Stream: friends

Topic: 127: It's a renaissance woman's world

Logbot (Feb 06 2026 at 21:30):

Amal Hussein returns to tell us all about her new role at Istari, what life is like outside the web browser, how she's helping ambitious orgs in aerospace, what the SDLC looks like in 2026, and a whole lot more. Wait, moon vacuums?! :link: https://changelog.am/127

Daniel Buckmaster (Feb 08 2026 at 06:00):

Amal mentioned something I've felt for a long time. I've often thought there's a strain of technolibertarianism I describe as "where we're going, we don't need people!" Blockchain was about designing trust out of the economy - what if we could replace trusting humans with cryptographical proof? - and AI is another battle in the war of capital against labour - employees are expensive, unreliable, and have a bad habit of unionising to demand a larger slice of the surplus value pie.

I've been meaning to write this up sometime but it's a bit dreary!

Ron Waldon-Howe (Feb 08 2026 at 07:43):

don't forget Uber and the rest of the gig economy that admit that can only actually be profitable once they automate away all the pesky humans that they currently have to pay

Daniel Buckmaster (Feb 08 2026 at 13:05):

@Amal Hussein I am now eagerly awaiting an RSS link drop :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

Jerod Santo (Feb 08 2026 at 14:36):

Epic (~20 minutes) Changelog++ bonus on this one. Is baseball a sport?!

Jarvis (Feb 09 2026 at 14:43):

Polymaths and Jevons paradox were interesting topics. I didn't realize these terms existed. Having entered the software and computer technology space in my second career, I can see how my first career has impacted my perspective and understanding of the intricacies in the SDLC. Moving to DevOps shortly after, nudged me even further into the polymaths persona, but I think I've always been a life learner with multitudes of hobbies and interests. I'm find out now that LLMs and coding agents can get expensive! There's a paywall for folks just entering this space that makes me uncomfortable as well. Can and will open-source models bridge this gap? When does the job title "vibe coder" make it's way into companies or will it ever...

To finally get to the point, I'm glad you all had this conversation because I've been contemplating a lot about very similar ideas. I'll be expecting the worse but praying for the best outcome. Also great hearing from @Amal Hussein :star_struck:

Amal Hussein (Feb 10 2026 at 01:48):

Jarvis said:

Polymaths and Jevons paradox were interesting topics. I didn't realize these terms existed. Having entered the software and computer technology space in my second career, I can see how my first career has impacted my perspective and understanding of the intricacies in the SDLC. Moving to DevOps shortly after, nudged me even further into the polymaths persona, but I think I've always been a life learner with multitudes of hobbies and interests. I'm find out now that LLMs and coding agents can get expensive! There's a paywall for folks just entering this space that makes me uncomfortable as well. Can and will open-source models bridge this gap? When does the job title "vibe coder" make it's way into companies or will it ever...

To finally get to the point, I'm glad you all had this conversation because I've been contemplating a lot about very similar ideas. I'll be expecting the worse but praying for the best outcome. Also great hearing from Amal Hussein :star_struck:

Awwwwww @Jarvis - I’m so glad it resonated. It’s been too long! I’ve been busy AF with work, family and local community friends, so trying to make space for my tech community internet friends again.

Amal Hussein (Feb 10 2026 at 01:51):

Daniel Buckmaster said:

Amal mentioned something I've felt for a long time. I've often thought there's a strain of technolibertarianism I describe as "where we're going, we don't need people!" Blockchain was about designing trust out of the economy - what if we could replace trusting humans with cryptographical proof? - and AI is another battle in the war of capital against labour - employees are expensive, unreliable, and have a bad habit of unionising to demand a larger slice of the surplus value pie.

I've been meaning to write this up sometime but it's a bit dreary!

This - exactly this! Also, hiiiiiiiii Daniel. :heart_eyes::heart_eyes::heart:🙏🏾

Amal Hussein (Feb 10 2026 at 01:52):

Ron Waldon-Howe said:

don't forget Uber and the rest of the gig economy that admit that can only actually be profitable once they automate away all the pesky humans that they currently have to pay

Bingo!

Amal Hussein (Feb 10 2026 at 01:54):

Hey y’all, I saw this online the day after we recorded the podcast and I felt attacked.

https://x.com/hkarthik/status/2019237915839385670?s=46&t=NkdT9okXicl_pGm5iP00rQ

Last updated: Feb 17 2026 at 17:33 UTC