Some Highlights from TED

You need to know about TED, if you don't already. TED stands for "Technology, Entertainment and Design" and is essentially an annual conference renowned for the quality of its speakers and presentations.

You can't go to TED talks unless you're remarkably eminent - a former US president or Nobel Prizewinner, say - but it is to TED's eternal credit that you can watch hours and hours of video recordings of talks online, for free.

The subject matter is eclectic, to say the least, but the one thing that all the talks have in common is that they are utterly fascinating. It's kind of tricky to pick highlights, and far easier to just dive in and spend hours clicking around. But nevertheless, here are three talks from TED that particularly appealed to me.

Tim Berners-Lee on The Next Web

Inventor of the World Wide Web talks semantic, open data. Video page.

Clifford Stoll on...Everything

Fascinating, stream-of-consciousness talk from the archetypal mad genius. His homemade Klein Bottle wine bottles are quite something. Video page.

Dan Barber on Foie Gras

A little bit out of the blue, this one. Dan Barber on humane foie gras. Video page.

Of course, this merely scratches the surface. I recommend setting aside plenty of time, and browsing through the hundreds of available talks.