On the heels of Sacramento's first TEDx conference, grads from California State University, Sacramento, will launch a TED Talks spinoff on Thursday. "Talks Unleashed" is one of several local events created in the vein of TED Talks, a social movement that began in Monterey in 1984. TED Talks are conferences organized to inspire the spread of ideas to benefit the world through 18-minute lectures and collaboration opportunities. They originally featured talks on technology, entertainment and design. Now focused on science and culture, the events have spread throughout this country and into Europe and Asia, as well as on the Internet. About 200 people filled Sac State's Hinde Auditorium Fri

Who is Ted and why is he so popular? The nearly 200 people who attended Sacramento’s inaugural TEDx conference last night at Hinde Auditorium at Sac State discovered that “what is TED?” is the better question. TED is a nonprofit devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading.” It started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three worlds--Technology, Entertainment, and Design--and now its scope has become ever broader. Since the launch of the TEDx program only six months ago, thousands of individuals have gathered to enjoy independently organized TEDx events. Last night, Sacramento made local history with its first TEDx conference. TEDx Sacramento curator Brandon Weber, co-owner of