-Cops Supporting Gun Rights_ This was originally published Nov 28, 2018 on the Deputy Matt & Others blog, but that website got hacked a few years ago and was shut down. Several people have asked about my background, so here is the whole enchilada.