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OSINT · Practical AI · Web systems Kingsport, TN / Tri-Cities

Field journal · Dustin Lifford / Analyst + builder

Messy problems, traced back to the source. With the receipts.

Litigation research, practical AI, and thirteen years keeping Northeast Tennessee's newspaper sites online.

See the work Send the messy version
Portrait of Dustin Lifford
Fig. 00 · 20+ years solving the problem behind the problem
  • 20+ years in web and digital systems
  • 13 years behind the local news CMS
  • 4 newspaper platforms, kept running
  • 0 patience for buzzword fog

01 / Selected work

Answers with the work showing.

All work

Case study 01 System build from a prototype 2026

Shop with a Cop and Firefighter, from prototype to working system

The problem
A holiday program had a detailed, well-planned prototype that ran in a single browser, with no shared database, no staff logins and no email.
What changed
Now it runs on one shared, secure database on the town's own site, with staff sign-in, a review inbox, and email that goes out only when staff send it. Registration opened November 1.
The live Shop with a Cop and Firefighter landing page in navy and red, with the program logo, the headline Every kid in Jonesborough deserves a holiday to remember, and three paths for parents and guardians, community sponsors, and volunteers.
The child registration form on a phone, opening with parent or guardian fields for full legal name, home address and telephone number.

Case study 02 Law firm 2026

Shipley Law Firm: a contact page that does its job

The problem
Ads were bringing people to the contact page, and too many left without calling or finishing the form.
What changed
Form completion rose from 42% to 70%, and cost per lead fell from $52 to $28 after the page rebuild.
Shipley Law Firm contact page on desktop
Shipley Law Firm contact page on a phone

02 / Services

Investigate. Build. Operate.

All services

  • 01 / Investigate

    OSINT & Research

    You bring a corporate structure, an asset trail, or a claim that needs checking. You leave with a sourced report that holds up.

    OSINT & Research

  • 02 / Build

    AI Consulting & Automation

    You bring a workflow that eats your week. You leave with a human-reviewed system built around how you work.

    AI Consulting

  • 03 / Operate

    Websites, SEO & AEO

    You bring a site that is slow, invisible, or tracking the wrong things. You leave with one that loads, measures, and gets found.

    Websites, SEO & AEO

How I work

Every answer ships with how I got it.

Technical support, newsroom infrastructure, intelligence analysis. Different titles, same job. Find what actually broke, separate fact from assumption, and leave something the next person can use.

  1. The question

    Written down before any searching starts.

  2. Primary sources

    Registries, filings, archives, the original post.

  3. Cross-checks

    Two records that should agree, compared.

  4. Plain answer

    What is confirmed, and what is not found.

  5. The record

    Sources kept, so you can check my work.

03 / Field Notes

From the field.

All Field Notes

Tech HistoryUpdated

Kingsport Has Done This Before

The river town the railroads passed by came back in 1917 as a planned city and spent the next century learning every new machine that came through. A 38-stop timeline, from flatboats to the AI that answers the water department's phone.

Most read

04 About

Intelligence Analyst at Barrister Intelligence. Founder of Tri-Cities AI Lab. Before that, the web behind Northeast Tennessee's newspapers from 2012 to 2025.

Off the clock it is the Appalachian trails, smoked meat, the Blackstone, family, and the same nerd habits that started with a hand-me-down 286.

More about me Résumé

Send me the messy version.

Describe the problem on the contact form. I read every message myself and tell you where I would start.

Start the form 423-967-5584