Known unknowns

Only another 266 days of hollow meaningless existence before Lost returns with season 4. In the meantime, there seem to be a few good books worth a read: Finding Lost: The Unofficial Guide and, in particular Living Lost: Why We're All Stuck on the Island by The Always Interesting J. Wood. (Yes, that is his full name.)

Not unlike in the show itself, we're hearing plenty of mysterious whispering from fans, producers and crackpot theorists; none of which gives much away but are interesting nevertheless. To take the Rumsfeldian view,

"...we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns — the ones we don't know we don't know."

So how about some of those known unknowns that we're hoping will become known knowns by the end of next season? From reliable sources, like interviews and podcasts with the producers, it seems likely that (not before time) we'll discover much more about: tetchy spectre Jacob, who's been compared in significance with the wrinkly Emperor from Star Wars; Michael and Walt, although who really cares about the former; Libby, the mentalist boat-lender; Danielle Rousseau, deranged pyromaniac for hire; Penny, who we're told is an important character in the overarching story; and finally, four-toed colossus, who might help unravel some history and mythology behind the The Island.

Which mystery would you most like to see explained in season 4?

Big week for new tech

Remember five years ago when Minority Report came out, and everyone wondered how long it'd be before the holographic touch screens would enter the commercial mainstream? Well, it turns out the Microsoft Research team were already on the case, and now, six years later, they're ready to release the first Microsoft Surface device — and it looks awesome. The custom software runs on Vista, and already looks great, but I wonder if we'll ever see it running BumpTop too?

The opposing superpower Google also has a revolutionary new release this week, with a technology preview of Google Gears, a set of APIs that will help allow web-applications to run offline. Does this aggressive move mean Google are looking to tackle Microsoft head-on in the desktop application market? Or at least offer a technology framework for other providers to try? As web technologies continue to converge with their desktop counterparts, it'll be interesting to see what happens over the next few years.

Jumped up firework display

After watching Spider-Man 3 at the weekend, I'm starting to lose hope that Hollywood will ever stop churning out shameless toy adverts instead of anything remotely imaginative, insightful or interesting. Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst shouldn't be allowed to act. Their on-screen chemistry is painfully unconvincing, and their characters even less believable than the substandard CGI effects.

I loved the original cartoon Spider-Man, so to see it butchered like this is tragic.

Bread and circuses

How ironic that TV franchise "Big Brother" is itself a veritable example of modern prolefeed. Every spring, like an irradicable weed, it re-sprouts to entangle its noxious vines around pop culture and burrow into the minds of the terminally bored, while swarms of cheap parasitic spin-offs feed insatiable viewers with endless hours of tenuous analysis and editorial.

For want of any other prospects, the incarcerated stereotypes will gamble their dignities against the dubious opportunity of becoming a minor celebrity. They will tiresomely demonstrate to a nation their abrasive backbiting personalities, while colluding in a morally unpleasant process of pseudo-democratic social Darwinism.

Meanwhile, thousands of financially dyslexic consumers will devotedly reach for their £500 Nokias, and further swell broadcaster profits by sending premium-rate text messages to express their frivolous opinions.

Miniature Heroes

According to NBC, Tina Turner was wrong — we do need another hero. So they've lined up another six to feature in a new Heroes spin-off called Heroes: Origins, to run during the lengthy gap between seasons of the main show.

Each episode will tell the story behind a new super-powered weirdo, and viewers will be invited to vote one them into the main story. So if next season's rubbish, they can blame the general public.

Lost and The Second Law of Cryptodynamics

I might've discovered a new phenomenon to help explain the Lost storyline, I'll call it the second law of cryptodynamics. At the start of season one, the zero entropy point, we were in confusion equilibrium, nothing weird had happened and there was nothing mysterious to be explained. As the story progresses, so does the measure of disorder and plot entanglement, which over time takes us irreversibly further from a coherent explanation. The consistent flow of new mysteries dissipates the evidence for any possible conclusion, until the story eventually reaches a final state of heat death, a maximum disorder of facts and theories that can't possibly sustain a rational resolution.

Don't be silly, Toto - scarecrows don't talk

(Contains Lost Season 3 Spoilers)

So, it turns out Jacob is definitely the schizophrenic hallucination of a deceitful repressed orphan; a skittish trans-dimensional apparition; a scruffy time traveller suffering quantum fluctuation; a cleverly staged trick; or something else entirely. Glad they cleared that up for us.

Despite this confounding mess, the Man Behind the Curtain did offer a few straight-edged pieces to start the Jacob jigsaw. Here's my speculation of what happened.

Jacob is probably real in some sense. By that, I mean he's not just an imaginary spook in some dramatic hoax, but he's not necessarily corporal like Ben and Locke. The dilapidated old shack is Jacob's prison, and Ben needs to keep it that way to maintain his authority over Jacob. Although Ben can perceive Jacob, he knows Locke can't see anything and starts a fictitious one-sided argument. We know Ben is an expert actor from his as performance as fake Henry Gale.

As soon as Locke shines his torch, Jacob sees an opportunity and tries to escape. Notice how Ben tries to pin Jacob back in the chair before Locke scarpers. Then there's the delay before Ben appears at the door, maybe enough time for him to subdue Jacob. There's also the mysterious line of dusty ash, perhaps an impenetrable perimiter to contain Jacob; and the appeal to Locke to "Help Me".

But why would Ben take Locke there in the first place? Perhaps to see if Locke is special enough perceive Jacob? Ben seemed pretty upset when he discoverd Jacob spoke to Locke, maybe slightly jealous. Nevertheless, Ben had to shoot Locke, or otherwise risk being exposed as a fraud, and I think Alex knew something about this danger, and tried to forearm Locke. Locke's already demonstrated an unnatural ability to heal, so I doubt he's going to the giant box factory in the sky just yet.