Author: Serg

PW#7 My First Built Computer

It all began on a Wednesday (unsure of the date), when I asked my father if all the parts were ready to be put together. We were planning to build this computer for about a week now, and as soon as I got my confirmation I was overly excited. It was Summertime, meaning no homework, no stress, and the availability of creating big projects began to arrive. Later, that same Week-end my Father and I gone to his work place, where I was surprised to see all the necessary electronics which made up the computer. Back then, I barely knew anything about computers, and so, when my dad told me only I was to build it I was shocked and began to work right away.

While building the computer, I asked my dad all sorts of questions; The age of the computer (15 as of this year), and if I was able to take it home today as well. Of course, he said yes, however, he first told me to assemble it. Being as careful as I could be I started by installing the CPU, which was the Core 2 Quad then the cooler, then the motherboard G33T, an LGA 775 socket with ddr2 ram slots.. This then went into the Silverstone Multimedia case (used for watching movies and being compact vertical wise. After installing the Motherboard in to the system, the earlier mentioned ddr2 ram (which has a maximum frequency of 800mhz) 4gb was installed (then later upgraded to 8gb). Luckily, the case already had a Power Supply, so all that was left was to plug in the Graphics Card (Geforce GTX 650), plug in it’s connector, connect the SSD (Solid State Drive), and boot up the system.

As it turns out, the system worked amazing with Linux Mint installed onto it. This was a major breakthrough in my interest level, and even to this day I open the computer up, clean it, and look for alternatives for certain parts.  In total, at the time of creating the computer the cost was $290. For  the 3d modelling tasks I use the computer for, it works great, however, the lack of speed and modern compon3ents is marked by the unstable or unsupported  apps which every now and then let me know of their existence.

– Iaroslav Serg Pyrozhok

IRJE #6

In the book “I am Algonquin”, the book depicts the life of the tribe, its history, wars, and the life of a Chief and Great Warrior, Mahingan.

“Fellow Family Heads and Chiefs, I do not think that our enemies from the North have come to wage war on us, because if that was their plan they wouldn’t be so Obvious about their presence”, Mahingan (p.102).

 Later that day, Mahingan was told by the people that they are here to see him, so he was called to greet them. Turns out Mahingan was right, and the people from the North didn’t want to wage war, instead they wanted to play lacrose, which would decide if the people from the North could hunt here or they Should leave. 

At the current point of the book, both tribes are getting ready for this game, preparing sticks, lodges for the injured in battle (of the game) and obtaining loads of food for both of the tribes.

PR “Ancient Mariner” and My Experience Memorizing and Reciting 5 Stanzas

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner really did hit different compared to other stories we have read this year. Unlike the others, it uses psychologic tactics to not only take the readers attention, but to also keep them at nerve until the climax has passed. This did prove to be a very successful tactic since cliff-hangers (which happened here and there) occurred right at the end of a certain chapters creating a suspense forcing the reader to read on. This passage (like all the others) doesn’t hold a message, but before you say anything let me show you what I mean; books and passages don’t deliver messages, it just brings us information which we chose to interpret in many ways and take out a lesson out of them. In this exact passage I have learned that we must value the small and big things that happen throughout our little adventure (life), as well as you never realise how valuable someone is until they are gone. Unfortunately this lesson I have learned the hard way when I was younger, since my grandfather has passed away from cancer in 2019, as well as my dog passing away.

Due to my inability of working on memorizing the 5 stanzas (due to my sickness) I had to resort to procrastination (I understand this is a very bad habit but try not to use it often) in order to not fail this assignment. The whole memorization took no longer than a ferry from Vancouver Island to Mainland (1.35 hours), and I must say that I was comfortable with presenting these stanzas.

However, despite me practicing over and over, getting to the point of where I “not only got it right, but couldn’t get it wrong” (Mr. Herv Kejgal, old Music Teacher, a wise man who has taught me valuable lessons for life). This self confidence was soon dissipated as I was called up to the front of the class in seemingly no time, which has lead me to be nervous. The nervousness has caused me to forget one of the lines, which made me a little more nervous. I did however come to realize that I had to keep my tempo, which has allowed me to deal with the nervousness as all I did was take long, deep, breaths in order to calm myself down; and wouldn’t you know it, it worked! After such a rollercoaster I finally sat down with a strong sense of relief and belief in myself for next time:

As the overall lesson, I have now seen what procrastinating would do to me if I kept it up (quite a bit of students failed to memorize their scripts causing them to get a low mark, which is very unfortunate for them, hence why this post covers this topic.

–Iaroslav Serg Pyrozhok

PW#6

Yesterday, after a long day filled with an Exam, and some other tiring subjects, I sat in the car with my Siblings and my Father. My Father had to take work to a Dental Lab, so we kind of sat there and did nothing. After a bit of time, we heard somebody tapping on our trunk, and upon me turning around, I was met with the sight of my now new PC (Personal Computer), which my dad has gotten from the owner of the Dental Lab (I believe). Since my other computer is 11 years old, having a computer that’s younger is always a pleasure (it is from the 2010 s). It has a Core 2 Duo E7300, which is faster than a Core 2 Quad (Q6600) I used to have. Despite this being nearly rocket science to you (since you fail to understand the terminology and why I am excited for getting such an old pc) I will only have to say that since I grew up with low powered and weak computers, the best I could do is learn about them and try to create one which would suit my needs. Despite having a Dual Core CPU (Central Processing Unit) it has a Download speed over 36 times faster and Upload 8 times faster than my Old Computer. I am very thankful to that Person, and now I am planning to create a sleeper Steampunk Build with this new piece of old technology.

-Iaroslav Pyrozhok

IRJE#5

Having finished the book Ishmael, I may now discuss what meaning this book has. This book centres around a gorilla named Ishmael, who was caught in the jungles of Africa at a young age, and has lived in a zoo until being bought out by Walter Sokolow, and learned to communicate with him telepathicly. This caused him to learn, until the death of Walter Sokolow. He finds himself alone with a part of estate owned by Walter to his name, and tries to find students to which he may share his teachings.

I won’t spoil much of the book, however, in this book, Ishmael is viewing from a different perspective with a narrator who learns about Ishmael’s culture, and how the humans divide into two groups: Leavers and Takers.

And then ten thousand years ago one branch of the Homo Sapiens said, “Man is exempt from this law. The Gods never meant man to be bound by it” (p.124)

This passage talks about how we weren’t meant to be, since we only ruin the planet, by litter and pollution. This book discusses how Ishmael tries to fight with the human regime, for example, with human supremacy. Going into Full detail won’t be necessary, since the message of the book has been provided, however, for those who feel they want to know what harm we may cause to Mother Earth, proceed with exploring!

– Iaroslav Pyrozhok 

PR

In the Play “Our Town” (by Thornton Wilder), we see the two main characters (Emily and George) change significantly throughout the story:

The book centres on their childhood, teen ages, living together, and the death of Emily. She died during childbirth of her second son, at only 26. She then sees how all of her relatives are waiting for her, all dead. She then wishes to go back to her 12th birthday, she sees her young mother, father, and the rest of her family. After finding out his wife is dead, George is seen weeping by her grave, as the scene ends with the sky clearing up from the rain with beautiful stars coming out over the town Grover’s Corners.

Once I had finished reading the book, I reflected on it by seeing how it resembles our lives. Most people seem to forget the value of what they have, own, or kept, until they lose it. Now, this is relative to me in a way, since I have lost my grandfather after he failed to beat cancer (he was one of the many fallen but glorious Chernobyl Liquidators, whom have lost their lives fighting with an invisible enemy, and although they didn’t survive the battle, they have won the war, reducing the amount of radiation significantly.

 

 

PW#5: Radio Operator Course

This past weekend I struck luck and got access to the ROC (Restricted Operator’s Certificate) course consists of SOCP. SCOP stands for Ship’s Operative Cooperative Program. During my stay there, I have learned how to properly communicate through the radio, for example, how to call in a distress call:

Mayday Mayday Mayday! This is Raven Raven Raven, Mayday. Located approximately 10 Nautical Miles south of Esquimalt BC. Crashed against a coral reef, boat sunk, 2 people on board 1 injured. Require immediate medical attention, this is Raven, Over.

I also learned that whilst using the radio, there are certain rules to follow: Don’t say repeat (in  the military they take that as strike again), instead say: “Say again?”, don’t say over and out whilst on the radio (Over means you are waiting for a response and out means that your broadcast is over, no response needed. Over the whole course of the weekend, I have also learned how responsibility spreads upon you. If you broadcast on a military/police channel, create a false distress call, or use channel 16 (coast guard channel) as a fool around channel, all the people in charge have to do is calculate where you are (using the method of triangulation) and pinpoint your exact location. Radios also have different purposes: Broadcast/receive messages, radar, even sonar (they all use waves at different frequencies to receive and send signals. To top this all off, I must say that this $300 course (which I got to go to for free) was worth it and now I am an owner of a Radio License which is good for life.

  • Iaroslav Serg Pyrozhok

The Story of Joseph (PR)

When we first began this excerpt from the bible, I believed that it would be boring, and I even wondered to a certain extent as to why we are even reading it. However, as it was shown in the book, everything has a meaning, and after some thought, I realised that it was 2 things at once: For if a soul commits a sin upon you, ye shall not keep grudge for long, as well as showing that little signs are important in life, so being more interested in the surroundings is and will be one important aspect moving forward. Overall the story was proven to be an effective source of propaganda (I believe this since: A, although I am religious religion itself takes a toll on a lot of the population, as well as it stating stuff along the lines of “I must love my enemy”, which is really unbelievable/ very doubtedly ever going to happen. as well as B, some people close themselves right to answer effectively, especially in today’s standards where we use big words (swears) practically every other sentence.)

On the other hand, however, I must say that this was an enjoyable book with plot twists which left you anxious for the brethren of Joseph.
-Iaroslav Serg Pyrozhok

IRJE#4 The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner, is a book I would recommend to those who have a deep understanding on history and other aspects which lay in this book. It is very important to keep in mind that even the most simplest of sentences has very deep meaning to it. For example, a few years after losing his father, he is asked if he remembers what his father (Baba) looks like, and this is his response:

I thought of Baba’s thick neck, his black eyes, his unruly brown hair.. “I remember what he looked like.. What he smelled like too”. (p. 333, the Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini)

This is the prime example we can put in front of ourselves whilst analysing his behaviour. He sometimes, does act bad towards others, but on the inside, he is just a man broken by emotion. This is spread from a very young age, from birth, to be exact. His mom has passed away during his birth, and he always blamed himself for it because his father looked tired and depressed most of the time. He even thought that if he would win the Kite Festival with his friend, Hussan, he would finally make his father proud and forgive him for such a terrible fate which has struck him at a very young age.

This book, does however, give you lessons: Prime one being, that you shouldn’t blame yourself for everything, only when time is right. This book, is full of grief, during the Afghan war, and there, the father of his friend Hussan kills himself because of how messed up the situation got (from what I can remember they were in a house basement with no food or water, and that is why it happened), and this example leads us to another lesson, be like a balloon, when pushed underwater (the variable for bad fate), turn away and begin on a new page.

  • Iaroslav Serg Pyrozhok

PW#4 The Weekend

I know that the title doesn’t look nor sound thrilling, but, that is kind of the main point here. It has recently come to my attention that lately all of the weekends pass by so quickly, that I barely get any chance to rest. It feels like Friday is the longest day of all, and then afterwards Saturday i can’t remember about, almost like in the time of sunset to the time of dawn Saturday passes in between that time. Sunday is the shortest and busiest day, which, in my opinion, should be a relaxing day. This particular past weekend, was really short, perhaps, too short. Everything I can remember was on Friday I was eating Pizza and then on Sunday I was rushing, cleaning, cooking, and doing other chores. To put it this way, I am living a very adulthood life, Pay check to Pay check kind of style (Friday to Friday). This of course is a very wrong life style, so I am making a goal for myself: I plan to improve my lifestyle by going outside and walking my dog for an hour after school to sort of “Lengthen the time” for a little bit.

To further improve my lifestyle, I will also spend time with my family because they are the only valuable ones in our life. I can also go and draw with my sisters since they are very good drawers.

-Serg

IRJE#3 The Kite Runner

Throughout the 106 pages I read so far, this book proved to be very meaningful and interesting. However, this rather short paragraph which transcribes everything that occurred in chapter 8 is rather weird. So, let me walk you through something interesting and shocking which occurs next;

On page 97, Hassan and Amir walk up and down hills making small talk, and that is when Amir promised that he would read Hassan a story he has written, however, while they were walking to where Amir wanted to read, Hassan asked about school, what Amir was learning, and his teacher. Amir started to talk about how he hated the math teacher and how she would punish talkative students by putting a metal rod between student’s fingers and squeezing them together, but after Hassan winced and said he hoped he would never experience such punishment. Amir’s counterargument was simple: Since his father was rich and well known, Amir had a good excuse to get away from such serious punishment. After this, they come up to a pomegranite tree with their names carved into it, forcing him to want to return home since he hasn’t seen Hassan in a long time. Hassan tries to weld the gap between them, but Amir refuses, and instead throws Pomegranites at his close friend. “Fight Back!” he yelled, but all Hassan did, was take a Pomegranite and smash it into his head and said:

“There! Is this what you wanted?!” (pg.98, The Kite Runner)

After this, they both dispurse and walk home.

-Serg

PW#3: Waterpolo Tournament

Just this passed weekend, I had the great opportunity to directly participate in a Championship which involved international players from 12 – 16 +, and lasted from Friday to Sunday (Oct. 27-29th).

On the first day, I had to get there at 2:00pm to be in time for the event. However, the mixed plans of my parents became evident and I ended up going to the pool a whopping 2 hours earlier; at 12:00pm.

On the first day my age group played 2 games, whose intervals were pretty thrown about. The first game was from 2:50 to 3:30, while the second game was at 5:20, to 6. Sadly, I was picked up half an hour later meaning that I spent a whopping 7 hours at an event on the first day. The two games were a large success, my team won and it was really fascinating to see how good we really were.

On the second day, we also had 2 games, lasting from 10:20 am and 11 am to 4:10 pm – 5:50pm. On the second day I decided not to go to the evening game since it was a very big interval and plus I would have better things to work on. The game ended up a tie, causing me to be nervous for the upcoming round for my teammates.

On the third and final day things took a drastical turn. The game began at 7:50 and ended at 8:40, which we unfortunately lost due to the other team playing in a very cheatful manner (Pulling underwater by swimsuits). This meant that my team of this age group was disqualified from the competition, meaning that we were free to leave and they gave us luck for next time.

IRJE#2: The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner, is a book with a very deep meaning behind it. The stories told in this book depict mid Afghan war ad people throughout Afghanistan. The main Character (Amir) and his best friend (Hassan) go to a festival every winter to launch kites. However, this was no ordinary event, as during the mass chaos and hundreds of kites flying, many tangle or get taken down. The goal of the game is to be the last one “standing”.

“In the winter of 1975, I saw Hassan run a kite for the last time. Usually, each neighbourhood held it’s own competition. But that year the competition was going to be held in my neighbourhood.. You could hardly go anywhere without hearing talk of the upcoming tournament.”

This quote symbolises that in areas like Afghanistan, where the industrialization and evolution of tech has not occurred, people get entertained by such a tiny thing, for us, the ones who revolutionised. This leads me to believe that we should all be grateful for what we have and not to disrespect those who are in a tough situation today (Israel, Ukraine, Afghanistan, parts of Africa, North Korea, and other countries which are con-full)

-Serg

Personal Response: Master and Man

Ever since I finished the book, I was pretty devastated that Vasili froze to death. He was more on the antagonist side, challenging the route by rushing. (When I was growing up, I was always taught that balance is key to success, as disbalance may lead to major problems) I am a very sensitive person, so reading or even seeing a person die (yet alone experience it (be it in a movie, book, or real life)) will kind of cause grief, especially if I connected with the characters and lore of the story. If they were more thoughtful, or thought about the whole situation twice, they would have made the choice of staying the night.

Furthermore, I got really attached to the horse, as throughout the whole book it is used in ways that are sad (for example, I think that riding or using a horse for labour is torture, that was why we developed the Sterling engine, Diesel engine, and electric engines as well as turbines to improve transportation and labour. Nowadays especially, horses are used for rides; be it in a Club or in Downtown near the Legislative building.) Nikita and Mukhorty bonded very well in the story, and it was very significant to me that their connection was so superior.

I know that the two established a big relationships because when Vasili tries to save himself, the horse, despite Vasili’s efforts, decides not to leave Nikita, as he, the horse’s whole life, taken care of it.

The story reminds me of a quote I heard from when I was little: “Don’t Underestimate Nature, or else the price you will pay is drastical.”

I can relate this story to a real life incident which has occured in open waters:

In 2013, a man by the name of Harrison Ockene and his crew sunk down to a depth of 30 metres, near the cost of Nigeria. After 3 days, when he along with his 11 crew members were thought to be dead, a crew of divers were sent to retrieve the bodies of the passed, however, when they were swimming by the kitchen, a hand stuck out and grabbed them. Turns out, this 29 year old survived using only an air bubble and Coca cola.

This story has shaken me, and what’s even crazier is the man himself swore that he would never come near to open water ever again.

PW#2

I had a decent weekend, but to be honest, it passed by so quickly that when I think of it now I can’t seem to remember what I did on Saturday. The weekend, started off like any other, long awaited; feels like a paycheck to paycheck life style. The weekend gave out a false sensation of lasting a while, but oh boy was I wrong.

“It flew by us like we were standing still”

(A crewmate of the B-17 Superfortress which was named by its crew as Memphis Belle (the crew member was referring to a new type of weapon that Nationalistic Germany made; the first ever Jet powered controllable vehicle (jet fighter)))

While many can argue it was a reasonable length, I can re assure you that it was not. On Saturday (October 7th) Blake and I biked to Sidney for a water from Starbucks (yes, I have Starbucks near my house) and got some Pizza from Pizza Hut. After which, we turned back and bussed home. After these operations, I had to go and bike a Kilometer back to my place. This whole operation took us 4 hours to complete. After Saturday, Sunday was a big Blur; All I did was spend time with my dog and Call Ryan on Discord.

Monday however, was a day and night difference to the two previous days; I spent the whole day cleaning the house and helping my parents with tasks that later would allow us to celebrate Thanksgiving in peace. The Turkey, was surprisingly well made, however, the inside was dry. To improve this, next year I am going to Marinate the Turkey for a couple of hours (Specifically 10; a bird has a maximum marinade time of 12 hours, anything above the limit makes the Turkey soggy and not really tasty.

(IRJE #1) ATV’s and Modern War vehicles

The quote underneath symbolises how the Soviet era t-72 entered service on the front line.

“Although the Soviet T-72 entered service in 1973, this tank (and its upgraded alternatives) remained in the front-line service in 41 nations throughout the 1990s and into the 21st century. These included Soviet-built domestic-use, Soviet-built export, and other nation licensed-production tanks.” (p.23)

This quote also states that even post Soviet Era, the T-72 (and its upgraded counterparts) remained in service as a reliable front line force.

Serg’s Fascinating Tech

Hello, my name is Serg! I will do my best to best describe me in the 3 paragraphs following this rather short introduction.

I am 14 years old and I go to a wonderful school named Brookes Westshore (I have been there for a year now). I myself was was born in the second largest city in Ukraine, Kharkiv. My biggest interests are as follows: I enjoy spending repugnant hours trying to bring tech back to life (computers, phones, etc.) as well as knowing quite a bit about tech myself: I also enjoy coding as well as updating microcode for the CPU (central processing unit). My dad and I have both interests in Dentistry (my dad works as a Dental technician and I hope to study for a Dentist). With myself growing I find that my level of interest also elevates. It feels like very recently I used to only build cardboard ships and now I have learned the way PC (personal computer) parts interact and cooperate amongst each other. While I enjoy Tech, and Computing greatly, I must not forget anything regarding my personal attributes.

Whenever I find a book which catches my attention, whether by interest or by gradual story-line build up, I don’t hesitate and begin reading it like my life depends on it. Heck, I once read the “Harry Potter and the Philosopher”s Stone” for 2 and a half hours, reading nonstop during dinnertime. It got to a point where I wasn’t allowed to have the book on the table during meals since it has distracted me from communicating to my family (during the 2 and a half hours), functioning like a portal to another world, which, in return, proves to those souls which hate reading that we, ‘lame’ readers, read not only for interest, but for the gradual atmosphere as well as its effectiveness. In total on that day I read around 100 pages which blew my peers minds when I told them regarding my state in progress of the book. Adding on, in 7th grade our class was assigned to read a clever and so far one of the most thrilling books in the world (if you ask me). The book is called ‘Airborne’, (Written by Kenneth Oppel) in which Pirates capture an Airship and a crew member is tasked with saving the whole crew. We were tasked to read it in a month, while I finished it in the first week and half.

Meanwhile I like reading more than writing, I still enjoy to write fancy papers. I have my fair share of excellent essays written by myself. The one I most honour is titled: ‘Tanks and All About Them’. In that paper, I went out and written 4 pages of size 11 font, as well as .25 spacing between rows, describing each and every military machine known to me at the time, which regards all of the tanks from World War 2 and most of their variations (from both Allied and Axis powers). The essay had 1250 words and the teacher just gave me a high mark due to the complexity of the subject (I was 11, in Grade 6, as well as it had some words that I couldn’t fully understand). Others, however, wrote essays on everyday items, such as computers, phones, as well as  their daily life. Unfortunately, this along with the many files stored on the account from the previous school were closed and I couldn’t retrieve the hard work that I spent large portions of valuable time on.

In conclusion, this is everything you will need to comprehend to fully understand myself. I hope this rather short essay has allowed you to learn something new about my personality.

Kind Regards,

Iaroslav Serg Pyrozhok