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Where does the word/name Emmanuel come from?

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The word Emmanuel is the Hebrew for 'God is with us'.  For Christians the birth of Jesus is the physical incarnation of this:   Mt:1:23: Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Luke:1:26-39: 26: This is made explicit in  Hark the Herald Angel Sing: Glory to God in the ... Jesus our Emmanuel . ...  It is also the the theme of the most beautiful carols: 

What is a T-Bill?

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Treasury Bills are what the US government uses to borrow money. A T-Bill has always been seen as one of the safest forms of investment because it offers a guaranteed return - barring the complete collapse of the world financial system! WiseGeek   explains how it works: The smallest face value for a T -Bill is $1,000 US Dollars (USD). The T -Bill is sold at a discount, which is determined by the Bureau of Public Debt, but the Treasury pays the full face value when it is redeemed. For example, an investor might purchase a 90-day T -Bill for $900 USD, and earn a $100 USD return on the investment when the T -Bill is redeemed. Unlike many other securities, a T -Bill does not bear interest, but the return on a T -Bill is highly predictable and very stable.  T-Bonds have come to the fore recently as the US Treasury struggles to manage the financial crisis - see here

What is the Flynn Effect?

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The Flynn Effect is the theory that intelligence (measured in IQ) is rapidly increasing with each new generation. Flynn posits that this increase is universal (across countries and cultures) though varying in degree. The Flynn effect is often cited as evidence of a progressive direction in human history - that despite setbacks and localised problems 'we've never had it so good'. Critics suggest that the data is misleading - see here

Where does the word robot come from?

A rare example of a Czech word ('robota') entering English. The original meaning was compulsory or slave labour. It was only in the 1920s that the idea of a 'humanoid' machine became established. Kathleen Richardson points out in this BBC broadcast Listen! http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00xpj0w#synopsis that our notions about robots are fanciful - they are generally clumsy, ineffective machines. So robots are not going to rule the world any time soon. But are they going to challenging for the Marathon Gold Medal at the next Olympics? On this evidence, perhaps not: Japanese Androids Train for First Ever Robot Marathon

What is ifttt?

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'If this, then that' is an underpinning principle of writing computer code. The idea is that a) you anticipate consequences flowing from an action  b) you reduce streamline repetitive tasks by automating them. For Internet users this may become an increasingly pressing issue, particularly when it comes to social media. Sites like Posterous already allow posts to multiple locations  and Iftt is creating a bank of 'recipes'

Has the Internet only produced ugly words?

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A fascinating discussion about new online vocabulary has been taking place on the Macmillan Dictionary Blog . It has got me thinking that the Internet has brought us many wonderful things but a beautiful vocabulary is not one of them.  Whose heart sings at the word ‘blog’? Or worse still, blogosphere? And while Shakespeare would have marvelled at the instant access information supplied by Google, could he have made the verb rhyme with anything? (Dougal? Boogle?) Are there words that stand out from the dull online crowd?  I suggested one for the Macmillan discussion - you can find it at the bottom of the comments  here .