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Stephen 🌈 (he/him)

@firepoet@tech.lgbt

Hi all! I’m a happily-gay-married XP practitioner (#NoGenAi) exploring the Fediverse! Interests include (in no particular order): Star Trek, RuPaul's Drag Race, Catan, D&D, Clojure, Mind Training (Buddhist- and Quaker-inspired), Diablo* ARPG, Munchkin, Nature Walks, Beaches, Electric Cars, Universal Basic Income, Siberian Forest Cats, Agile methods, and Organizational and Individual Coaching

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31 Posts

Joined January 25, 2023

Pronouns:

he/him/his

Homepage:

https://www.calmabiding.me

Posts

Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · Jun 30, 2026

Periodic check in.. are there any #Jobs out there for programmers who don’t use LLMs? So far I haven’t heard a peep in 6 months.

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · Jun 15, 2026

Can’t find a single job posting that doesn’t mention AI. This makes me very very sad. #jobs #noai

LGBTQIA+ and Tech

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · Jun 09, 2026

Periodic check in.. are there any software companies betting that there are better ways to improve engineering productivity than LLMs? Are they hiring? #jobs #noai

LGBTQIA+ and Tech

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · May 17, 2026

RE: @akikoo@mastodon.social

This is me, too! Love me some Reinventing Organizations references..

mastodon.social

Aki Kärkkäinen 🌻🍉🇪🇺: "I’ve never had a job title that fully fit. Turns …" - Mastodon

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · May 12, 2026

Periodic question.. are there any #jobs out there for programmers who don’t want to use LLMs?

LGBTQIA+ and Tech

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · May 08, 2026

Replying to @plexus@toot.cat

@plexus@toot.cat Thanks!

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · May 08, 2026

Replying to @plexus@toot.cat

@plexus@toot.cat Weird I can’t see it. Must be unavailable to my server.

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · May 08, 2026

@jalcine@todon.eu Ok.. how am I wrong? What am I missing?

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · May 08, 2026

Replying to @HaystacksTech@mastodon.social

@HaystacksTech@mastodon.social @baalroga@piaille.fr @tante@tldr.nettime.org Oh no!

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · May 08, 2026

Replying to @psa@masto.ai

@psa@masto.ai @elizayer@mastodon.social Agreed.. that, too!

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · May 07, 2026

Replying to @tante@tldr.nettime.org

@tante@tldr.nettime.org So right…

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · May 04, 2026

Replying to @elizayer@mastodon.social

@elizayer We aren’t blaming all people who are “hopping jobs” altogether, though, right? Some of them (like me) had no choice because they couldn’t survive a toxic work environment. Which seems to happen a LOT. Especially amongst those at the margins. Or am I misinterpreting this part of your point?

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · May 04, 2026

Periodic question.. are there any #jobs out there for programmers who don’t rely on LLMs?

LGBTQIA+ and Tech

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · Apr 28, 2026

https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/the-ai-pledge-for-humanity?source=direct_link&

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · Apr 27, 2026

RE: @moof@cupoftea.social

@brib@bribstodon.xyz Inspiration.. 😊

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · Apr 16, 2026

Replying to @HaystacksTech@mastodon.social

@HaystacksTech@mastodon.social @baalroga@piaille.fr @tante@tldr.nettime.org is this your website? https://haystacks.tech/ It looks broken…

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · Apr 07, 2026

Replying to @plexus@toot.cat

@plexus@toot.cat What was the thread about? Should we be terrified that it has been deleted?

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · Mar 06, 2026

Replying to @Daojoan__dup_15824@mastodon.social

@Daojoan Well nobody who gets massive engagement anyway. The toxic positivity echo chamber is real. 😆

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · Mar 04, 2026

Replying to @mntmn@mastodon.social

@mntmn@mastodon.social Thank you!

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · Feb 22, 2026

Replying to @reading_recluse@c.im

@reading_recluse Me, too!

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · Feb 22, 2026

Replying to @elithebearded@fed.qaz.red

@elithebearded @theorangetheme @xgranade Metaphors have power. Some are moved by extreme rhetoric. Feel free to complain, but you don’t own the truth. None of us does.

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · Feb 18, 2026

Replying to @esther_alter@mastodon.social

@esther_alter We have open roles but the work isn’t as exciting as you’re used to. Being cautious about LLMs but it appears our board wants us to research feasibility. At least we are measuring DORA metrics before and after.. Comp range listed in postings https://www.crunchtime.com/open-positions

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · Feb 16, 2026

Replying to @owlex@tech.lgbt

@owlex@tech.lgbt @the_other_jon@mastodon.social I wish you the best. While we are on opposite sides of this particular struggle I can respect your need to fix the broken system from the inside. Just be careful out there.. https://steve-yegge.medium.com/the-ai-vampire-eda6e4f07163

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · Feb 16, 2026

Replying to @spacelogic@kind.social

@spacelogic@kind.social I wish you great success! I have a dream to create some kind of cooperative of folks who want to build things for people the “old fashioned way”. At first glance you and I have a similar mission (I resonate with “maybe help to fix the problems I was coming to realize society hadn't figured out“). If a thing like that is interesting let me know. If not, glad to have found you anyway!

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · Feb 16, 2026

Replying to @owlex@tech.lgbt

@owlex@tech.lgbt @the_other_jon@mastodon.social An ethical position on something often requires sacrifice. We aren’t doing this to be mean to the podcast. We are doing it to attempt to influence the industry in another direction. The complexity of the situation doesn’t really have anything directly to do with what is ethical. It only has to do with how hard it is to see it. Are you arguing that the complexity makes it ok or that it is hard for you to see? Some of us can see the harm and are trying our best to make it visible. Those who provide the counterpoint don’t say anything about whether the harm will stop or somehow be mitigated really — they mostly just say, “Don’t be left behind.” Does that sound like a rational actor or an addict? My belief: it is absolutely wrong to feed this technological vampire that threatens to erase humanity. Don’t become a thrall. It doesn’t end well for them. 😊

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · Feb 14, 2026

Replying to @gknauss@mastodon.social

@gknauss No! I love coding!! In fact, I even do it for fun. 😊

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · Feb 13, 2026

Replying to @jaredwhite@indieweb.social

@jaredwhite @jamie Thanks for the tip for another hateful person to block.

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · Feb 12, 2026

Replying to @samir@mastodon.functional.computer

@samir @sanityinc @lizzy —@RonJeffries is also one of my heroes!

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · Feb 12, 2026

Replying to @samir@mastodon.functional.computer

@samir agreed

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · Feb 09, 2026

Replying to @sophie@social.lol

@sophie I love this! I wish I had been the one to write it. Though, I would have been far less persuasive because I would have focused far more on the environmental concerns (LLMs completely wiped out ALL progress on rolling back global warming!) and ethical ones (it regularly plagiarizes without abandon and you can’t easily tell!). And it doesn’t just replace your thinking — it actively lowers your intelligence. Why would anyone want that??? See.. this thing I just did is how one just makes people defensive enough to close ranks. Your way, however, might actually get through to people. Yay!

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Stephen 🌈 (he/him) @firepoet@tech.lgbt · Jan 14, 2026

Replying to @karpour@mstdn.social

@karpour @Purple Yeah it’s gotten to the point that I’m trying to find people to pair program with on side projects that want to avoid LLMs altogether. Turns out it’s tough!

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