I've actually recently emailed Ragnar about this very issue, and now have the authority to deputise someone.
There is no knowing when lightspeed's absence will cease, but I'm told he is very much concerned for the forum's welfare. Ragnar is very much alive, but has other fish to fry. So it's very much 'our' pond for the time being. ooh, did I just mix metaphors?
Has anyone considered that this (and we) could all be part of some great cyber-social experiment? That perhaps lightspeed and Ragnar are watching from afar, taking interested note of the autonomous development of their baby?
Okay, maybe they're just busy. But I love the thought that this place is like a finely crafted stage, left just so for cyber wanderers to find and bring to life with the unexpected contents of their minds.