RISD author David Macaulay speaking at TED in 2002

It's not news to longtime readers that I'm more than frustrated by the adolescent flavor of much of the Web. (Stephen, this is why I ignored your emailed link to the Korean baby singing Hey Jude. It was as awful as it sounds.)

I'm long out of academia, and too far down the street to have much patience with ideas couched in dense prose. But when smart people speak on their feet publicly, they can't say whole thick paragraphs without choking on the bigger words or gasping for breath. So they try to communicate.

TED: Ideas worth spreading:

About TED: TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.
The annual conference now brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).

Its videos are sorted by Themes, Talks, Speakers, or by those rated most inspiring, funny and jaw-dropping.

Samples:

David Macaulay: All roads lead to Rome Antics

Despite a love and fascination for Rome dating to his days as an architecture student, David Macaulay found the path to his book Rome Antics took some unusual (and frustrating) turns. Through failed pop-up designs, scribbled out title possibilities, surreal sketchbook pages (think "Piranesi meets Escher"), and rambling story lines, MacAulay details each step of his winding journey towards completion of his illustrated homage to the city.

Amy Tan: Where does creativity hide?

Novelist Amy Tan digs deep into the creative process, journeying through her childhood and family history and into the worlds of physics and chance, looking for hints of where her own creativity comes from. It's a wild ride with a surprise ending.

Ray Kurzweil: How technology's accelerating power will transform us

Prolific inventor and outrageous visionary Ray Kurzweil explains in abundant, grounded detail why -- by the 2020s -- we will have reverse-engineered the human brain, and nanobots will be operating your consciousness.

Eve Ensler: Finding happiness in body and soul

In her frank TED talk, the playwright begins with an excerpt from her now-iconic play, The Vagina Monologues....

There are many more, by 206 speakers from many disciplines -- Al Gore, Stephen Hawking, Jane Goodall, Bono, Isabel Allende, They Might Be Giants, Bill Clinton, even Mena Trott of SixApart, which makes this Movable Type blog software.

Many of the speakers you've missed because you were working, too tired after working, making dinner or cleaning the bathroom when they came through town are here for you to watch when you like, when you need inspiration and elevation.

Here's the A-Z list. You might bookmark the link. It's a keeper.