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The log printout is a stack of hardcopy (paper output) from a dot matrix printer connected to the computer inside the Pearl station. It was discovered by Eko and Locke, who took the printouts back with them just after watching the Pearl Orientation video about monitoring the Swan station's activities. ("?")

Upon Locke and Eko's return to the Swan station, Desmond saw the log printout and realized it must be a log of the Swan computer operators pushing the button, the central activity of his life for the past several years. He then searched for the day he caused a system failure in the Swan, the result of failing to push the button in time after he confronted and accidentally killed Kelvin. When he discovered a page on the log with entries labeled "System Failure", he found that these entries were marked with "922044:16". When Locke told him the date of the crash of Flight 815, September 22, 2004, Desmond realized the code was a date and time stamp (9=September, 22= day, 04=2004), suggesting that his system failure somehow caused the crash of Flight 815. ("Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1")

Trivia[]

  • The printout commenced when Locke entered "Y" into the computer when its monitor was prompting:
>: Print Log? Y/N.
  • These are what we can see out of what's printed, in Locke's perspective:

41602046:53
accepted 41602050:29 accepted
41602052:17 accepted 41602054:05 accepted 41602055:53
accepted 41602057:41 accepted 41602059:29 accepted
41602061:17 accepted 41602063:05 accepted 41602064:53
accepted 41602066:41 accepted 41602068:29 accepted
41602070:17 accepted 41602072:05 accepted 41602073:53
accepted 41602075:41 accepted 41602077:29 accepted
41602079:17 accepted 41602081:05 accepted 41602082:53
accepted 41602084:41 accepted 41602086:29 accepted
41602088:17 accepted 41602090:05

—"?"

SystemFailurePrintOut

System failure recorded on the log printout

  • When Desmond looked at the log sheet in "Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1", the printout showed "922044:16 SYSTEM FAILURE SYSTEM FAILURE...".
    • This timestamp format differs from that seen when Locke examined the printout. The pattern has shifted by one minute, becoming :04, :16, :28, :40, and :52.
  • The timestamp viewed by Desmond is not a logical stamp. September should be designated by "09" instead of just "9". More importantly, the time the plane crashed would have been 4:16 a.m. according to the printout. Assuming the Island isn't at the North or South Pole, the crash probably occurred at 4:16 p.m., which would read 16:16,
    • The computers may be using Greenwich Mean Time. Fiji, as a reference, is in the time zone UTC+12. 4:16 am + 12 hours = 4.16pm.
    • It's also possible that the computer's clock has drifted. With no signals able to reach the island, there would be no way for the clock to synchronize itself.
  • Example of improper numbering: If 922044:16 is Sep 22, 2004 at 4:16 p.m., then 1022001:00 could be Jan 2, 2020 at 1 a.m. or Oct 20, 2000 at 1 a.m. Proper numbering of the date and time of the crash would be 09220416:16.
  • The printout has been confirmed to be a log of activity on the Swan computer.
  • Apple II computers were not programmed with timestamps up to years. The printout only shows the month and day-of-the-week. The year is not programmed in.

See also[]

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