TED is one of those very few cultural artefacts that makes you want to move to the States. Sure, the site has glitz, glamour, hype and more hype, but it also has an e-newsletter that you actually wanna read each week, the moment it drops into your inbox. Talks by cutting-edge experts and enthusiasts are grouped into themes but it’s difficult as there are crossovers everywhere: between culture and science, dance and politics, art and, um, sugar. What’s fresh is the chance to see artists, philosophers, software gurus and educators intermingling, discussing their ideas via streaming video. Like Will Wright (www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/146) who starts with "I always wanted to be a cyborg" and appears onscreen wearing an arm brace mocked up Terminator-style, looking like a Stelarc creation. A game designer (SimCity, The Sims), it’s revenge of the nerds, as Wright talks of his creations as "modern Montessori toys" and previews Spore, a game where children can confront all kinds of philosophical conundrums courtesy of Darwin and Copernicus.

Golan Levin (www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/14) opens with "Imagine spending 7 years at MIT and in a research lab only to find out you’re a performance artist." He uses software-as-art, demonstrating his project Scribble in realtime, a lovingly created blend of graphic and sound impulses, his head wobbling to the beats he creates, arms working ethereally like a theremin player. I love seeing artists at work and these are just two examples out of hundreds. It helps that the site is beautifully designed and easy to navigate. TED stretches your brain around the universe and back, and that can only be a good thing.

Kirsten Krauth