If you’re like me then you’ll mostly associate the computer in front of you with work. And the Internet as a flood of information that may or may not be useful and quick to find.

Which is why it’s refreshing to stumble upon a website that is fascinating, insightful, educational, entertaining and perhaps a prime example of what the early Internet pioneers and evangelists had in mind.

The site is TED. Their tagline is “Ideas worth spreading” and that’s TED in a nutshell. They are a small non-profit organization that started out 25 years ago, holding conferences that brought together interesting speakers from many different disciplines. They still hold conferences but since 2006 they’ve embraced the web and can now distribute their talks to the rest of the world (200 million viewings and rising).

Take a look around and be inspired. You can look for subjects you think you’re interested in … but the real beauty of TED is exploring unknown territory and learning something completely and mindblowingly new. For example, why each of us might live for hundreds of years, how we can choose happiness, what is the secret of the perfect spaghetti sauce. And on and on.

Here’s a good place to start then click on the link “Most favorited all-time” to get the most popular talks. And here’s my personal favourite about the not so far-fetched search for immortality.