August 2022

Editorial

Abhinav S Menon, Jaidev Shriram, Tejasvi Chebrolu, Srijan Chakraborty, Pranav Tadimeti

We can finally present the August 2022 issue of Ping!, which comes after over a year (the longest gap between any two consecutive magazines in five years, as people didn’t fail to point out). As a side effect, though, the creation of this issue has seen several key events in campus life, not least of which is the famed, almost legendary, Post­Pandemic Return. And, of course, the upheavals that followed close on its heels – quarantine, the shift to in­ person teaching, and the first offline Felicity (and Buzz) in three years.

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Reels

Shashwat Singh

Presenting to you the magic of social media reels: where life is a musical and strangers on the Internet vibe with you as opposed to those on the streets. The barrage of Instagram reel videos of users dancing, users “remixing” reels of other users and dancing again does remind me of a musical. A musical that involves common people, dancing to commercially available music, at a scale not achievable physically. Read more…

So Said UG1-F

Rajarshi Ray

An anonymous confessions page has pretty much become a staple for all colleges, now, be it in India or abroad. It’s hard to map out as to how the trend began, but the reasoning behind this “fad” is clearer.

What is a “Confessions page”? It’s a social forum, completely digital, for students to anonymously share confessions of all kinds, both light­hearted and serious — stress, insecurities, relationship angst, questions about a course or grades, politics, campus gossip, and even the well ­loved “Shower Thoughts”. Read more…

Code Wars

Srujana Vanka

With the nature of war changing, the Indian government has chosen to boost up its cyber warfare capabilities by incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into its development endeavours. This decision was arrived at after the Galwan Valley clash in the year 2020. On the night of June 15/16 June last year, Ladakh’s Galwan Valley witnessed a violent clash between the Armies of India and China. Read more…

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Ameya Sharma

The familiar sound of my sleeping pod beeping wakes me up. I open my eyes and immediately feel the pod eject me like a disk from a port. I stretch my body and crack my joints. The artificial “ideal” environment created by the sleep pod for maximum comfort makes waking up feel natural and not forced. The perfect sleep rejuvenates the body for another day on Mars. Read more…

Dave AI

Abhinav Menon

Yes, you can buy the eggs if you have space in your fridge. They’ll last a while, too. I notice you’re buying mangoes as well – is that a tart you’re planning to make? It is? Then I suggest this variety, we’ve had excellent reviews for it from most customers. It’s quite affordable too. Bon appétit!

Hello there! Glad to see you. I was just helping they’d like. Read more…

Have you tried turning it off and on again?

Abhighyan Ghosh

If you are currently watching a TV Series, there is a high probability that it is a comedy or thriller. If it is a comedy, then the chances of it being an American one is higher. The main exports of America are undoubtedly Aids and Entertainment. But just across the pond from this great nation is a country that exported most of them. I am, of course, talking about Britain. The UK has produced arguably the most successful comedic series of all times, namely Mr Bean, but your average Indian Joe will not have seen much more than that. Read more…