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PROFILE // ABOUT
ALBERTA, CANADA
S/
// BIO

Stephen Olesen

aka slepp

Software architect. My hobby is collecting hobbies, and this is the longer version of how that happened.

I've been building things on computers since 1988, when I first got my hands on a VIC-20 and a TI CC-40. Typing in BASIC listings turned into wanting to know why they worked, and 38+ years later that has still not worn off.

In 1994, I founded Geeks Anonymous — a community for the technical and strange — and put my first website online. A decade later, I launched Pastebin.ca, which at its peak was one of Canada's most-visited websites.

In 2009, I helped turn the same community instinct into the Edmonton New Technology Society, Edmonton's original makerspace. Along the way, I picked up a private pilot licence, an amateur radio licence, and far too many other hobbies. I fly Cessnas over Alberta, talk to strangers on HF, build electronics projects, and play approximately 29,000 games of online chess (poorly).

These days I work as a software architect, but the tinkering never stopped. This site is a workshop for all of it.

// CAREER

Highlights

Full timeline →
1993
Started first consultancy
1994
Founded Geeks Anonymous and launched first website
2001
Incorporated first company
2004
Launched Pastebin.ca — became one of Canada's most-visited sites
2009
Co-founded the Edmonton New Technology Society
2019
Startup acquired by Microsoft
Now
Software architecture and endless side projects