It was bound to happen: just as the Internet was settling into its role as haven for videos about car crashes, Britney Spears and teenage confessions, people had to come along to ruin it all by trying to be serious. A number of Web efforts are under way to provide for more cerebral alternatives to television on the Web. Call them YouTubes for wonks. One is called Fora.tv. It's an ambitious for-profit effort based in San Francisco and funded by angel backers, including Will Hearst, the publishing heir and frequent tech investor. Fora's intent is to establish relations with all of the lecture series from the nation's scores of think tanks, civic groups, bookstores and the like, and then put tapes of their speeches and panel discussions online in an easily searchable fashion.

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