ben birkinbine is an assistant professor of media studies at the reynolds school of journalism at the university of nevada, reno.

(see: reynolds school of journalism)

corporate hq of google and parent company alphabet. located at 1600 amphitheatre parkway in mountain view, california. named as a blend of the words google and complex, and as a tribute to the number of the same name. (see: googolplex)

a.k.a. new normal.

a piercing through the septum, the cartilage between the nostrils. commonly adorned by a ring, open ring/horseshoe, and sometimes a bar

someone who advocates for women’s rights based on a desire for intersexual equality

salt bae

brought to boston as an eight-year-old slavery in 1761, phillis was bought by the wheatley family to serve in their house. the wheatleys saw how bright she was, and gave her an education. phillis became a writer; when she was 20, book of her poetry made her famous. the wheatleys gave her both her freedom and their name, and her achievement as the first slave to publish a book inspired free blacks for many years.

(see: #613)

a nation devoid of art and artists cannot have a full existence.

those who are working from their home rather than traditional offices. i personally believe that they have been the least affected employees during the pandemic.

most useful and educational social media platform if you are keen on exploring interesting stuff. comparing with other platforms, i still spend my most time on it. besides, it has the least negative effects on human psychology.

aka d-day. by the spring of 1944, the countryside of great britain had been transformed into a gigantic armed camp and supply depot. the allies were now prepared for operation overlord. allied troops would cross the english channel and invade occupied france. this would force hitler to fight a two-front war, since the russian allied force was keeping most of the german army busy in eastern europe. over the previous year, the americans and british had gained the upper hand over german u-boats in the atlantic, and their planes had destroyed much of hitler's air force. now the allies faced their greatest challenge – cracking hitler's land defenses in europe.

in july 1945, at a meeting of the allied leaders in potsdam, germany, president truman received word that the world's first atomic bomb had been tested in the new mexico desert. the bomb was the result of the top-secret manhattan project, started by roosevelt in 1942 after learning that german scientists were working on such a bomb.

truman faced one of history's most difficult decisions: to invade japan, the allies would need soviet help, but truman did not trust the soviet union. additionally, america's victories in the pacific had involved so many casualties that u.s. military leaders were concerned about the loss of life that would come with a full-scale invasion. if america used this terrifying new weapon, it might force japan to surrender without an invasion. however, it would mean a tremendous loss of life and property for the japanese. with great britain's support, truman decided to use the bomb.

the japanese surrender – august-september 1945

on august 6, 1945, the first atomic bomb was dropped on the japanese city of hiroshima by the enola gay, a b-29 bomber. a four-square-mile area of the city was destroyed, killing 80.000 people. the japanese military leaders refused to surrender. on august 8, the soviet union declared war on japan. on august 9, the united states dropped a second bomb on nagasaki, killing 35,000. the japanese finally surrendered. august 15 was v-j day –victory over japan– and world war 2 was over.

in june 1947, general george c. marshall, truman's secretary of state, proposed a huge war-recovery program of money, food, clothing, and machinery to help europe overcome "hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos." marshall invited all of europe to participate, but the soviet-bloc countries refused, calling it an american scheme to take over europe.

with 16 nations participating, the marshall plan was a great success. between 1948 and 1952, u.s. aid amounting to $13 billion helped to rebuild cities, factories, roads, and railroads throughout europe.

a game about breaking and placing blocks, captured millions of imaginations. people played the game together online across the world. minecraft was the top game download for both android and ios at the start of 2014.