ScienceSoft Press #8, July 2018

SCIENCESOFT P R E S S

#8 JULY 2018

SUMMER VS WINTER

CRUEL FIGHT—EVERYTHING’S ALLRIGHT!

BAKING BREAD BETTER CALL DENNIS

SCIENCESOFT TOP TERRACES SEE WHERE TO GO AFTER WORK

OH MAMA, I WANNA GO SURFING

SURFS UP, WE’RE GOING TO PORTUGAL!

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A WORD FROM CEO

I divide a year into two seasons—‘Winter‘ and ‘Summer‘, it is easier, at least for me (and military authorities:)). It is quite difficult to tell late winter from early spring, and late autumn from early winter, so I prefer to simplify my life where possible.

To my mind, each season is similar to a ‘small life‘: it starts gingerly and irresolutely, like a child, later becomes steady and finally dies with all marks of aging—with yellow and red leaves at the end of Summer or dirty and porous snow at the end of Winter…

Exactly as all kinds of living beings.

You have got this issue of ScienceSoft Press at good ‘Age‘ of Summer: it is in its best conditions: not too young, not too old. So, it’s time to

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meet it, relax and explore the World and yourself— to get the best impressions and to cheer yourself up for the next half of the year.

city Novy Sad, Bobruiskshina tyres in Romanian Craiova and discuss strengths of tractor Belarus with a Dungan peasant in Kyrgyzstan.

I run meetings with newcomers and see that almost all our employees stress enjoying from travelling around the world. This is what differentiates current generation from previous ones: borders are open and financial conditions allow us to travel whenever we want.

That is a great opportunity, why not to use it!

You will be surprised, when visiting Slovenia, you would find out that Slovenian famous countess Anna of Celje was the second wife of Jagello.

In Stockholm State museum you would see the portrait of Swedish King Sigismund I, akin (who is the living image of) to King of Poland and Great Duke of Lithuania Sigismund III… and yes, your guess would be right, the same person ruled Poland, Sweden (and Finland), Baltic States, Belarus, Ukraine and some other big and small countries…

Of course, not long, but about 7 years our ancestries lived in one country with the Swedes.

While crossing Chilean desert

Different countries, people, languages, culture, history and geography are amazing while you travel. It is even more interesting to find connections between different countries and Belarus. It is a pleasure to see MAZ buses in Serbian

EDITOR'S LETTER

Atacama, you would reach Cordillera Domeyko, quite strange name for Spanishspeaking country,…but you would understand that Ignacy Domeyko, famous Chilean scientist and explorer, originally hailed from Belarus…

While travelling, you bring back not only high spirits, suntan and new friends, you not only collect fresh impressions and discover hidden ties with Belarus, but you understand other people better, enrich your soul and become tolerant towards traditions and beliefs of other people. You unwind your mind!

So, Summer is young— plan, realize and enjoy your Vacations!

Nikolay Kurayev ScienceSoft CEO

The influence of Summer on my life can not be expressed in a few words: it affects me entirely - from the mood in the morning to the effectiveness of life decisions being made. I suppose it’s not just my particular story, because when thinking about summer, ‘Sunny’ by Boney-M or ‘Summer Moved On’ by A-HA and a dozen more beautiful songs immediately fly into my head, but yet it’s not so easy to find something similar in my mind with the word ‘Winter’, at least momentarily. I’ve never been asked a question like ‘What are your plans for the winter?’, I never wrote any essay on ‘My Winter Holidays’ topic. And I can say ‘Thanks for the memories’ to no other season except summer.

It doesn’t mean I don’t love snowy season, it’s fabulous.

I love Autumn for being born in September, and Spring is the time we wake up from cold, together with the whole nature. But Summer still has something special.

I came to ScienceSoft in early spring wearing boots and a warm sweater. I was told I’d be an editor of a corporate magazine featuring Summer theme in the upcoming issue, and this made me happy. Everyone would agree that one becomes more passionate while doing something that he or she genuinely loves. While preparing some articles, the weather was becoming warmer, and I was meeting lots of creative and innovative colleagues who are responsible for what they do, and this made me yet happier. I’d like to express my heartfelt thanks to those who contributed to this issue: you, who did not find requests for participation in surveys intrusive, you, who gave interviews, and all those who shared their creativity: photos, illustrations, texts, ideas, advice. Today I’m wearing sunglasses when I go to work and I feel happy for being a part of such a great Company, for doing what I love and being where I have to be, and I wish everyone to feel like I do. Feel the Summer!

Tatyana Parkhimovich Сhief editor

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Summer.

Pros & Cons There’s no one-size-fits-all option when it comes to Summer, as individual preferences often show how people choose to spend their Summer: at the office, in the countryside, at the seaside or anywhere else on Earth. In Summer the weather is warm, making some activities of everyday life more enjoyable. Days are simply longer allowing for more time under the sun and less time spent trying to keep warm.

Winter however is great, because firstly, belarusian winters are not too cold, and, you know, overheating isn’t great at all. Fall and Winter cooler temperatures can definitely make sleeping more comfortable. But, the winter season can be prone to higher chances of snow and even (brr!) rain - and the need for warmer (and bulkier) clothing may be necessary. Let’s figure out, which pros Summer has, and which cons to them Winter can propose.

Are you looking forward to waving bye-bye to summer parties and put on some extra layers of clothes? Are you the type that can’t wait for snowy season to be back in session and biathlon Cup to start? All the reasons why each of these seasons is (or is not) awesome, were asked to vote for by the ScienceSoft Office.

Here are the results of ScienceSoft Research!

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RESEARCH

Before we jump to the stats, let me show you some meaningful Pac-Mans.

29.7% 70.3%

Long days, short nights— I’m loving it 29.7% Waking up at 5 AM just because of the birds—it surely is not what I dream about

68.5%

I like summer activities: volleyball, roller skating, swimming, skateboarding, surfing, etc.

63.1%

31.5%

31.5% Bugs, flies and mosquitoes knock me off balance

I’m an active person and love camping, fishing, hiking, etc.

36.9%

36.9% Almost no snuggling on the sofa is awful! Where’s my pillow?!

Enough is enough, okay. There were more than a hundred ScienceSoft people participated in the research.

It was clear that there’d be more male than female respondents, but also, there were those (ab. 10%) who opted for staying incognito. Most of women care about beautiful tan and hydrated skin and almost all of them consider that bare people with pale bodies are not a problem when it comes to summer fashion. However men are mostly afraid of skin cancer (or they just don’t like soaking in the sun, idk) and almost not afraid of summer bugs and flies - they prefer spending their Summer in an active way. Thus and so, the absolute majority of respondents voted that:

• Wrapped-up squad VS those who don’t like gloves and hats; • Mosquito haters VS individuals with tender skin who can’t stand winter humidity level; • Slight introverts appreciating privacy VS party lovers.

And, the most cruel fights—Barbecue and Snow!

55.9% I love BBQ!

44.1%

49% Snow!

Snowballs, snowflakes.

I love snow!

51%

44.1% I’d like to have a 51% I hate ice on the little more variants driveways. Snow slush of meals instead of and water under feet. shashslyck every Digging car out in the weekend morning can make me late for work

Editor’s choice: I like barbeque weekends and hate what we have under the feet in winter, love sun tan on my skin and light summer dresses as much as dislike dark winter evenings and heavy parkas. Summarizing all pros and cons of each of the two seasons, ScienceSoft Stats shows us that SUMMER PROs WIN! You may like either elephant riding or curling—no matter, whatever floats your boat. Btw if you are an experienced elephant-rider or curler, and nobody still knows, please, keep all news of that kind in memory and don’t forget to become an interviewee for the next ScienceSoft Magazine!

Enjoy your summer!

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Text: Tanya Parkhimovich / Illusrtarions: Veranika Ardytskaya

• Having a chocolate tan is much stronger than the fear of skin diseases; • Long days rule, no matter what time birds wake up; • Summer fashion is cool regardless that somebody wears too little clothes; • Christmas season with its decorative illumination is what people really love; • Snuggling with hot chocolate and not being afraid of gaining weight dominates over active winter sports.

Opinions divided to nearly 50/50 on the following points:

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ScienceSoft Flavour

We’re often confused when being asked about what our hobby is. In accordance with Wikipedia, ‘Hobby is a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one’s leisure time. Hobbies can include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing sports, or pursuing other amusements‘. Well, let it be.

Each of us has something he or she is all about. Some are travelling lovers, the other are keen on spending free time at home—the direction of interests is mostly dictated by the lifestyle we lead, that’s why typical rolling stones are more often single and mobile having a lot of time to move from one place to another just for fun.

Here at ScienceSoft, there are yet many grown-ups who have already put down their roots, created a family and are making fun of daily routine that sometimes turns out to be a great regular activity that is done for everyone’s enjoyment. I’d like to speak with ScienceSoft baker, Dennis Irkhin, ServiceNow Developer who brings joy to our everyday office life by baking delicious bread.

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INTERVIEW

The story of Dennis as a baker started from the New Year 2018, his previous cooking experience was limited to Charlotte apple pie only. We had a talk with Dennis. ‒‒Is baking complicated?Are you self-taught or visited any special courses?

no any taste intensifiers, the loaf would be both healthier and more delicious.

‒‒Baking is absolutely easy if you know some how-to’s, all you need is a desire to make something tasty, no special skills are needed! My friends gave me some short practice-oriented instructions and I started to create!

‒‒Do you love cooking in general?

What about soup, main course, dessert?

‒‒What about some pro-devices and specific ingredients? ‒‒A special bread machine makes the process much easier, but, if you don’t yet have one, an oven is also OK! All the components for home bakery can be easily found in any supermarket, everything you limited by are your fantasy and tastes.

‒‒ Please, tell something about fails and wins of yours. Things don’t work the first time, and we know it. ‒‒When I first heard about baking bread from my friends, I went to a shop and spent about 50 BYN for flour and other components.

I cooked 10 loaves at once and all of them were a disaster.

My child tasted a piece and even got sick! After that, all the ingredients I had bought got spoiled with the course of time and moth appeared in our kitchen. We couldn’t get rid of it for half

‒‒Does a systematic bread consuming affect your shape and weight? ‒‒Well, yes, to be frank. But my wife and I try to keep fit dieting in-between. ‒‒And the last one question: can you imagine that one day you could get tired of your hobby and stop treating us with your masterstrokes? ‒‒No way. I’m planning to earn skills and make bread only better!

ScienceSoft appreciative audience of bread-addicts have even presented Dennis a branded cutting board—on which he rations the bread every day so that everyone can help themselves to his masterpieces.

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Text: Tanya Parkhimovich, Dennis Irkhin

The process of baking bread is, of course, more expensive than if to buy bread in a shop but, I think anyone would agree that an unpreserved, made with love and with

‒‒No-no-no! It’s not my thing.

I bake for my kids and wife, and I bake only, the other part of our home cuisine lies heavy on my wife.

a year after..:( It was a real nightmare for the family and I didn’t try baking thereafter until the recent time. But some time passed, and now I bake every day! Dark bread with dried plums as well as white with garlic and ginger fly off my branded cutting board immediately! White bread with garlic and ginger even got a name ‘Yadryon Baton‘ from ScienceSoft pastry amateurs :)

INTERVIEW

nis Irkhin

slau Piatrenka, Den

Left to right: Rastsia

Avoid th ose who don’t like bread an d childr en. ~ Swiss Pr overb

with d a e r b f o t s u r c y dr Better to eat a have a banquet in a ep ace of mind than ~ Christians le. house full of troub

– took e v o l l a e ike r Bread – l , strong n o i t a v i t l time, cu . patience d n a s d n loving ha rowing g d n a g n , risi It lived e under th y l n o n o to fruiti stances. m u c r i c fect most per a Hill ~ Meliss

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With bre ad all sorrows are less .~ Sancho P anza

t a h t g n i h t a t There is no n a h t e v i t si o p e r o is m y sk v e o st o D r o d o y F bread. ~

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Quick Recipe of Dark Bread from Dennis Water - 370 ml White flour 600 g Salt - 3 t/s

to Put lace p m r a wa 0 min. for 4 Dark flour (rye) 300g

r Suga

Mix everything rye Malt 6t/s

Dry plums 200g

I

bread

- 4t/s

Text: Tanya Parkhimovich / Illusrtarions: Veranika Ardytskaya

Yeast powder 3t/s

Sunflower Oil - 2t/s

r e fo n i h mac . g n i ime k g a e b te r nto a i i t r p Pu pro p a the OR y usl o i v r pre n hou e v n o a s to for s C e 0 c 3 o Pr to 2 p u ted hea ScienceSoft Press

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Best summer terraces Another Winter passed away, and Minsk citizens are looking to spend as much time outdoors as possible. In Summer our capital transforms itself into an outdoor city filled with trendy destinations to enjoy long days and cool nights. Indeed, as the sunsets in Minsk are of the most astonishing one has ever seen, Summer here is all about terraces with fantastic views and pleasant service. Now, we are going to discover best summer terraces in Minsk, according to ScienceSoft survey.

Here’s the TOP-4 10

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#4. Pinky Bandinsky Pinky Bandinsky is an atmospheric place in the quiet city center, suits both for meeting friends and having a date. Despite the fact that the restaurant is situated in the historical centre of Minsk and is expected to offer high prices, the menu is rather democratic. Fishcake, gyros with lamb, foo bou soup, and blueberry pie are among most popular positions on the menu.

A cozy summer terrace and the kitchen are placed on the first floor of the restaurant, and on the second,the hall with six-meter ceilings, a VIP room and a balcony overlooking the courtyard are placed. The interior is furnished with various antique accessories, crystal chandeliers and other unique items that make you feel like in a museum!

13A, Komsomolskaya str. +375 29 630 33 95 Sun-Thu: 12:00 PM to 00:00 AM Fri-Sat: 12-:00 PM to 03:00 AM European, American, Asian, Vegan

#3. BeerCap Barshop BeerCap is a place where local craft beer connoisseurs can try up to 200 different beers brought from the USA and Europe (England, Denmark, Holland, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, Norway) and other countries.

The aim of the BeerCap Project is to transform and develop beer culture of Belarus.

The place is tiny and casual, everybody stays in the backyard or on the terrace instead of sitting inside. The BeerCap shares terrace with El Pushka. It attracts city dwellers with its seclusion and special vibes of informality and joy.

10, Gertsen str.

8 029 630 02 10 Sun-Thu: 17:00 PM to 23:00 PM Fri: 17:00 PM to 01:00 AM Sat: 14:00 PM to 01:00 AM MON: dayoff Craft, beer snacks

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#2. Ember VII Heaven The Ember restaurant is positioned as ‘Dine&Wine’ and seems to have one of the widest wine collections in Minsk. Well, you can easily check it out by visiting its marvellous terrace. Ember VII Heaven on the 7th floor of the DoubleTree by Hilton is a terrace with a pictorial view at the historical center of Minsk, exquisite summer menu and an impressive variety of champagne.

In the afternoon, the Ember VII Heaven terrace is suitable for business meetings, leisurely lunches in the air and relaxation in lounge zone. In the evening, Ember turns into an excellent place for an aperitif and dinner with a panoramic view of sunsets. The price range of the location is medium+.

9, Pobediteley Ave +375 17 309 80 00 Mon-Sun: 12:00 PM to 23:00 PM Mediterranean, European

#1. Cafe de Paris Number one summer terrace as for ScienceSoft votes, is Café de Paris—a European cuisine restaurant from a large holding company, which also possesses Milano Café, Cafe ‘Balcony‘ and Union Coffee.

Despite the fact that it is called a cafe, the level of service and prices are much closer to restaurant, so if you’re planning to have a date in this Café, be ready and don’t get confused looking at the bill.

The terrace faces Karl Marx street—the heart of our city. Its territory is not too big, and there is a special terrace menu from the Chef. From Thursday to Saturday, the unforgettable atmosphere of french evening is created by dj sets and specially invited vocal groups. Hookah-lovers can feel elegant relax on the terrace of Café de Paris.

8, Karl Marx str. +375 29 129 11 11 Mon-Sun: 12:00 PM to 00:00 AM European, French, Italian 12

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Text: Tanya Parkhimovich

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t a h W s r e t of s e c n e i c S t a e d n a k n i r d

water

kholodnick

fruit

meat barbeque shashlyck

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vegetables

lemonade

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kvass

cola

beer

pina colada

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Text: Tanya Parkhimovich / Illusrtarions: Veranika Ardytskaya

sangria

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ScienceSoft Stats!

Anton Chekhov once said, that people don’t notice whether it’s Winter or Summer when they’re happy. But people are just a bit happier if born in Summer.

All in all, there are 123 ScienceSofters having birthday from June till August and you have a legal right to be jealous if you don’t have a b-day in summertime.

The advantages of being born in Summer are obvious: warm weather, long days, vacation time, and a dozen of variants of how to organize a birthday party. Here are some ideas for you, if you haven’t yet decided what to do! You’re welcome to accept (or not accept) some concepts on how to celebrate!

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STATISTIC

PARTY ON A BOAT Many cities offer dinner, party and booze places or evening rides around the city. Tour around the largest waterbodies near Minsk—get friends together and enjoy a different view of Minsk Sea!

THE POOL PARTY

Minsk already has some open-air pools today.

Order food and drinks there and just chill.!

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TAKE A COOKING CLASS

Want to improve your pasta- or cocktail-making skills and have fun (and food) while you’re doing it? Invite friends to come along and make it a birthday to remember.

MOVIETHEMED BIRTHDAY PARTY Re-create a party from your favorite movie— whether it’s ‘the Avengers‘ or ‘Gone with the wind‘, depends on audience.

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STATISTIC

So, to sum it all up, you can still join some party in ScienceSoft, here are the stats:

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ppl born in June— In July— ppl ppl In August—

Text: Tanya Parkhimovich / Illusrtarions: Veranika Ardytskaya

46 39

Happy Birthday to you!

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STATISTIC

Oh Mama, I Wanna Go Surfin',

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STATISTIC

Oh Mama, I don't Care about Nothing

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INTERVIEW

The act of riding waves with a wooden board originated from Western Polynesia over three thousand years ago. The first surfers were fishermen who discovered riding waves as an efficient method of getting to shore with their catch. Eventually catching waves developed from being part of everyday work to being a pastime.

As soon a you think of surfing the mind draws pictures of suntanned muscled guys conquering nature’s fury somewhere in exotic surroundings on the edge of the world. The names of the best spots excite imagination: Australia, Hawaii, Indonesia, South Africa, Peru, California, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Philippines, Brazil, Maldives, Samoa, Ecuador, New Zealand, Fiji, 22

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Oman, Puerto Rico, Japan, China, Canada. Too far and so tempting!

But there is a place that is well up to surfing top spots and is far more approachable for Belarusians.

Portugal! Absolutely amazing country that really stands out of European countries with its national character.

With 1,794 km of Atlantic coastline, mild climate, some of the best waves in Europe and gold-sand beaches, Portugal is a surfer’s paradise. The coast picks up north, south and west swells, which means cool surfing conditions all year round on a wide variety of waves for all levels and tastes. That’s the reason why there are more than 300 surf camps along the Portuguese Atlantic Ocean shore.

INTERVIEW

Vladimir Fomin, Senior ServiceNow developer, has visited one of them, Baleal Surf Camp, for three times already. That’s why he is granted the status of experienced surf-camping expert of this ScienceSoft Press issue!

And he kindly agreed to give us a glance at what is happening there. ‒‒Vladimir, what prompted you to try surfing? ‒‒A friend of mine. But initially the idea was from kinda ‘top 10 summer activities‘ somewhere over Internet. ‒‒Did you face any mismatches between your expectations and reality? ‒‒I had no expectations of the activity as well as of the country due to my absolute lack of information about both. Anyway, I liked everything.

The main surprize was that surfing turned out to be far more hard physically than I imagined.

Being an onlooker I thought it was as easy as pie.

Puerto Rico (top right) Photo by Ryan Craig Somewhere in New Zealand Photo by Estrada (bottom right) ScienceSoft Press

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INTERVIEW

‒‒Did you like the place, infrastructure, atmosphere? ‒‒The place, the surfer-tourist village of Baleal, is excellent. It’s near Peniche, and about 100 kilometers from Lisbon.

On the outskirts of Peniche there is a spot where the World Surfing Championship takes place.

In fact, there are three surf locations around and almost always there are conditions for riding.

The only thing you have to take into consideration: the place is not too happening, few hangouts and parties.

You can count all the bars nearby on fingers. At the same time that makes the atmosphere warm and family-like, everyone knows each other.

There is an absolute feeling of community, a private be-in with long kitchen talks and non-stop knowledge sharing at the camp. Surfing is really an activity that creates its own culture and lifestyle.

We were the only Russian-speaking people in the camp for a long period.

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Although over time, some Russian and Ukrainian guys also joined.

Pretty much everybody still was from european countries. And some ‘exotic‘ guys—from RSA and Brasil. ‒‒What’s the schedule? Is it difficult to keep up to the rhythm of training? ‒‒An average program lasts for two weeks. The timing is quite flexible.

We usually took a week of training at the camp: 5 days with 2 sessions a day, in the morning and in the afternoon.

The starting time depends on the rise of the tide and it is usually 8 a.m.– 9 a.m. That was not a problem for us because we lived 100 m away from the spot. First days are tough, you hardly have stamina to make it out to the evening. But as soon as you draw into it becomes much easier and you even find energy for other activities: parties, cycling around, excursions, whatever.

The second week we usually left for ‘self-study‘. By the way the guys who had spent the whole two weeks at the camp complained afterwards that the second week was almost unbearable and they’d better not take it.

INTERVIEW

Wave in Portugal Photo by Vladimir Fomin (top left) Turn around and go Photo by surfer magazine (top right) Wave in New Zealand Photo by Estrada (bottom right)

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INTERVIEW

‒‒How can you evaluate you technical level and progress? ‒‒At the beginning the progress was evident, but at some point it stopped.

At the moment I can catch a green wave and slide along it, but not always successfully. (*Green wave is an unbroken, clean wave, in comparison to whitewater—a wave that has already broken). ‒‒What is the biggest wave you managed to catch? ‒‒It’s about 1 meter I guess. Hard to judge. When you’re on the wave, it seems not so big, but if it hits you it seems really huge. ‒‒Do you do anything to keep in trim during off-season? ‒‒I don’t do anything special. But I know that everyone suggests doing yoga and swimming, training stand ups and balancing on proper equipment. ‒‒When is the best season to surf in Portugal?

Text: Volha Shpak

‒‒I don’t think it really matters.

I’ve been there in late spring and early autumn. Summer is too expensive and overcrowded. ‒‒Do you already plan your next surf trip?

Will it be the same place? ‒‒For sure, I’ll visit Portugal again.

As well as some new exotic spot.

I don’t have any definite plans yet.

Vladimir Fomin (top left) Vladimir Fomin (bottom left) Photo by Ben Thouard (right)

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‒‒Can you describe the feeling that surfing grants. What is its schtick? ‒‒ Frankly it’s quite a strange activity: 80% of the time you devote to paddling, 15%—to waiting for the wave and only 5%—to surfing it. But I like that all!

For me surfing is about seclusion, it is the mix of fun and fight in the water.

INTERVIEW

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Exploring

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INTERVIEW

Cold Seasides

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PHOTO STORY

All this magazine is full of Summer Odes. Yes, Summer is really great and most of us love it, but there are still many people who aren’t summer junkies at all.

This material was written by Tania Foksova, our copywriter from Marketing dept, especially for those who appreciate something more refreshing.

Curonian Spit and Near It was a sudden decision, and I was pretty limited in time and budget, so I just took the camera and knitting, entrusted my cat Glafira (you could see her in one previous edition, and now she also has her Instagram @glaffira_music_cat :)) to my sister and rushed to the airport to fly closer to the sea.

It was a really unforgettable experience living by the seaside, walking early in the morning

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down an empty seashore and enjoying peace and silence, and sometimes—good music from my player.

I also had a great excursion on the Curonian Spit with a local guide (we’ve met by accident— well, it’s a long story, come to me and I’ll tell you :))—again, early in the morning, no tourists at the places of interest, driving in a lovely jeep listening to good old hard rock songs.

PHOTO STORY

Curonian Spit (bottom left) Zelenogradsk (top right) Zelenogradsk (bottom right)

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Zelenogradsk (top left) Zelenogradsk (top right)

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PHOTO STORY

P.p.s.: after this travel, I’ve caught a cold (surprising, isn’t it?), and in a day upon my return I had to play with my band at the show. With all these 39 degrees it was the unique experience, and I’ve half-forgotten my part in one song and had to go with improvisation :).

P.p.p.s.: if you happen to be in those places, don’t miss to visit the cat museum (www.murarium.ru) and the skeletons museum (www.m-ch-s.com) (they are just in the neighboring buildings).

As there are only a few pics in our magazine, and the report itself is more massive, please, find some more at this qr.

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Text: Tania Foksova / Photo: Tania Foksova

P.s.: I love heat and hot countries as well, and I have a couple of dream destinations in Latin America, but there are also plenty of cold seashores I hope to explore some days.

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Fit and healthy Almost each of us cares about keeping fit and healthy. Everything fitness-related starts with a healthy mindset—healthy body, healthy mind! Whether it’s about reducing stress, enhancing your mind or to improve overall happiness, being active matters a lot, and there are many ways in which exercise can help balance all aspects.

Besides providing us with a long and fulfilled life, exercising helps to know what the best version of you looks and feels like. Let’s see, what some ScienceSofters do to be fit. Physically and mentally.

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PHOTO STORY

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INTERVIEW

Work Hard, Play Hard Somebody just eats clean, others train hard and keep to strict dieting, somebody eats like a hippo and still stays skinny and good-looking (girls usually call such people ‘witches’), and some of us don’t care about healthy food and fitness at all—they love themselves just the way they are (and they are absolutely right) enjoying all the tastes of pure life. No one today can get surprised by permanent gym visits, yoga practice or jogging in the morning, but there are still people who have some relatively uncommon methods of training their body and mind.

r Andrei Badzilouski, Lead HR Manage of ScienceSoft, does street workout — a physical activity performed mostly in outdoor parks or public facilities.

Some day in February 2016 Andrei was surfing the net and couldn’t find out a new kind of sport to try. Suddenly he came across one video where a young girl performed 360 flip trick on a bar and couldn’t believe his eyes. That was the moment he decided to try to repeat it.

Text: Tanya Parkhimovich, Andrei Badzilouski

The greatest thing of street workout is that it can be performed anywhere and whenever: you don’t need a gym and a personal trainer, all you have to do is to recruit your willpower, go outside and find a special street workout ground somewhere nearby (usually not far from from your block of flats).

Apart from evident pluses of street workout, such as optionality of special equipment and availability of chin-ups on each yard’s playground, Andrei’s reasons of doing street workout are quite distinct but at least informal. Here they are!

• WO gives opportunity of infinite physical skills development; • WO features artistic component: you can create your own combinations and perform them how you like it; • WO helps stay out-of-format. It means that each athlete can define his own goals and style, not looking at worldwide standards.

As for the standards, Andrei prefers to assert his own ones. He doesn’t like being interrupted by so-called ‘old campaigners’, who normally tend to comment what others do. He’s also concerned about those ones who set targets and try to reach them, depriving themselves of a pleasure of trainings.

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‒‒Goals are unnecessary, I suppose. It is an issue for anyone, in each sport activity. You make progress as long as you feel satisfaction from the process, no longer you succeed if drilling for overcoming a certain milestone,—he says.

The community of workouters is quite massed, and the inspiring point is that there are lots of youngsters who do unbelievable things on trainings. They probably lack the self-preservation instinct, but they are truly cool at feats.

Andrei still alerts amateurs from some dangerous things they might do: performing tricks requires a certain physical preparation and knowledge of safety techniques if you don’t want to get damaged. Andrei has always been doing some sports: muay thai, breakdance, gym, cycling, jogging.

So, if you feel strong enough and are sure of yourself, why not to try performing a trick, nah?;) One can easily do several pull-ups just throughout walking a doggo in the morning and it is great! This kind of sport suits almost anyone who watches money and wants to stay strong and agile, anyone who wants to shake up muscles regardless of season and presence of special equipment and, of course, anyone who just wants to feel some fun and self-satisfaction.

INTERVIEW

Blow a Kiss, Fire a Gun! Yet one more way to brush up your thoughts is shooting. It’s not about shooting stars, it is a totally precise gun-work and rifle shooting.

The more attractive point about this activity, is when girls shoot.

Nastassia Kulik, our researcher from HR Dept, is ScienceSoft’s gunslinger.

She took her first shot when she just wanted to destress, tumbled on the nearest shooting gallery and took a Colt. With the course of time, her instructor informed her of the kinds of pneumatic and firing ammo, of how rifles and guns differ from each other, of how to breathe, put legs and arms while shooting and of course how to aim.

Makarov gun (which bounds most of them all).

Two years from now, she targeted successfully by about 60%, and now, the 90-95% of shots hit the bull’s eye.

Nastya smiles while talking about shooting.

Having a look at her, you can’t pretend this pretty girl has such a hobby. Interestingly: about 2/3 of her shooting club’s regular visitors are young girls, not those who accompany their boyfriends, but the ones that repetitively go for shooting and make progress. Nastya doesn’t rule out that one day she’s gonna take professional courses and learn how to shoot from firing guns.

Colt 1911

Nastya couldn’t imagine that a once-daily idea could turn into almost two years of regular trainings. She tried Colt, Beretta and even

Text: Tanya Parkhimovich, Nastassia Kulik

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INTERVIEW

Longboard to Cut a Long Story Short Longboard is a type of sports equipment that is similar to a skateboard but is much longer Yours, Cap. Longboards are certainly a subcategory of skateboards, in other words, all longboards ARE skateboards. Really, when you see somebody on a board, most often there’s no idea whether it’s a longboard or just a skate.

Ihar Rubanau, Senior iOs Developer of ScienceSoft, agreed to share his Press. longboard experience with ScienceSoft While both longboards and skateboards have decks, wheels, trucks and other same components, the specs on these components are different in these types of boards. The reason?

Riding on longboards tends to be more focused on street and mountain styles. Street styles include relaxed city ride (cruising) and some stylish tricks while moving (dancing and freestyle). Mountain style is about moving from top of the hill on high speed—downhill, slalom, carving and sliding. The community Ihar is in, focuses on mountain styles.

Main differences between skate- and longboard for newbies: All styles of riding require some specific equipage, but if you simply wanna differ a longboarder from a skateboarder—just look at the board and its wheels: if the board seems to be big and the wheels are more than a fistsize—you are most likely seeing a longboarder.

Longboards can be equipped with various bushings, bearings and other accessories, but in general it is just bigger than a skate.

Longboards provide a smoother riding, when compared to skateboard, thanks to their larger, wider and softer wheels acting as shock absorbers, reducing any bumps you feel when the longboard rolls over cracks or any debris. Skateboards are more manoeuvrable and slight.

Longboard movement is not so widely spread comparing it with, for example, hockey or football and it is understood why: it has no mass character, as not anyone can ride a longboard being a fiveyear kid playing in the yard. On one hand, there are no specified grounds with ramps and other 38

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objects that could be used for practice; on the other—any slope with good asphalt covering is yet a training spot. The situation in other countries is a little better, especially in those where bicycle movement is on the go. It is explained by the quality of the asphalt cover of cycling lanes: they are nice and smooth abroad and they just ARE in Belarus. Sometimes the only designation of a lane is road marking, but the asphalt is covered with stones and holes—and the pleasure from riding down such a lane is quite doubtful. However, we all should understand that longboard is more a for-fun activity but not an official kind of sport. Usually about 30–50 people gather for some events, which are held about 4 times per season. Traditionally event has downhill contest to determine the fastest rider. All participants divide into groups of 4–5 people and compete with each other tracking time and gradually moving to the finish line, where the speeds sometimes aggregate to above 70 km/h! The fastest one wins. There are also some prankish or fun contests—riding in the most freaky manner or performance of the longest slide.

Our contests host a lot of foreign longboard riders, mostly from Russia, there are usually about ⅓ of non-belarusian contestants.

INTERVIEW

Ihar started riding in 2016, and he didn’t take part in any contest that year as he wasn’t skilled enough. 2017 brought him a trauma and he missed the major part of the season. Season 2018 is spinning up and he’s going to become a participant of an annual contest, so if you’d like to see how it works, try to ride or just get to know someone new—welcome to ski-and-roller track in Vesnyanka and in Raubichi. Anyone can ride—be you from 16 to 60 years old, from 40 to 100 kilos weight, be you a man or a woman— all you have to possess are two hands, two legs, a helmet, knee- and elbow supporters and just a desire to try something new. Comparing the price of longboard equip with other activities, those who ride a snowboard can take away approximately 30% from winter sport—so you can afford a cool device+safety equipment.

Ihar is very open and welcoming talking about longboard. He notes that you should not be afraid to start—each event has free workshops and boards for first-timers! You just have to address the event organizers. Longboard community is newbie-friendly:)

Text: Tanya Parkhimovich, Ihar Rubanau

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INTERVIEW

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editors office: 220040, 2 Bedy Street, Minsk, Belarus contact us: pr@scnsoft.com

ScienceSoft Press #8, July 2018. Circulation 299 copies.

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

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chief editor: Tatyana Parkhimovich art-director: Veranika Ardytskaya illustrations: Veranika Ardytskaya texts: Nikolay Kurayev, Tatyana Parkhimovich, Volha Shpak, Tania Foksova (Tania Dzibuk), Dzianis Irkhin, Andrei Badzilouski, Nastassia Kulik, Ihar Rubanau, Vladimir Fomin