The Kings graciously let us use their cottage on Lake Simcoe for a few nights last week.

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A TED2008 Main Hall Pass has just gone up for auction on ebay. It's the only remaining legal way that someone can get into the event. The auction is being done with our approval, because all the proceeds will go towards the Open Architecture Network, which was created in response to TED Prize Winner Cameron Sinclair's inspiring wish.

The single pass, which guarantees coveted access to the main theater where speakers present, includes three special extras:
- a first-day cocktail with TED super-connector Sunny Bates
- a coffee at TED with the brilliant founder of ebay Pierre Omidyar
- and a lunch with the charming, insightful and delightful Meg Ryan

TED2008 has been sold out for more than a year, so we suspect this is going to make someone very happy indeed. It won't be cheap, but the successful bidder will be making a philanthropic contribution to an organization that's empowering architects and designers to change the world.

TED2008 is Feb 27-March 1, in Monterey, California on the theme "The Big Questions".

Hey folks, it's only $27,400. If all my readers split it between them, it would only be $13,700 each.

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> They won't be forgetting this party anytime soon. Show this to your teenagers.

> And the "It's Not My Fault Award" goes too...

>Next time your shopping in Slovenia, check the ingredients.

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After having dug to a depth of 10 meters last year, New York scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 100 years and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 100 years ago.

Not to be outdone by the New Yorkers, in the weeks that followed, California scientists dug to a depth of 20 meters, and shortly after, headlines in the LA Times newspaper read: "California archaeologists have found traces of 200 year old copper wire and have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network a hundred years earlier than the New Yorkers."

One week later, "Moose Jaw Times Herald", a local newspaper in Saskatchewan, reported the following: "After digging as deep as 30 meters in sagebrush fields near Moose Jaw, Ole Johnson, a self-taught archaeologist, reported that he found absolutely nothing. Ole has therefore concluded that 300 years ago, Saskatchewan had already gone
wireless."

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Some amazing undersea footage shown at TED. Remarkable stuff. Watch for the Octopus near the end.

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> A bazillion dollar cottage.

> A book that can get you out of any jam. Could even stop a bullet.

> The story I don't want my daughters to read.

> Awesome talks, now available online! You would pay thousands to see them in person.

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