Building Datastring
Co-founding the business meant building more than infrastructure. I also developed the customer portal: the software connecting the underlying services to the people using them.
Read the storyA personal corner of the internetHello, I’m
Hello, I’m
Steinthor.
I build software that connects systems, devices and people.
My work spans infrastructure, security platforms, mobile apps and community projects. I design and build the systems behind them, drawing on years of hands on engineering and running services.
My career
A little about my professional background
My background includes electrical and industrial work as well as IT. I’ve worked on physical equipment, networks, data centres and software, and I still enjoy moving between those worlds.
That approach runs through my work at SecurStore and KeepItSafe, co-founding Datastring in 2016, and the technical work that followed at Ekco. It also runs through the smaller projects here: understand the problem, work out what matters, and build something useful.
I like being close enough to the work to understand how it behaves in practice.
Read the longer storySecurStore & KeepItSafe
Backup and infrastructure across European and US environments.
Co-founding Datastring
Infrastructure, operations and the customer portal, alongside co-founder Jon Thordarson.
Technical work at Ekco
Hands-on engineering, architecture and integration across different systems and teams.
Professional experience
Stories from my professional experience
Building Ekco Shield
I designed and built Ekco Shield, including its web interface and iPhone app. It brings backup, security and support information together to help people understand their services and investigate what needs attention.
Read the storyWorking through growth and integration
At Ekco, my engineering work included the technical side of acquisitions and the different platforms, teams and operating practices that came with them.
Read the storyIdeas into practice
Selected personal projects
Apps for everyday life, tools for exploring information, and software that helps look after computers and services. These are a few of the projects I’m working on.
Pendant
An independent iPhone app for working with Limitless Pendant recordings, turning audio into transcripts, summaries, key points and actions.
In development
WorldBeat
News, events, sport, travel and city guides, with an interactive map for exploring what is happening around the world.
Public beta
FHingar
A community project for FH supporters, bringing conversation, sporting information and club history to the website and an iPhone app I’m developing.
Community site · iPhone alpha
Recipes
An iPhone app for finding, saving and creating recipes, with ingredients, instructions, nutrition information and personalised suggestions.
In development
Wolf Guard
A platform I’m developing to connect device health, security investigations and data recovery, helping teams understand what needs attention and what to do next.
In development
Code meets components
Not everything happens on a screen
My workshop experiments include 3D printing, scanning physical tags, sensing movement in a room and exploring a touchscreen heating controller.
I enjoy the point where software meets something tangible: a sensor, a moving part, a screen or a printed component that has to fit.
Visit the workshop3D printingConnected devicesEveryday experiments
A few working principles
How I like to build things
Understand the real problem.
A request for another tool can be a sign that the existing process needs attention. I prefer to understand that before adding more parts.
Build with understanding.
I favour in-house systems and open-source tools. I want to understand the parts, the costs and what operating the result will involve.
Keep people in view.
Technical knowledge is useful when it helps someone. I value listening, explaining clearly and helping colleagues become more capable.
Keep learning by making.
Some ideas become substantial platforms. Others teach me something useful along the way.
Say hello
A question, an idea, or just hello
Interested in one of my projects, making something yourself, or just curious about something here? You’re welcome to say hello.
Please leave sensitive documents and personal records out of your first message.