Earlier this year, it was revealed that Columbia University alumnus Matthew Fox (Jack on Lost people!) was asked to do a keynote speech at this year’s Columbia University Class Day festivity. This being a Northeastern university, a small scandal broke out among the student population, with students arguing over whether a more decorated speaker could have been chosen. Fox having graduated with a degree in Economics from Columbia, playing on their varsity football team, being a talented photographer and last but not least, the star of one of the biggest television shows to hit the tubes in recent memory, didn’t seem to be successful enough for many students at one of the nation’s top-10 colleges.

But, Fox pulls it off, giving an amusing, slightly inspiring speech, even though he had to hunch over the podium due to the low microphone. He seemed to connect with the crowd and it’s hard to hear a ‘boo’ anywhere, even when he asks one of his most vocal critics to stand up, wave and say hello, in a nice sort of way.

Watch the speech after the jump, spoiler free!

Not that half of you even want to know about Lost anymore with the dismal reception the show has been receiving from old and new fans alike. I still believe, once this soap opera mess is over and Kate figures out she really loves Jack, we can move on with some serious mystery solving and Lost will return to it’s suspenseful glory (hopefully without Pualo and Nikki). Sigh. So yeah, Lost is currently on it’s fall break and those of us who are bored of reruns already should take this time to polish up our Lost knowledge. What better way is there than by visiting the Lost wiki page, a treasure-trove of hints, trivia, small details and lots of nerdy folk we can all relate to.

Read more: Lostpedia

Ok, come on people, tell me that you also think Kate’s not as into Sawyer as we’re being led to think she is! Argh! It’s going to be a long Winter.

Hit the jump to watch a sneak peek of what is waiting for us after Lost returns (spoilers ahead)..

New York Lost fans are probably the second luckiest behind the Hawaiians who get to randomly walk onto Lost sets scattered around the island. Why New York? Well, on November 6th at the flagship Toys R’ Us Times Square store, Todd McFarlane himself AND an unannounced actor from the show (Charlie? Jack? Boone?) will be on-hand to officially launch the McFarlane-line of Lost Season 1 action figures and provide autographs to those who are able to actually purchase a figure. The ticketing process will be announced soon, but if you plan on being in the NYC area that day AND love Lost, you owe it to all of the Lost fans around the world to get a ticket, fight the crowd and get your figure autographed. Then send it to us.

Read more: Lost figurines to debut at Toys R’ Us Times Square event

Some kind soul has been kind enough to post a video on YouTube (of course) of the latest Lost season 3 promo which has started recently on ABC.

Watch the video, read more jibba jabba and witness possible spoilers after the jump..

The video starts out setting us up to watch the captured survivors trying to escape from their newfound imprisonment. These scenes are rumoured to come from the first episode of season 3, which I tend to believe and even tosses us a bone, dropping the possibility that Jack is being held in an underwater ‘hatch’. Enjoy!

What do you do if you’re a huge fan of television’s Lost and happen to stumble-upon an un-guarded film set while on holiday in Hawaii? You make yourself at home naturally! A few college students did just that while enjoying some sun in the vicinity where Lost shoots in Hawaii. While exploring some pristine beaches, they stumbled upon a completely empty Lost set, which appears to give some spoiling insight into some upcoming episodes. The students found tents, a cage (?), racks of Dharma branded food, cans and toilet paper (which I hope they ‘borrowed’), among many other things. Thankfully (?), they documented their trespassing and are sharing the complete photo set on Flickr for us land-locked Lost fans to enjoy.

Welcome new readers. Bunch of Nerds is a collection of nerdy topics from around the internet, covering our favorite television shows (Lost, Battlestar Galactica, Arrested Development and Deadwood in case you were wondering), gadgets, web development, and so much more. If this sounds interesting to you, feel free to sign up to our handy newsfeed and get the latest nerdy topics delivered straight to your newsreader.

Read more: Students on holiday stumble upon an un-guarded set of Lost

Lost fans, get your wallets out and get ready to seem a little creepier to your normal friends. Spawn creator and comic superstar Todd McFarlane will be adding hand-painted ceramic Lost characters to his line of models featuring fringe television, movie and comic book stars. Featuring models of Jack, Kate, Locke, Hurley, Charlie, Shannon and a mock-up of the Hatch set, McFarlane’s 6-inch Lost figures come with a detailed base and a photographic backdrop, featuring an episode-specific moment. The figures are set for an November 2006 release to almost coincide with the start of Season 3 of Lost.

Read more: McFarlane Lost model figures and photos

It’s always a touch boring when my favorite shows are in the off-season. But it seems the drama of Lost continues behind the scenes with scores of reports of inner strife, quitting contracts, long (show-killing) pauses in programming and much more juicy bits of gossip emerging. With using terms like, drama, long pauses, and juicy gossip in a sentance, I can of course only mean Lost, the island-drama super hit, which seems intent on crash landing before the story can complete itself.

We start off with the announcement that Lost will take a 13 WEEK HIATUS next year at the middle of season 3! Say what!? According to ABC this is what the fans wanted, as we apparentely decided we hate repeats and would like the show erased from the winter lineup completely. I think any fan would tell you they hate overly long breaks in programming more than sitting through a repeat. But that’s just my opinion.

More drama and gossip after the jump…

With that we come to the report that Lost mega-hunky stars Josh Holloway (Sawyer) and Matthew Fox (Jack are rumoured to be fighting over their $250,000 bonus which the whole cast recieved shortly after Season 2 closed up. Supposedly the rest of the crew are even planning an intervention! Hopefully it will be in the form of a picnic party at one of the star’s beach-front properties, we hear those are popular amongst the cast. This is according to In-Touch Weekly of course, so, naturally a big grain of salt is required if you decide to actually buy the rag, read it, and think about the report.

So with that out of the way, we come to JJ Abrams’ production company, Bad Robot, leaving ABC-Disney for Warner Brothers, no doubt after a nice and juicy payoff. ABC stresses that for this season (3), JJ will still be committed to guiding Lost, though they stress that for the 2007-2008 season (4), JJ’s involvement is a bit up in the air and will be tackled in negotiations when the time comes.

…and finally we leave with our feel-good story. The JJ-look is spreading around the set of Lost! It seems that fellow executive producers Stuart Zicherman and Raven Metzner have taken on the JJ-look, making public appearances with thick black-rimmed glasses and snazzy casual wear. Oh my, will the early 90s emo-nerd look come back into style? We at Bunch of Nerds can only hope…

[Abrams won't leave Lost stranded | The J.J. Abrams look] (via TVtattle)