ScienceSoft Press #4 August 2016

SCIENCESOFT â„–4 AUGUST 2016

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Танцы ад топмэнаджараў і поспех беларускай IT-індустрыі Чарговы нумар карпаратыўнага часопіса ScienceSoft Press друкуецца цалкам па-англійску і прысвечаны Злучанам Штатам Амерыкі невыпадкова. У мінулым годзе наша кампанія адчыніла офіс у горадзе МакКіні, штат Тэхас. Для Special U.S. Edition Марыя Данко, дызайнер прэзентацый, правяла параўнаўчае даследаванне беларускай нацыянальнай сімволікі і арнаментаў карэннага індэйскага насельніцтва Амерыкі. Чытайце артыкул «Беларуска-індэйскі сімвалізм» на стар. 8-9. Адмыслова для нашага выдання містар Скот Роланд, былы Старшыня Місіі Злучаных Штатаў у Рэспубліцы Беларусь, распавёў пра сваё бачанне беларускага ІТ-цуду – стар. 12-13.

Топ-мэнаджары ScienceSoft нягледзячы на ўсю сур’езнасць сваёй працы і занятасць застаюцца людзьмі крэатыўнымі. Доказам гэтаму з’язляецца фотасерыя Top Dance на стар. 14-15. У традыцыйнай рубрыцы «Разумныя рэчы» на стар. 10-11 наш галоўны бухгалтар Валянціна Мікалаеўна Бароха распавядае праз гісторыяю сваіх драўляных бухгалтарскіх лічыльнікаў, з якімі яна больш за 20 гадоў таму пачынала працу ў кампаніі. Артыкул называецца «Разумныя лічыльнікі», што на англійскую мову перакладаецца як Magic Beads і перагукаецца з чароўнымі чырвонымі пацеркамі Валянціны Мікалаеўны. Пацеркі па-англійску – таксама beads. Акрамя таго, наш галоўны бухгалтар распавядае пра тое, як ScienceSoft пачынала з працы над штучынм інтэлектам яшчэ ў канцы 1980-х і што з гэтага атрымалася! Фотагісторыя ад дызайнера Алеся Бельскага, які ў спадчыну ад бацькі атрымаў ГАЗ-69, вядомы таксама як савецкі Ўіліс на стар. 18-21. У артыкуле America – is…. (стар. 22-23) супра-

цоўнікі ScienceSoft распавядаюць пра тое, чым для іх ёсць заакіянская краіна. Сатронкі 24-26 прысвечаныя літаратуры. На іх вы знойдзеце вершы тэсціроўшчыка Антона Меха і галоўнага рэдактара ScienceSoft Press Волі Чайкоўскай. А таксама кранальную кароткую гісторыю ад нашага бліскучага капірайтара Дар’і Яфімавай. Каманда April Twins, у якой грае на гітары наш распрацоўшчык Павел Родзін, падзялілася з ScienecSoft Press сваім цудоўным альбомам. Паслухаць музыку можна па QR-кодзе на старонцы 16.

ScienceSoft opened up its base in McKinney, Texas in June 2015. Above this, ScienceSoft’s background is also rooted in science and space, in a way. Long ago we used to create Artificial Intelligence Machines and now we developed into one of the leading software development companies. So, rephrasing a wellknown phrase with a cinematic after-glow: Houston, we have no problems!

The first word spoken on the moon was ‘Houston’. In 1969, after landing on the moon, Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong announced, ‘Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.’ This is why the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Manned Spacecraft Center is located in Houston, Texas. It is also called Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC), renamed in honor of the late U.S. president and Texas native, and it reports to NASA. And the point is that ScienceSoft has its base in Texas too. It is located in not that picturesque but very business-oriented area at 5900 S. Lake Forest Drive Suite 300 McKinney, TX, 75070, USA. You are more than welcome to meet our ScienceSoft USA CEO Wade Brantley there. To feel more confident before the meeting you may want to read his interview on p. 4-5.

This is why this issue of ScienceSoft Press is all about the USA – we opened a new office there and are very proud of it. The core of our client operations is now at our US headquarters in McKinney, TX, and the EU office in Vantaa, Finland. Since the company’s foundation in 1989, we’ve been bringing custom and platform-based solutions to midsized and large companies in Healthcare, Telecom, Retail, Financial Services and other industries all over the world. The likes of Walmart, Nestle, eBay, T-Mobile, Baxter and IBM rely on our solutions in their daily operations.

Viber, one of the world’s most popular instant messaging and VoIP app with 600+ mln users, took off with ScienceSoft as a partner. And if you go to scnsoft.com, you can also find out that ScienceSoft has 124 active customers from 33 countries and that 75% of the revenue comes from 1+ year-long customers.

In this incredible American issue, we have plenty

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HOUSTON, WE HAVE NO PROBLEMS! for you to read. ScienceSoft Presentation Designer Maria Danko is one of the few people speaking Belarusian on a daily basis. She is fond of the national identity theme and took up a research on differences and similarities between Belarusian ancestors and Native Americans for our magazine. The article (p. 8-9) is translated from Belarusian by our Copywriter Lola Volkova (Olga Koktysh).

Scott Rauland worked as Chief of Mission of the United States of America in Belarus from June 2014 to July 2016.

Special for ScienceSoft Press, he shares his thoughts about the Belarusian IT miracle and ScienceSoft’s role in it on p.

12-13.

On p. 16 you can find some information about the music band April Twins where our Senior Developer Pavel Rodin plays the guitar. Last year, April Twins delivered a brilliant performance at the annual ScienceSoft Summer gathering. And now you can listen to their music with touching English lyrics written by band members.

Texas is a pretty interesting state where the film director Wes Anderson, the hippie singer Janis Joplin and many other influential people were born. The famous carbonated soft drink Dr. Pepper was invented in Waco, Texas, where the local pharmacist Charles Alderton formulated the unique flavor in 1885. You may not know but Oscar, the Academy Award statuette, was unofficially named after a Texan Oscar Pierce, whose niece worked for the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Her off-the-cuff comment that the gold statuette ‘looks just like her Uncle Oscar’ went viral and the name stuck. You can delve into the Texas history a bit more by reading ScienceSoft Facts & Figures on p. 7 and Art & Culture on p. 27.

This issue is very distinctive as it features 2, or better to say, 3 photosets. The first one, Top Dance on p. 14-15, is dedicated to our professionals in executive roles. Our

tops are creative, edgy and open for experiments. And they prove it not only with their work but also by dancing in front of the cam. You will be stunned! Yet another photo story (p. 18-21) tells about our Designer Ales Belski who inherited an old-fashioned car from his father. It is GAZ-69 also known as Soviet Willys and Ales reveals all the secrets about this outlandish artefact. Our traditional section Smart Things features ScienceSoft Lead Accountant Valentina Boroha and her magic beads. We took a picture of this beautiful woman together with her beads that witnessed all the changes and processes in our company through more than 20 years.

As usual, ScienceSoft Press final pages (24-26) are dedicated to the art created by ScienceSoft employees. There you can find poetry from Anton Mekh, our Testing Engineer and the author of the portrait caricatures, some poetry from the Editor-in-Chief, and a touching short story by our copywriter Darya Yafimava.

All articles are written with sincere love to what we do and where we work. Hopefully, dear readers, you will sense this and join our ScienceSoft community!

By the way, for non-English speaking ScienceSoft enthusiasts we have a brief summary in Belarusian on the opposite page.

Sincerely yours, Volia Chajkouskaya Editor-in-Chief

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T EX T: VOLIA CHAJKOU SKAYA

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Where did you grow up (in what part of America)? Was there anything about your upbringing and childhood experiences that defined your future career?

WHAT’S IN COMMON BETWEEN IT, ATHLETICS AND THE BEATLES?

I was born and raised in the Carolinas. Both North and South Carolina are known for their beautiful landscapes and the ‘southern hospitality’ of the people. It was a wonderful place to grow up and I wouldn’t trade the experiences—memories that will last a lifetime. Probably the most definitive part of my upbringing that influenced me was having two amazing parents that taught me so much about life and about how to treat people. Their guidance and teaching has been invaluable in my career.

Growing up, my time was heavily focused on athletics.

Whatever sport I was playing at the time, I was completely dedicated to it. I would describe myself as ‘overly competitive.’ I absolutely hated to lose at anything. This competitive nature helped me succeed in many ways. In high school, I played for the winningest coach in the history of American football, John McKissick. He was a very influential person in my life as well. We won 3 straight championships under his leadership and it taught me much about teamwork and how much can be achieved when people come together to accomplish a common goal. I attended the University of South Carolina on a Track & Field scholarship, which enabled me to earn a Business Degree while continuing to compete in athletics. While there I learned how to succeed as an individual, enjoying a career that included championships, record-setting performances and numerous awards. I was proud to be recognized in 1990 as USC’s Track Athlete of the Decade for the period of 19801990. Upon graduation, my competitive nature translated well into the business world and this has probably been the biggest driver of my career successes.

ScienceSoft USA CEO Wade Brantley reveals what he was up for during previous visits in Minsk, what his 4 children are into and why our company attracts customers worldwide.

Everything you have been doing is about IT. How did you decide that this profession should be your life-long occupation?

It must have been exciting to witness all the disruptions and innovations of the IT industry in the 1980s-1990s. Can you please share any memories or stories from those times?

After spending over a decade as an entrepreneur, I decided to reenter the workforce at the executive level. I saw IT as an industry that was ripe with opportunity and trending for long-term growth. With the world growing increasingly more dependent on IT, it made complete sense to me to continue my career with a focus on IT. Although I don’t have a technical background, I appreciate the things that technology does for business. I provide value by residing at the business level and consulting with prospective clients on the practical and relational aspects of the services we provide at ScienceSoft. I find that companies really appreciate it when we seek to understand who they are and what is important to them beyond just technical competencies. Trust is often the most overlooked and undervalued component of companies providing IT services. My focus has been to bring that issue to the forefront in my dealings with prospective clients and make them understand that they can trust ScienceSoft to be an excellent software development partner amidst a sea of competitors that do not share our core values.

Growing up in the 70’s and 80’s gave me a very broad perspective of how the IT industry has changed the world over the last 35 years. It was indeed exciting to have a front row seat back in those days. I personally experienced the before and after of many of the challenges that technology has solved. My memories? I remember having to type my school reports on an old-fashioned typewriter, since we didn’t have computers with word processing software. That was painful! The world was just a different place. We didn’t have instant access to cash, debit cards, ATM machines, personal computers, microwave ovens, etc. Even something as simple as a phone call was much more complicated back then. If you were calling outside of your local area, then you had to dial ‘long-distance’ and the charges associated with it were astronomical, so people couldn’t have easy social access like we do today and certainly not on a global scale. That is the thing that stands out to me as the biggest shift I’ve seen in my lifetime, is the way that IT enabled a global community to emerge. Growing up I could not have imagined being able to have a real time, face to face call 4

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with a friend or business colleague who is sitting halfway across the world. It’s amazing to me! Yet the current generation never got to experience the world when it was smaller and so much more isolated.

I was involved in a project where we created an enterprise level application that served as the core system for a disruptive appraisal management startup in the US mortgage industry. The idea for the system grew out of the changes that have occurred in the US mortgage industry following the many regulatory changes in the wake of the 2008 US mortgage crisis. Mortgage companies needed a way to systematize their appraisal management internally, so that they wouldn’t have to completely outsource the function. We helped the company quickly bring a web-based SaaS offering to the market that has been very successful in solving the need.

I enjoyed being involved in a project that created BI dashboards for various industries. The product was web-based and it pulled in data from disparate systems to provide executives and managers real-time information that they needed to run their business. It was easy to implement and provided a terrific solution for companies that didn’t have a huge IT budget.

Of course projects don’t have to be big to be important.

Some of my favorite relationships over the years have been with consultants who consistently churn through a number of diverse projects over the course of the year. I really enjoy those relationships because of the ever-changing needs and diversity of the projects. Any project that solves a business need is an important one!

Can you please tell us more about your family, wife and children? Do they have – or plan to have – IT-related jobs? What is your favorite pastime?

Family has always been very important to me. There is nothing I enjoy more these days than getting to spend time with them. My wife Bonnie and I have been married for 24 years and we have four amazing kids ranging from 8 to 14 years of age, including twin girls that are 12. Two of our children are adopted—I just can’t remember which two. Of course the kids are completely sold out to technology, spending hours on their mobile devices, streaming video content (as opposed to network television) and enjoying online gaming. I tell them they really missed out on the good old days when we grew up playing with sticks and dirt, which is not stretching the truth too far. It is a bit too early to tell where their career interests may be, but I’m excited to help them and support them along the way. We play a lot of sports together, have fun gaming and binge-watching our favorite programs, and we really enjoy vacationing together at Topsail Beach, NC, although it is a long drive from Texas.

I know that you are a drummer in a Beatles cover band. Сan you, please, tell me more about it! When did it start? Why Beatles?

Why do you consider American customers should turn to ScienceSoft USA for IT consulting and custom software development? What do you consider to be our main advantages?

Great question! I’ve been drumming now for nearly 30 years and have played various genres. However, I stopped playing when we went from 0 to 3 kids back in 2003. When we moved to Dallas in 2008, I was ready to start playing again. A friend of mine was playing in a Beatles band and they were in the process of moving on from their current drummer. I told him that I played and that I was a big fan of the Beatles music. I came in for the first rehearsal and they couldn’t believe that I already know the songs so well and they asked me to join. We renamed the band Mojo Filter, which is a reference to Paul McCartney in the Beatles hit Come Together. We’ve been playing all over the Dallas/ North Texas area since then and we’re entering our 7th year together. You can check us out at mojofilterdallas.com! We play songs from the entire Beatles catalog and even a few from their solo efforts. But I have a ‘fab’ time playing some of the best music ever written, songs that transcend genre and are still relevant today, from arguably the greatest band ever. I call in ‘channeling my inner Ringo!’ But I also play/ sing in a classic rock band and a top 40 band. I’ve even played music in Minsk several times with a Belarusian blues band call The Road Dogs, who are fantastic musicians and great friends. Music is the ultimate escape from the pressures of life, a universal language and a huge source of joy for me personally.

Prior to working with ScienceSoft, I worked with another Belarusian software company called SaM Solutions.

So I would travel to Minsk a couple of times each year for corporate meetings/events. I’ve really enjoyed my visits there. I’ve been to museums, national opera and even toured several of the castles.

The IT resource shortage in the US is real. Therefore, companies have to turn to offshore locations for IT and software development, whether they want to or not. Some companies we talk to are completely open to offshoring while others are quite resistant. The key for us is to get our foot in the door and gain enough confidence to get a project moving, even if it is only a small one. That way we are able to prove ourselves as a trustworthy and competent partner. Now that It and software development has matured as a global market, attitudes towards offshoring continue to improve overall. Of course there is still a rebellious sense amongst some companies because they feel that offshoring these critical areas is either too risky or even perhaps damaging to the US as a nation. So that is a very real issue that we deal with on a consistent basis and we have to be sensitive to. Regarding ScienceSoft specifically, our biggest asset is our history—having 26+ years in business and a solid track record of successful engagements, many of those with highly recognizable corporations. I also stress the fact that we are a ‘right-sized’ organization for doing what we do—big enough to provide a diverse group of skillsets and scalability, but small enough to keep administration simple and personal. It is desirable that we are truly international in scope. Other differentiators include a westernized culture, English fluency and communication skills, and having a US corporate entity is critical for a number of reasons.

Can you please name 3 most important IT projects you were involved in? Describe the projects a bit, please.

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FACTS & FIG U RE S

What do you know about Texas? An average man from outside America can hardly boast of knowing a lot about the state. Of course, besides cowboys, cactuses and Wild West that receive high promotion via American movies. Moreover, Texas Rangers is considered as the oldest state-wide law enforcement agency in the United States.

However, Texas is far beyond these, let’s say, stereotypes. ScienceSoft Press collected some super exciting facts about Texas and some of it’s 1 215 incorporated cities. ScienceSoft USA CEO Wade Brantley also suggested some inside facts which we marked as WB on the picture. It’s always good to know something from a local.

WB

WB

WB

McKinney has several times been named the ‘fastest growing city in the US.’

I like the cultural diversity that McKinney provides. It is a melting pot and I enjoy the people here very much.

McKinney and the adjacent city of Frisco have both been named as ‘the best place to live in the US’ within the past 5 years.

Texas is the second most populous and the secondlargest of the 50 states in the US, and the largest state in the 48 contiguous United States.

Texas has the highest number of airports in the US. Dallas Fort Worth is the 2nd biggest with 17,207 acres and 7 runways. It’s 9th busiest in the world.

Texas has highest highway speed limit. A stretch of toll road between Austin and San Antonio permits drivers to go 136 km per hour!

WB

I like the way that the neighborhoods here are built around the elementary schools, which promotes true community. It’s a great place to raise a family.

WB

Amarillo, Texas is called ‘Helium Capital of the World’ since it has America’s National Helium Reserve which stores about 90% of the world’s recoverable helium.

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McKinney enjoys a thriving historical downtown area that maintains the heritage of the city, which goes back more than 200 years.

T EX T: MA RIA DA N KO

T RADIT IO NS

TR A N S L ATI O N : LO L A VO LKOVA (O LG A KO KT YSH)

Belarusian Indian symbolism Do Belarusian ancestors and Native Americans have something in common? Maria Danko, ScienceSoft Presentation Designer, tells us about the parallels between traditional Belarusian symbols and ornaments of American Indians.

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The ornament is not just a set of pretty motifs. It tells a story about happiness, hopes and struggles of people. The Belarusian ornament is distinct in weaving and embroidery, as well as in straw incrustations and Easter eggs decorations. The Indian tribes expressed their culture in embroidery with plant fibers, porcupine needles and beads, as well as in carving and painting.

For this reason, the ornaments of these two peoples differ.

Belarusians’ basic symbols include geometric shapes – diamonds, squares, crosses, rosettes. Indian motifs tend to resemble iconographic images. Accordingly, our ancestors used a diamond as a central element in their ornaments, while the cornerstone symbol of American Indians was a wheel.

The traditional image of the Sun among Belarusians is a diamond with rays, a symbol of light cast in all directions. Indians visualized the Sun as a circle with or without rays, the embodiment of the heart of the universe and the absolute spirit.

It should be noted that not only the graphics itself, but also the color scheme had a deep-rooted significance for the Indians.

Red color represented blood, strength, energy and happiness.

Black meant war and aggression, white – sadness and mourning, but could also symbolize peace. Green signifies harmony, and blue is endurance. Our ancestors rather adhered to a limited palette of only two colors: red for the Sun, blood and life while white meant purity.

Another example is the Earth. Belarusians again used the diamond shape here, but with rays directed inwards. The Indian ornament depicts a wheel with a cross (symbol of four cardinal points) and four small circles, marking four tribes that first came to Earth to maintain the world balance.

Despite the differences in these symbols, both folks made the Earth symbol paramount in all the ornamentation and associated it with the images of the Great Mother, fertility and abundance.

Belarusian images of the Earth and the Sun were often put together to create a symbol of spring signifying life, warmth, and the awakening of nature. Indians used to picturize spring

with small vertical lines of sprouts that burst from the ground.

For comparison, they illustrated summer with the same vertical lines, but much higher.

An eight-pointed star occupied a special place in the Belarusian ornament. It is not only one of the structural elements of the Universe, but also symbolizes a number of interrelated images: a mother, a man and harvest.

In general, Belarusians have a lot of symbols for man, but the star remains primary. Perhaps it is due to our ancestors’ belief that a star rises in the sky when a person is born, and falls down when the person dies.

The Mother image is also found in several variations: a star adorned with a garland, a stylized tree, a female figure. The Mother image often went along the symbols of the Sun, moon, fire and wind, to emphasize their equal importance.

Indians used a handprint as a basic symbol for man: it was believed to transmit energy to its owner. The Mother symbol had several versions. One of them was a circle with the figures of a woman, a boy and a girl in it. Interestingly, this sign could be interpreted both as a symbol of children and a grandmother.

And on to love we go. Our ancestors reflected love in many ornamental symbols, among them are the goddesses Lada, Rusalka, Zjazjulja, Ruzha (Mermaid, Cuckoo, Rose). However, one of the most common illustrations is the image of a pigeon and a dove, and depending on how these birds related to each other in the image, we can understand if the depicted love was happy or tragic, if it is a young love or deep feelings.

Despite the fact that the Indian motifs were rarely used to describe emotions and feelings, the symbol of love can still be found among their ornaments. It is a pair of hummingbirds, which was associated with love, loyalty and happiness. These birds are known for their speed, and were regarded as messengers of time and those who have the power to stop time.

As you know, time stops for lovers. Hummingbirds teach us to enjoy every moment – as it happens with those in love.

Love

Human

Fire

Mother

Family

Earth

Sun

Spring

Red Color – Belarusian Native Symbols

Dark Blue Color – American Native Symbols 9

T EX T: VOLIA CHAJKOU SKAYA

S MART T H ING S

MAGIC BEADS

P R O O F R E A D I N G : DA RYA YAFI M AVA

I was always looking to achieve the best results. Both in my personal life and at work, I am a perfectionist. I used to study in Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union, because I was convinced that this was the only place where I could get the best education. I am an economist by my first profession. My first job was in the food industry.

I liked this work, maybe that’s why I love to cook for my guests so much. But the early 1990s were a challenging time for the Belarusian economy, and I decided to gain some new skills to ensure a financial stability for my family.

At some point, I started to grow interested in accounting. My teacher apparently noted this and decided to help me find a good job at some company called NILIM that had an open vacancy. I was wondering what they were doing; to me, NILIM sounded like something about fish. In fact, it was a cooperative, they used to have an office on Berson Street in Minsk - that’s all I knew about the new job when I went up to the second floor of the office ... There was a plenty of beautiful silver-plate signs on the walls with the name IMLab on them. I thought, ‘Wow! What a beautiful name, IMLab, and it’s written in English. This is the company! That would be great to get a job there! But surely I will never get it.’ Can you imagine how surprised I was when I stepped into the reception room and found out that IMLab was NILIM! I couldn’t believe my luck!

I witnessed all the stages of NILIM’s development, which turned into ScienceSoft in the mid-1990s. There were periods when the company had barely enough money to pay salaries. But, thanks to the dedication and professionalism of Nikolay Kuraev, CEO at ScienceSoft, and perhaps luck, the company only survived but also became one of the largest players on the IT market in Belarus.

Some time ago ScienceSoft used to work solely with Invention Machine Corporation (IMCorp). We used to create ‘artificial intelligence’ called ‘Invention Machine’.

We were part of the product, but our front office was in the US (Boston, MA). However, we were an independent business unit. At some point IMCorp changed the ownership and offered our company to join them through acquisition. ScienceSoft’s management decided to found an outsourcing business and develop it instead. This was how ScienceSoft ventured towards the American Dream!

There were only 9 people left in the team – just managers and a few programmers. We didn’t have Sales Managers back then (sales were the responsibility of the American IMCorp office), no marketing, no experience we had to create all of that from ground up by ourselves.

I still remember our first Sales Managers – Vera Reshetina, Elena Ovsianka and Alesia Stolepchenko. They have been working successfully for many years at our company. In 2002, we began to operate completely independently, and now we employ more than 450 people, with offices on three continents. We have customers just about everywhere but Antarctica, I assume! Now I know for sure that ScienceSoft is a company with a human face, which employs the most responsible and decent professionals.

And, believe me, I know something about it! I have been working with the current management team, including Nikolay Kuraev, for the past 18 years!

Valentina Boroha is truly a guardian of ScienceSoft’s hearth. She has been keeping and multiplying our finances for 23 years. Valentina Nikolaevna could be the one to write a novel on the history and development of our company, as well as its prosperity nowadays. Like no one else, she knows many ScienceSoft secrets. ‘A novel?

If only using a pseudonym’, she smiles.

Exclusively for the American issue of our corporate magazine ScienceSoft Press, Valentina Boroha found wooden beads that she kept since the very beginning of her career at our company. This beautiful photo featuring our beloved chief accountant and her favorite tool of the past goes together with some heart-warming memories.

Idea - Volia Chajkovskaya, Anna Kosobutskaya Photographer Alexander Obukhovich Make up - Alesya Volkova

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T EX T: VOLIA CHAJKOU SKAYA

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SUCCESS MUST GO ON Scott Rauland on the Belarusian IT miracle and ScienceSoft’s role in it.

Incidentally Mr. Rauland returned to the US with some ScienceSoft specials – a corporate cup, a T-shirt to play baseball in, and some previous editions of ScienceSoft Press.

Scott Rauland has been working as Chief of Mission of the United States of America in Belarus from June 2014 to July 2016. And he has had strong ties with Belarus since the late 1980s. Back then at an international exhibition called ‘Information Science in the life of the USA’ in Minsk he met ScienceSoft CEO Nikolay Kuraev for the first time. No one thought back then that now Mr. Rauland would be giving an interview exclusively for ScienceSoft Press.

Moreover, Mr. Rauland also has ties with IT because his son is a software developer in Denver, Colorado. So the former Chief of the U.S. Mission is a logical interlocutor.

Mr. Rauland, when did you first come to Belarus and what struck you most?

I came here in 1983 and 1988. And the contrast is very strong. I mean the Soviet economic system was just completely different. Some simple basic things you just couldn’t find or finding them was really difficult. And the quality. I mean you could get Soviet shoes, but were they as good as Italian shoes?

No. But you didn’t have a choice. And now I walk around downtown Minsk, go to the shopping mall where I can buy everything: shoes, electronic devices, no limit. And many goods are cheaper than in the Washington DC area.

Why do you consider Belarus interesting for Americans in terms of culture, society and business cooperation?

Well, there are a lot of things that would make Belarus attractive for foreign investors. You have a highly educated work force. Of course, your location is good. You are in the center of Europe. On the one hand you border with the European Union. On the other hand, Belarus is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union. I think America is always looking for the best circumstances. I don’t think culture makes a difference per se. I think if it’s possible to work with businesses in a particular country, America will find the way to do that. But again getting back to the advantages. Belarusians share, I think, European views in terms of organization and doing business.

You are Europeans. Belarusians, in my experience, are very punctual. That’s something that Americans appreciate. I think Belarusians are also very detail oriented. Which is a good characteristic for a business partner.

Since its early years ScienceSoft has promoted itself as an international software development company with strong connections to the USA. That’s why we decided to find out from a high-ranking American why he likes Belarus and what the perspectives of Belarusian-American software development collaboration are.

How do Americans perceive the Belarusian software development miracle?

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INT E RVIE W

it’s good to know that Belarusians that came to the U.S. a long time ago made their own contributions to the prosperity of the country. People like Louis B. Mayer – were incredibly successful, in his case with the world known cinema company – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

IT is indeed one of the most successful areas in the private sector in Belarus. And the results speak for themselves.

According to the statistics, the largest export from Belarus to the USA is software. And that makes a lot of sense. There’s no shipping costs for software, the U.S. economy now is a highly knowledge-based economy. So the ability of Belarusian firms to contribute to that is probably unlimited, as your professionals are really highly educated and intelligent. A number of highly successful American software companies have chosen to locate in Belarus, and this is no coincidence. It says a lot about what they see here as advantages. Now, the High Technology Park is a real success story. The government created really good conditions for the High Tech Park to operate in the country and beyond. Together they invented a formula that works. A lot of people in Belarusian IT companies do work a lot of hours. Sometimes it’s pressure from a client to get a software product done under a tight deadline. And then your team has to work really hard. And clearly in Belarusian companies there are a lot of hardworking and smart people.

All these together made the miracle possible.

ScienceSoft Press asked Mr. Scott M. Rauland to recall few favorite sayings on success. Here they are:

“

What do you think about cultural similarities between Belarus and the U.S.?

Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise, Benjamin Franklin. If you ever get a chance, visit his home city of Philadelphia. There’s a wonderful museum for Benjamin Franklin there. He was just a brilliant man and entrepreneur, writer and diplomat.

The early bird catches the worm.

If you build it, they will come. This one is from a baseball movie called ‘Field of Dreams.’ The main character is a farmer in Iowa. He keeps hearing a voice urging him to build a baseball field there amidst hundreds of acres of corn. He wonders why. And the voice says: build it and they will come. It means never listen to someone who’s saying that something is not possible.

We are a nation of immigrants. And the first immigrants were largely Europeans. But the mix has changed dramatically over the years. So there have been periods with the largest numbers coming from Asia, and another periods when most were coming from Latin America. The U.S. is a huge country.

And depending on what part of the country you are in, you can see an influence from certain parts of the world. And it also means that Americans have people that can successfully work with businesses from different parts of the world and different cultures. And certainly Americans have a strong European cultural component which would correlate well with the Belarusian way of doing business.

The Belarusian diaspora in the United States is not as big as three of your neighbors – Russia, Ukraine and Poland. But

If you believe – you will achieve.

That’s a very good and very American saying that basically refers to the idea of the American dream.

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Louis Armstrong ‘What A Wonderful World’

WOW-E FFE CT

James Brown ‘I Feel Good’

TOP

30 Seconds To Mars ‘City Of Angels’

14

Nirvana ‘Come As You are’

Justin Timberlake ‘What Goes Around...

Comes Around’

WOW-E FFE CT Ray Charles ‘Georgia On My Mind’

Idea - Volia Chajkovskaya, Anna Kosobutskaya Art director - Anna Kosobutskaya Photographer - Alexander Obukhovich Retouch - Ales Belski Make up - Alesya Volkova

Everyone in the leading roles at ScienceSoft is super busy and serious. Sometimes they can’t even afford a lunch break. But they stay creative, edgy and open for experiments. ScienceSoft Press asked them to pick their favorite American song and show us some moves while listening to these tunes in front of the camera.

Left to right clockwise: Nikolay Kurayev, ScienceSoft CEO; Barys Shyklo, ScienceSoft CTO; Val Kireitchik, Marketing Director; Liliya Razuvalava, Lead UI Designer; Igor Rutsky, ScienceVision Managing Director; Ulad Radkevitch, VP Sales and Marketing; Olga Khmyzava, Business Analyst.

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Leonard Cohen ‘Dance Me To The End Of Love’

MU S IC

APRIL TWINS We shall meet, we shall unite!

A music band April Twins exists since 2009. It consists of 4 brilliant musicians, one of which is ScienceSoft Senior Developer Pavel Rodin. He plays guitar in April Twins since the early beginning. Basically, he is the one who suggested the singer and the songwriter Chyvi to create a band.

In 2015 the band released it’s first and so far the only one full album called Helly the unpredictable. At a corporate ScienceSoft party last year April Twins performed a couple of beautiful songs. So we have their fans in the company as well. Read Pavel’s comments about the band below and listen to some music by scanning the QR-code.

So far we have played plenty of gigs in clubs. I’ll tell you one funny story. Couple of years ago we participated in a local summer festival not far from Minsk. The weather was really bad. The stage was without a roof and at some point when a shower begun it was like a rescue operation established to save all the sound equipment. The people were really disappointed and started to leave the place unless we heard a song performing by some band in the bar! They managed to repair everything and continue the party.

Though not everything was that good. Because it was very wet everywhere musicians were get hit by the electricity from time to time.

Why did you decide to write lyrics for your songs in English?

Well, this is not an easy thing to tell, but mostly because English spread worldwide and we want to be open for the most of people.

What kind of music you consider you play?

It’s a tough question for us J I’d better can say which tags we use when share the music in the web it’s #rock #pop #britpop #indie of course.

Where did you manage to perform? What was the most unusual gig and why?

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PO INT O F VIE W

USA-BY: BRIDGING THE GAP ScienceSoft Sales Manager Kate Kamarchuk has been working at ScienceSoft for a year and a half. She started as a customer relationship specialist and then moved smoothly to a position of a sales manager. Kate is smiley and active. She travels really a lot, planning her trips in advance and ready to conquer the most distant and exotic countries. Let’s say, Colombia. Kate writes for her personal travel blog about adventures and people all around the world. She was visiting a Retail Technology Show in Atlanta lately within the scope of her business trip to the USA. For a special ScienceSoft Press American edition she speculates upon her personal sales & marketing strategy, which is successfully applicable to establish a good connection between ScienceSoft and the US market.

– here’s the abstract from the review they left for us on a popular platform rating various software development vendors: ‘Overall, the engagement with ScienceSoft was probably the best offshore experience that we’ve had’. Moreover, in the very same review they stated, that our performance was much better that the one of the local company they used to work with before falling in love with us.

- Be quick – the environment is highly competitive, the speed of your reaction is crucial.

- Stay concentrated – time is money, there is no space for beating around the bush.

- Be positive – the attitude is a key, there are no problems, only challenges that got to be solved.

- Be prepared – there’s rarely a second chance, so you’d better do your homework.

- Be flexible – the plans may change on the fly, be ready to adjust any time.

- Be ready to work a lot – it’s quite common for US business culture to receive an e-mail during the weekend, early in the morning or late at night – that’s the space for you to show you are pretty good at bullet #1.

As you can see no rocket science inside. But as usually simple things turn out to be the most difficult ones to follow. And this is the place when the support of the great team comes on stage. Be professional while working with professionals – this seems to be the essence of my approach at ScienceSoft.

I’m working with the customers from US from the very start of my career at ScienceSoft. And all the activities were always targeting something I’d call ‘bridging the gap’. The feeling of physical distance (around 7 000 km – kind of a distance) was always putting some additional pressure. But what I see right now is that ‘the gap’ actually doesn’t exist and we are much closer that it might seem from the first sight.

Despite the fact we have 7 hours in time difference (or even 10 with West coast) we are still pretty similar in terms of doing business. Main point here is that we both (meaning ScienceSoft and US business) are young from inside and therefore possess all the advantages youth brings: we are energetic, enthusiastic, informal, passionate and open-minded.

And when you change the perspective the distance is not the limit anymore – it’s an incentive to work harder, to master your communication and overall performance. Not to let such a tiny thing in our modern digital world as being in a bit remotely located rooms become an obstacle for thinking big, challenging existing technology and moving it forward.

While thinking about what should be taken into account when working in the US I came up with a couple of pretty universal principles. But what I adore about them is that they actually work both ways. If you follow them properly you’ll be paid the same.

I find a proof for this approach in my everyday work. Let’s take a look at Chiron Health, our beloved customer from Austin, TX 17

PH OTO: A N FISA KOSEN KOVA

P H OTO H ISTO RY

TE X T: A L E S B ELSKI

GAZ-69 A SOVIET WILLYS

Perhaps, one of the most creative departments at ScienceSoft is our Design Department. Ales Belski, one of the designers, is also the main visual artist behind ScienceSoft Press (which alone is a testament of his creativity). He is the one who manages to combine a creative job with a creative life. This article features Ales and his amazing car.

How come he is the owner of such a unique artefact? Ales reveals all the secrets.

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PH OTO H ISTO RY

Comrades, please welcome GAZ-69 - the best achievement of the Soviet car industry! In my entire life, I wouldn’t have thought that I’d own such a vehicle. I am not an expert in cars, but my father was. Cars were his passion. He bought it by accident somewhere around Myadzel and started to repair it. Unfortunately, he died far too early and didn’t manage to enjoy other drivers’ greeting honks, all the smiles and waving by passers-by. It was a will of fate that the car passed to me. It took two years to finish up the repair. With a little help from my friends, eventually my father’s dream came true. It’s hard to put in words how it feels to drive such a car! It’s the delight I can’t describe.

This car was released in 1970, we re-painted its body and changed the roof a bit: the steel one was removed as

it was completely worn out, and we put an arched tent instead. All the other components are native except some tiny details.

Sometimes people react in a really astonishing way.

Once I was driving through downtown Minsk and saw a red Lamborghini coming up towards me. I was surprised when the Lamborghini driver started to horn and wave. In his turn, he was so shocked and stunned as if I came from the past. At some point I realized this may be because our people are still nostalgic about old days, and Minsk is still home to some Soviet heritage. And that’s why tender and modest Belarusians perceive the legendary Soviet car this way. Many remember GAZ-69 from their army or kolkhoz days, or maybe they first learned to drive thanks to it.

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P H OTO H ISTO RY

It is widely believed that this class of vehicles originates from the legendary ‘Willys’.

Under the pressure of the wartime needs the American design, which was really the pinnacle of engineering and technological art, produced Willys. However, it was not the first attempt of this kind. In the late 1930s the demand for military all-wheel drive motorcars became obvious. They appeared in the USA and the USSR almost at the same time.

‘HARD-WORKER’ & A ‘LITTLE GOAT’ The first GAZ was built in 1938, but the constructor Grigoriy Vasserman’s real breakthrough came only in 1974 when GAZ-69 was produced. He made the first sketches of the future GAZ-69 back in 1944 during the war, and continued to work on it after he got an official offer once the war ended. As the car was designed to operate in a peaceful time, besides its index ‘69’. In 1953, two vehicle modifications were launched into production. In addition to the basic model, they produce GAZ-69 A, which had a four-door body and a passenger compartment with 5 seats like in a common passenger car. Long before it was released, more than 60% of its parts were basically produced for a famous car called ‘Victory’ (‘Pobeda’) aka GAZ-M-20, as well as for ZIM aka GAZ-12 and the GAZ-51 truck. No one expected it would become such a success, but due to its solid design and capabilities it was soon deeply loved by the entire population of the Soviet Union.

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GAZ-69 was also nicknamed a ‘hard-worker’ (‘truzhennik’). Apparently, a special meaning was put into this name considering the agricultural potential of the car. Later on, the nickname transformed into a more popular ‘little goat’ (’kozlik’).

O PINIO NS

. . .

S I A C I R AME g entin omm minds c s e ye ir mplo o the USA. Our e t comes t a of the on wh hey think t when

We all think of the United States of America in our own way. Some perceive America through art and mass culture like the latest TV series, others dream about getting there one day to drive a white Lamborghini into the Californian sunset… It’s all about the USA, though success stories of American companies are closer to our hearts and encourage us to think big.

ScienceSoft Press tried to discover those many images of this land and asked some of our employees who are passionate about the USA to share their associations.

DIVERSITY

WORK & TRAVEL

Andrey Verezub Lead Java Developer

Tatsiana Lebedzeva Business Analyst

I travelled to America two years ago, and I’m still deeply impressed by this country. The USA for me is a country where diversity is abundant, where anyone can find everything he or she likes. Such a choice of places to live in: sunny California, Minnesota full of lakes, or mountainous Colorado. Such a choice of hobbies: wakeboarding, ski resorts, impressive amusement parks with lots of rollercoasters, jetpack flights, bar streets, and anything you can imagine. Food lovers can find cuisine from all over the world. It is the country where you can live every day differently. I’d love to come back one day.

When I hear about America I think about the Americans, forever smiling and forever young. Eight years ago I got to live in a small town in South Carolina where I worked at a local company. Even now I keep in touch with my colleagues. There is no big difference if you are 19 or 59 years old, it’s only your personality that matters.

There is no big contrast between a Walmart cash desk clerk, a yacht owner or a software developer, as this country of opportunities gives you a variety of choices and everything is up to you only.

I felt the same way everywhere – both in big cities like New York City, Washington DC, Atlanta, GA, Charlotte, NC and in small towns like Charleston, SC (one of the first US cities), Myrtle Beach, SC and a number of others I’ve been to. I have the same feelings about working at ScienceSoft here in Minsk, and I am really happy that the company continues its growth on the USA market, because working with such interesting and cheerful people is a real pleasure.

SEX AND THE CITY Ksenya Vishnikina, Office Manager The tallest skyscrapers and unavoidable romantic twists are located in Manhattan as showed in the outstanding comedy TV series, Sex in the City. There, no flower is too big, no skirt is too long and no shoes are too expensive.

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O PINIO NS

I WANT TO TRAVEL TO AMERICA Tamara Kulakovskaya Senior Accountant I think it’s the number one country in the world. In my mind American cities are very spacious and have many smiling and friendly people.

Also, I am getting well prepared for my future visit to America – I am learning English!

SWAG, HOLLYWOOD, FREEDOM Aliaksandr Vahura PHP Developer For me America is a country of great opportunities for self-realization. I really admire its level of freedom for self-expression. Everyone can live the way they want. The country itself doesn’t restrict your personality. For instance, they have a plenty of subcultures like swag, emo and more. These trends only reach oversea countries like Belarus in 10 years or so. America also means Hollywood. This is what should definitely be considered as an iconic way of how to make movies, I reckon. The rest of the world just follows and copies the American way. Also, all their film-related awards like Oscar. I guess, this is what makes trends and the film industry in general.

CONTRASTS

BUKOWSKI

Denis Syrokvash

Denis Denisenko

iOS Team Lead

Senior Designer

I’ve been to the USA many years ago through the Work & Travel scheme and it was a great experience, I would say. For me this is for sure a country of contrasts. I used to live with my friends in a big apartment block and we were experiencing a lot of different and controversial events back then. Once, a police officer came attempting to find some Polish guy, but we had no idea what guy he was talking about. The policeman was persistent but polite.

This image of American policemen is truly supported in the entire American culture, particularly in movies. We perceive American policemen as noble Robocops. I’ve been witnessing several cases in the US when policemen were really helpful and responsive. However, now after 10 years, I realize that the US also has its social problems. However, I still believe that if you want to see the model of the whole world you should go and see America and its contrasts. pleasure.

Charles Bukowski personality and literature – this is what I associate United States of America with. I adore brutal prose by Bukowski and his poetry.

His work addresses the ordinary lives of poor Americans, the act of writing, alcohol, relationships with women, and the drudgery of work. I can imagine ordinary American suburban life very easily just following what Bukowski wrote. I admire his talent to picture real life in the US in such a convincing way.

I think Bukowski had a great sensuality to write about normal ordinary Americans, he lets us comprehend their miserable and at the same time bright life. My favorite novels are ‘Post Office’, ‘Women’ and ‘Hollywood’.

CUSTOMERS Yuri Makarov Sales Manager The explanation is pretty simple.

Customers – just because ScienceSoft has a plenty of clients from the US market right now. I like working with Americans because they really stick to the rules and technical specification, which actually makes our work better and easier.

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FAMILY Leo Yanchuk Clearview Solutions President, USA I travel a lot because of work and I am very often torn away from my family. I have a wife and three children in the USA, my parents are there as well. I miss them very much.

Of course, I feel that America is my home country because my family is there. But I am an immigrant myself.

That’s why, perhaps, I love to travel around. I adore Belarus. In a way, I can even compare Belarus to America. In Minsk, I see many talented people, many possibilities, I see how people invest in business, real estate and their own life.

PO E T RY

Wishfull Thinking k ScienceSoft professionals are very cultivated and creative people.

Some of them write poetry and prose, as Volia Chajkouskay, ScienceSoft Presse Editor in Chief, Anton Mekh, Testing Engineer.

Vo l i a C h aj k o u s k ay a

*** The woolen heart on your coat Is almost beating It’s just an accessory But what a touching one Buying coffee at the airport Paying in last pounds Quietly weeping Carrying our luggage 7 kilos overweight There’s nothing fragile in there Only memories A Belavia airplane Spreads it’s wings like a stork To take us to the place That we need to visit more often It’s more stable in there It’s safer And obviously cleaner There’s no sea or ocean in there But long time a go there used to be A route from the Vikings to the Greeks Ears are clogged with cotton wool Sleep takes over We’re flying From the Foggy Kingdom To our Sleepy World But not to sleep

*** Let me just follow behind With no regrets or sorrow You’ve settled down in my mind Where only love you can borrow Let me just whisper your name Relying on intuition You taught me to live with no shame Turning into an apparition Wishful thinking not to break Yet another horror You are deep inside my brain Where only love you can borrow

*** My hair smell like your home smells It’s a pass, confirmation, official access We live between your and my iPhones Where every time might be the last, I guess Sometimes I think that’s even better Feelings get sharper More struggling with ourselves None of us is a doctor for the other No one wants it like in Corneliu Porumboiu films How much of this freedom do we still have?

Where are its borders and what’s behind them?

I cannot fight against your nature I cannot look into your eyes again.

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PO E T RY

Anton Mekh Long tongue

Melancholic man

Going, going

There was a man From the distant land Who lived in dusty van

I’ve been always gloomy.

When I was six years old, I was afraid of Bogeyman.

But my father often told: ‘Fear is running in your veins’

I don’t think i t’s bad To feel mind anguish inside my head.

He had long tongue And all day long He shouted pesky song.

Hey-hey, old chap, Could you shut up?

Why are you singing, cuss?

Nobody can You understand This is annoying us.

He does not heard What do they told He shouted, sang and yelled.

When brawler’s team One night beat him, He doesn’t stop his hymn.

Hey-hey, old chap, Could you shut up?

Why are you singing, cuss?

Nobody can You understand This is annoying us.

But once he went To pawnshop tent.

And left his tongue for rent.

But people hate sadness. ‘Ok and what then?’

They say I’m boring.

Boring melancholic man.

My wife said: ‘Enough, let’s try new approach’ And she ran away with her young yoga couch.

He can do press-ups much more than I can.

Now I’m divorced.

Divorced melancholic man.

‘It’s easy my friend, - says my therapist.

Be more positive and destroy your inner beast’ I paid him two thousand for a perfect plan.

Now I’m poor.

Poor melancholic man.

And ran away In the same day Without shriek or bray.

Hey-hey, old chap, Did you give up?

It was so calm in the morning Nobody could You understood But now it’s sad and boring.

The weather is bad, my mood is much worse.

And nobody cares, I know it, of course.

Life is beating me down again and again.

Now I’m ideal.

Ideal melancholic man.

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‘Father, father do you know Who is scratching all the night?’

‘Branches, kid, against the windflow, All your daemons are inside.’

Going, going.

Inside deeper.

Try to find heart in my boot.

Walking down, Scared weeper, To the fear of absolute.

When I was not far from eighteen, I was afraid confide in pretty lass, Always covered with goose-skin When she went into my class.

‘Dear sweetheart, I’m so poor, Not so good to call you ‘bride’.

‘You are foolish - it is true, All your daemons are inside’ Going, going.

Inside deeper.

Try to find heart in my boot.

Walking down, Scared weeper, To the fear of absolute.

I’m growing with my fears: Spiders, sacking, creaky doors.

Spend a lot of damned years In the endless inner wars.

Now I’m old enough. I’ve laid All my fears on the shelf.

Nothing’s making me afraid, Nothing more, except myself Going, going.

Inside deeper.

Try to find heart in my boot.

Walking down, Scared weeper To the fear of absolute.

T EX T & I MAGE: DARYA YA F I M AVA

LIT E RAT U RE

Two Lovers Falling Backwards Darya Yafimava works as one of ScienceSoft’s copywriters in the marketing department. Besides being very proficient in writing and editing texts for our corporate website and blog, Darya also translates foreign fiction and writes her own beautiful prose. Here is one of her touching and intimate short stories that she wrote during her Master’s studies in the United Kingdom a year ago. You can read the whole story by scanning the QR-code.

She walks the pavements, she’s got the address. Pass the windows, three blocks ahead, turn right, cross the street and into the bar she goes, to meet him, kiss his cheek and make new friends half an hour in the city.

They do much fuss about her, but she wants neither coffee nor beer but watch him living his life as he did without her for these three years.

It doesn’t start with the new home; it starts with making her own way through unknown streets, feeling her fingers sore of the bag storing second-hand dresses, books and, most stupidly, these boxes with home-made sandwiches and roasted chicken that her mother forced her to take ‘for James’. Now sitting next to him, she thinks occasionally about the food that’s been under the August sun for quite long now.

She likes how the very first day throws her into the chatting company of locals who feel comfortably settled while she is looking around sheepishly, following the conversation to put in a remark or two with false bravery. She knows they are watching her, albeit friendly, and she can’t afford looking timid. She longs to make an impression but loses the second when it is no longer for him. Still, his presence burns her left shoulder under the satin blouse that she put on ‘for James’.

As they walk home, the ether of a summer night lifts from the heated asphalt. She hardly makes an effort to speak, and their brief exchange of hollow phrases can’t contribute anything to release her curiosity.

Yes, she’s changed. She dyes her hair, no longer steals eyeshadows and lipstick from her mom and locks the bedroom door. She is happy to move from home (thanks for letting in, it’s only for a couple of weeks before my studies begin).

He hasn’t really changed, really. He still wears white shirts and dust-beaten shoes, plays the guitar occasionally (who doesn’t?), goes out any time he’s not working in the bar

(a bartender at 26 – are you lazy or bohemian?), no pets and no love commitments. She didn’t ask for this last one.

She gets in the tiny flat first, and for a moment he’s pulling out the key they are in complete darkness next to each other. Suddenly, she wants to cry, as if she’s gone beyond her control, and strange homesickness pierces her, and bleak yellow shadows of street lights on the wall don’t make it easier. […]

‘It’s nice to see you here,’ says his note on the pillow when she wakes up. (His bed linen isn’t crisp but smells a mixture of his perfume, tobacco and washing powder.) […]

She wish she could bring him closer, through forced politeness and lazy dialogues. But the days are stubborn.

In the idle meantime, she crafts tiny paper boats. She tears out pages from old magazines that he stores in the abandoned fireplace, and an occasional movie star’s face ends up floating and drifting across the bath, along with the entire miniature fleet of advertisements and gossips.

On one of those days he does catch her red-handed, taking pictures of her soaking toy boats, but a second later he already on his knees beside her by the bath, marveling at her paper army. ‘I mean, Joe, you’re amazing!’ – and his smile clashes with hers as they play with the boats in warm water and touch each other’s hands. She doesn’t ask why he still calls her by this nickname. She thinks, the boats are ice breakers. (Touching her hands underwater is a game, as he is staring at the reflection of her parted lips.) […]

Her mother gives her a call. She can only reply that it gets better. […]

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ART & CU LT U RE

LISTEN! LO O K !

TOUCH!

American culture’s main peculiarity is diversity and abundance. USA has everything: cinema, music, awards, money, Hollywood, Disney and Apple. ScienceSoft Press picked few personalities whom the world considers as one of the most prominent people in social, art and techno life of the United States. Some of them were born or have connections with Texas. Few of them have even connections with Belarus. Surprise! Surprise!

Janis Joplin We can hardly miss this singer in our list as soon as ScienceSoft Autumn corporate gathering near Minsk will feature hippie stylistic. Janis is a great American singer considered as the premier female blues vocalist of the 1960-s. Janis was born in Port Arthur, Texas. Joplin released her first solo effort, I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama!, in 1969. The album received mixed reviews, but her second project, Pearl (1971), released after Joplin’s death, was a huge success. Her most popular songs include Piece of My Heart, Cry Baby, Down on Me, Ball ‘n’ Chain, Summertime, and Mercedes Benz. Janis Joplin died of an accidental drug overdose in 1970 after releasing only four albums.

Lee Harvey Oswald L.H. Oswald is an American sniper who assassinated President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. According to five U.S. government investigations, Oswald shot and killed Kennedy as Kennedy traveled by motorcade through Dealey Plaza in the city of Dallas, Texas. At some point before the assassination Lee Harvey was sent to Minsk to work as a lathe operator at the Horizont Electronics Factory, which produced radios, televisions, and military and space electronics. He has been living in Minsk for several years. There are three buildings in the capital of Belarus where L.H. Oswald supposed to live.

Andy Warhol American artist know as one of the leading figures in visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationship between artistic expression, celebrity culture, sexuality, advertisement that flourished by the 1960-s. His art used many types of media, including hand drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, silk screening, sculpture, film, and music. He launched a studio called The Factory – a gathering place that brought together intellectuals, Hollywood celebrities. Warhol managed and produced The Velvet Underground, a rock band, and founded Interview magazine. Most well-known artworks include pop art painting with Marilyn Monroe appearance and Warhol’s painting of a can of Campbell’s soup.

Richard Linklater Richard Stuart Linklater is an American filmmaker, screenwriter, and actor. Was born in Houston, Texas. Mostly known for his natural humanist films which mainly revolve around personal relationships, suburban culture, and the effects of the passage of time. In 2002 he began filming Boyhood (2014), a passion project which took over 12 years to finish. The film was premiered in 2014 at Sundance Film Festival. It was nominated for 5 Golden Globe Awards and five BAFTA’s. The director won Silver Bear for Best Director at 64th Berlin International Film Festival for Boyhood. Linklater is also known for his comedy-drama Fast Food Nation (2006).

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SCIENCESOFT P R E S S

ScienceSoft Press #4, August 2016. Circulation 299 copies.

ScienceSoft Press – is a corporate magazine of IT-company ScienceSoft with headquarters in US – McKinney, TX, the EU – Helsinki, Finland and Minsk, Belarus. The issues is published in English, Belarusian and Russian languages. It focuses on professional and leisure activities of 450+ ScienceSoft employees located internationally. www.scnsoft.com

address 5900 S. Lake Forest Drive Suite 300 McKinney, TX, 75070, USA feedback vchaikouskaya@scnsoft.com editor-in-chief Volia Chajkouskaya art director Ales Belski illustration Anton Mekh text Volia Chajkouskaya, Maria Danko, Lola Volkova (Olga Koktysh), Ales Belski, Kate Kamarchuk, Darya Yafimava, Anton Mekh photography Anfisa Kosenkova, Alexander Obukhovich proofreading Darya Yafimava, Volia Chajkouskaya translation Volia Chajkouskaya, Darya Yafimava, Lola Volkova (Olga Koktysh)