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Coding: Yay or Nay?
By: Mihir Rao
Programming: A word that everyone knows, and has been hearing a LOT nowadays’ and one we have talked about a ton in various issues of The Paperless Press. With the plethora of articles that we have written, and some of them on coding, one question still remains: Is programming even necessary anymore?
Programming, as I’m sure you all know, is the act of giving instructions to a computer, to make it run specific commands. And, since there is an almost infinite set of things that a computer can do, coding has no bounds. Back to my question.
There is a slightly complicated answer to this:
In the late 1950s, programming started and a very important part of our lives (which wasn’t that popular yet) came into being. Languages like FORTRAN and COBOL were introduced. Albeit not being known that well by the populus, this was one of the biggest factors that played into the next part of history:
The Technology Jump:
In the next few decades, technology slowly picked up and became a worldwide phenomenon.
The new computers released by Apple and other companies were highly sought after, and everyone wanted one. But, this wasn’t even the peak of technology. After a few more decades, Apple made their next leap in technology: a smartphone.
It was nothing like we had imagined. A phone, a music player, and a camera all rolled into one small tablet that could fit in your pocket! This was one of the biggest discoveries of all time, and they continued to get bigger and bigger.
With the introduction of laptops, technology didn’t become a rarity. It became something that everybody had in their homes.
Now we come to today’s time period, where technology is still growing, and not even at its peak - what was a mix of dream and science fiction yesterday, could be a real technology tomorrow. Almost everything that we use on a daily basis, is made up of some type of technology: Our laptops, Phones, iPads, Tablets, they all are made up of technology and coding.
So, why is coding necessary? Well, just like I mentioned before: Technology has not yet hit its peak, and coding is an amazing thing to learn, if you decide to take it up. It can help you a lot, and it’s extremely fun (although you can make a lot of errors if you aren’t thorough 😂), and if you do decide to program and code as a job, then coding is not just a skill, it’s absolutely necessary. So, Coding: Yay, or Nay? It’s a Yay from me.
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Cover Story-
A Foodie mystery from here and there
By: Agastya Rao
CAUTION- THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION MAY BLOW YOUR MIND 🤯
We love food. That’s the plain truth. Humans need it, want it, and love it! It comes in all different shapes and sizes, flavours and textures, and even from different locations. But are some of the “local” foods we love really from our country, or is that just a common misconception? To be from here or not from here, that is the eternal question (Thank you, Mr Shakespeare!).
Let's take a look at some of the food we thought originated in a certain country, but they actually didn’t.
The French (Wrong) Connection-
1. French Fries- Yes, I know they are called french fries, where else could they be from? Well, these seemingly French fries actually originated in a country close to France, which happens to be famous for its chocolate. No, it's not Switzerland; it's Belgium. There has been a dispute for a long time on whether French Fries were created in France or in Belgium.
A few of them point to World War I, where American soldiers came across a village in Belgium. Due to the harsh winter, the source of food of the village, which was fried fish, could not be consumed as the river froze over. So, they turned to frying potatoes ie: Fries. The village was in Southern Belgium, which had French as its predominant language, Ergo* American Soldiers called them “french fries.
There are various theories such as French Fries being made by Spanish Conquistadors, and being made by the French themselves. Well, I guess we will never know. 😱.
*Ergo means therefore in Latin
2. Le Croissant
The Croissant, the famous curved shaped pastry which I absolutely love, is the highlight of French Pastry (along with the Pain au Chocolat, and other delicacies). Did you know that this was not completely an original idea, but it was more of an inspired idea?
I am not saying that French bakers copied the idea from anywhere, but they took the basic idea, refined it and made it into the pastry we know and love. This was actually based on an Austrian pastry called Kipferl which is shaped in a curved manner similar to the croissant
Photo of Kipferl (Credit- Homebacking.at)
The Croissant, which is a flakier version of the Kipferl, was most likely brought from Austria to France and tweaked. This is a particularly interesting backstory to the Croissant, which I felt was slightly similar to a ‘foodie misconception’.
The Croissant (Photo Below)
The American Misconception-
1.Hamburger/burger
The sad truth (I apologize in advance to all American readers), is that the United States of America does not have much of its own cuisine, except for Native Indian cuisine. There is Mexican, Indian, Italian… but is there American? Sadly no, and even the one item that has been referenced in Pop Culture as American, even though I thought this was American-
Burgers did not originate in America! Burgers or Hamburgers have their roots of origin in.... Not any definite place. They reportedly began as a similar idea in Germany, and were brought to America by immigrants from Germany in the 19th century. Its origin story is cloudy, and hundreds of claims have been made by many places and people in America about having made the first ever Hamburger, but they didn’t do it alone, and certainly didn’t get the idea themselves.
2. Apple Pie
When you think of American food (Well, not really a cuisine 😅), you think of American diners, and when you think of American diners, you think of Apple Pie.
There is a saying “As American as apple pie” to describe things / people that represent quintessentially American qualities. This criss-crossed pastry delight is warm, soothing, and delicious!
(Photo Credit- bettycrocker.com)
This dish however, is credited to those who colonised the world AND the United States of America- The English. Originally said to have been made in the 1300s, there were also other versions of the apple pie before it was made in America - a notable one was a Dutch Apple Pie, which had different variations. It's amazing how the same dish has so many variations around the world!
3.Cheesecake
The other most American dessert I can think of is- The New York Cheesecake and other types of Cheesecake. One of the most famous types of Cheesecake, is named after the (arguably) most famous city in the United States of America- New York.
Now surprisingly, Cheesecake was originally first made thousands and thousands of years ago.
A certain form of cheesecake was rumoured to have been given to athletes at the first ever Olympic Games (Read more about the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Weekly Digest #45). One dish has changed so much over the years, and has lasted from roughly 2000 B.C till 2021!
Well, I'm sorry America, I think that crosses most of the food items that were thought to be a part of “the American Cuisine”. Don’t worry, it's also truly amazing how so many diverse cuisines fit into one country and get assimilated into the cuisine and culture of that country (India is extremely diverse when it comes to cuisine, don’t worry- that’s next). Well, thanks for McDonald’s I guess, but no thanks for Donald Trump :)
Moving onto the ever diverse India, which too sadly (there is a positive which I will come to at the end) has a couple of foodie misconceptions.
The Indian Misconceptions-
1. Samosa- The street food of India is famous worldwide. With its authentic taste, mouth watering wafting smells, and an upset stomach as the aftermath for many- they are loved by all. However, even though we associate the triangular shaped crusty delight called a Samosa as ‘Indian street Food’, it actually originated in Iran.
It was commonly stuffed with minced meat or keema and known as Sambosa which morphed into Samosa by the time it reached India. Though there are a few differences in the Middle Eastern Samosa and the Indian Samosa, the main idea remains the same. It supposedly made its arrival in India because of the Mughals from Central Asia.
2. Jalebi-
The hearty orange spiral that brightens anyone's eyes the second they see it. The humble but ever so popular Jalebi has been a staple dessert in North India.
This misconception shall turn as spiraly as a Jalebi! This dish too has its origins located in Persia and Western Asia. It seems that the sweets we eat on Republic Day and Independence day aren't Indian in origin!
(Photo Credit- Times of India)
Conclusion-
First off, researching for this article was loads of fun! The question of whether some food is actually from one country or not has been nagging at my brain for a really long time now. The one thing I could actually see after writing and researching the entire article was how the same dish can be shown in so many ways and the fact that so many countries are so diverse and unique in their own way.
Each country has managed to tweak a certain food using the native flavours of their own country! This is also similar to how some different languages are similar and have similar sounding/seeming words. Next article maybe?
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How to start your own website - a comprehensive guide
By: Abhimanyu Rao
Starting anything new can be a daunting task, however, the moment you realise that the entire world will be able to access what you have made, the mountain that the task was, suddenly exponentially increases in size, and you begin to doubt yourself more than ever before. More importantly, you begin worrying about the public’s perception of your work, and that may affect both you, and your work, negatively.
Here at The Paperless Press, we’ve all been there, and we understand what publishing a website means. We have received a lot of queries from our readers who wish to start their own website. I have learnt some lessons in the past year, and this is why I have decided to write about this topic. So fear not! For after you read this article, you shall not fear displaying your website in its complete, glorious splendour! So without further ado, let's dive in!
1. Find a website service that works for you:
The internet is FULL of different website building softwares, and having those many options can make it difficult for you to choose one. The best thing you can do is read reviews, and more importantly, try each one.
There are countless options like WordPress, Squarespace, GoDaddy, Wix, Weebly, and more for you to choose from. Most of them have free options for you to use too, so you can try them out before choosing without having to pay anything. If you aren’t looking for anything too fancy, and you want to put up your website quickly, Google Sites is a good option. It has a very basic interface, and you’ll be able to use it deftly in no time!
2. Figure out what makes your initiative unique:
There are millions of initiatives on various topics sprinkled all over the internet. At The Paperless Press, we have used positivity as a guiding factor, and have been using our Weekly Digests to spread positivity across the globe! We also have a lot of humour in our work, in an attempt to make people laugh.
A prime example of this is our FAQ page (pictured), where you can see some bad animal puns that we made to spice up the page a bit. Similarly, when starting a website of your own, find your signature flair, and add it to your website. That way, people will find your website more distinctive, and remember it, and you will stay in their memory for a long time.
3. Show your website to friends and family for advice:
The best way to see how well your website is going is to have people from a variety of age groups test it. If you can ask your friends and family to test it out and give you honest feedback, you will actually have had people test the website, and because they will be seeing it for the first time, they will be navigating it the same way someone would when they come across your website for the first time.
This will give you a comprehensive analysis of what people may face when they reach your website for the first time, and give you the perfect framework to make the website surfing experience better
4. Look at your Budget:
This is very important for everything related to your website. If you cannot spend any money on your website, you may need to choose your website developer accordingly. If you can spend a little money, you will have to choose between buying a domain or getting a premium website developer. In the end, you need to see how much money you can use, and use that to its best. Make sure that the money you use is all accounted for on valuable resources.
That concludes my tips on how to make your own website. I hope that you use these to make your own wonderful creations, and use your creativity to the fullest.
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By: Abhimanyu Rao
Recently, more than 1 million people planted 250 million trees in India in ONE DAY! Yes! This awe-inspiring initiative took place in multiple villages and forest sites in the state of Uttar Pradesh. If more people band together and accomplish tasks like these, our future will greatly improve, and fresh air can actually be fresh once more!
People from Manchester came together at a mural of football player Marcus Rashford. This mural had been vandalised by racist vandals after England lost in the final match of the Euro Cup. People in Manchester came together at the mural and left notes of love and appreciation for Rashford. While it is definitely sad that such hate and racism still exists in the world, the fact that a community is willing to come together for such a great gesture shows us that good still exists
Ms. Chryseis Knight, the youngest published author in the world, wrote the book ‘The Great Big Lion’ when she was just three years old! This book is now available in India, and if you do see it anywhere, let it remind you of how capable children really are, something that we at The Paperless Press have talked a lot about.
A clean technology startup called GreenJams has created an eco-friendly, carbon negative brick. This brick doesn’t produce nearly as much carbon dioxide in its creation process as normal bricks do. This genius creation uses agricultural biomass and hemp blocks to create a structurally sound brick! This just goes to show how much we can accomplish once we see a glaring problem.
Jeff Bezos will be making a whopping $200 million donation to The Smithsonian! 70 million dollars from that will be going to the National Air and Space Museum, and the other 130 million will be going to create a new education center! It’s great that people who have a lot of wealth are donating it to good causes.
If you googled something today, did you notice the new google doodle? Google’s new doodle honours Dr Kadambini Ganguly on her 160th birthday. Dr Ganguly was the first woman to be trained as a physician in India.
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By: Mihir Rao
The Helicopter that we all know very well, Ingenuity, has made its ninth flight on Mars, and has broken many records while doing so! It climbed to a whopping 2051 feet, flew for 166.4 seconds and gained a speed of 5 metres per second, which hadn’t been done before!
Recently, due to a vacant berth being available in Jeff Bezos’ reusable spacecraft, an 18 year old is joining him in their flight to space, and will become the youngest person ever to be in space. Also, another guest is flying to space with them, who is going to be the oldest person ever to be in space, at 82 years old.
One of the coolest looking astronomical museums in the world is opening soon in Shanghai! Also, did I mention that the museum is the world’s largest astronomical museum? The 420,000 foot tall behemoth will house many wonders, including an observatory and a 78 foot tall solar telescope!
Laurent Simons, an 11 year old prodigy, who is one of the youngest college graduates ever, has attained a bachelor’s degree from the University of Antwerp in Belgium, and has incredible goals. He aims to achieve immortality by replacing his body parts with mechanical parts, to ensure that he lives long.
More about our past: Recently, new cave paintings have been found very close to us - in the Mangarbani Forest region of Faridabad. These are among the oldest cave paintings here - they date back to the Upper Paleolithic Age.
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Entertainment quotient for the week:
Disney+
Wolfgang- Documentary
Netflix
Naomi Osaka- Docuseries
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Visit these pages to see some of our other endeavours!
Visit A Dogs Daily Antics to laugh your heart out with crazy captioned dog photos!
Visit The Chinappa Channel to see some quirky but nice videos that will make you roll with laughter
A Note To Our Readers:
We thank our readers for supporting us this past year. We truly hope you enjoyed this digest and we hope this put a smile on your face. Here at The Paperless Press, we strive to provide free,fun and positive news. We would be very happy to receive your feedback and receive guest submissions from our readers. We hope that you spread the word and enjoy reading our digests.
-The Paperless Press
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