51 days to Armageddon

stardust4ever · **Posted:** Thu Nov 01, 2012 3:46 pm

People have been talking about the year 2012 for some time now. The Mayan calandar ends on the Winter Solstice of this year. Most people probaby know about this. What they don't also know was a prediction by Nostradamus that chaos would erupt as the center of the Milky Way Galaxy lines up with the Earths equator, forming an 8-point star caused by celestial lines in the heavens. This lineup also occurs on December 21st 2012, the same day the Mayan calendar ends. Thats a pretty huge coincidence in my book that two cultures from different millenia on opposite ends of the Earth could have picked the same date in history. Maybe I should stop watching the H2 network. We are on the verge of an election an possible new era yet I am surprized at how little media attention 2012 is getting compared to six months ago.

Is anyone else holding onto the popcorn bowl in anticipation? People literally went berserk in 1999 but 2012 imo is a lot more significant than 1999.

I don't believe in astrology, and no one really knows when the world will end. If I get called home, that is fine, otherwise I plan on hanging around another 40 years.

What are your thoughts on 2012?

bmenrigh · **Posted:** Thu Nov 01, 2012 4:06 pm

stardust4ever wrote:

Is anyone else holding onto the popcorn bowl in anticipation?

Absolutely! I never stop wondering how so many people can exhibit mass stupidity and a complete lack of logic and critical thinking over and over.

People really don't learn from the past:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dates_predicted_for_apocalyptic_events

My pessimistic view of this sort of phenomena is that folks that believe or are scared enough to alter their behavior lack the critical thinking skills they'd need to understand an argument against their belief. Instead of wasting time and rhetoric engaging with them it's better to just sit back and enjoy the mass hysteria.

A good rebuttal to my perspective is Robert Krulwich's commencement speech to CalTech:
http://www.radiolab.org/blogs/radiolab-blog/2008/jul/29/tell-me-a-story/

TomZ · **Posted:** Thu Nov 01, 2012 4:11 pm

Why would anybody believe that the Mayans in particular had any kind of knowledge about when the world was going to end? Besides, most Mayanist scholars dismiss the idea that the world is coming to an end or even that the Mayan calender "ends" in 2012 at all.

Besides, Nostradamus made a cartload of vague predictions. Some of them can be interpreted to have come true but most can't. There have been hundreds of predictions about the world coming to an end (and hey, how many of those have come true so far?) so it's not unlikely that some of them would coincide (with one of many of Nostradamus'). If I was going to predict the end of the world then an obvious choice would be a "big event" like the earth lining up with something. Certainly I'd be more tempted to pick that rather than some random date.

For me, anyone who predicts the end of the world to be in the foreseeable future is as crazy as the other conspiracy theorists. At least the Y2K scare had some kind of logical basis to do with computer bugs rather than just being based on speculation about what the Mayans may have believed or what Nostradamus might have meant.

bmenrigh · **Posted:** Thu Nov 01, 2012 4:15 pm

TomZ wrote:

Why would anybody believe that the Mayans in particular had any kind of knowledge about when the world was going to end? Besides, most Mayanist scholars dismiss the idea that the world is coming to an end or even that the Mayan calender "ends" in 2012 at all.

Yeah the interpretation that their calendar ends in 2012 is totally baseless anyways.

It is the equivalent of us writing 2-digit dates. We're in "year 12" right now. When we get to 99 do we panic and say the calendar ends (and there for the world ends)? Or do we add another digit (or roll around to 00)? Either adding another digit or rolling over to 0 is all that happens to the Mayan calendar.

Suggesting that running out of digits implies anything about the world is utter stupidity.

KelvinS · **Joined:** Mon Mar 30, 2009 5:13 pm

IF the world does indeed end at some point, then it can only end once. And in that case, why would it end on a predicted date? What insight did the Mayans or indeed any of us now have that would give any indication of the date the world will end, assuming it ever will? And what would the coincidental and yet inevitable alignment of certain bodies in space have anything to do with this? The problem is we (people) have predicted so many dates that none of them are credible anymore, except for one thing: if the world does end, chances are that somebody somewhere will have predicted that date. So lucky them and well done, and then what? What can we do about it? And how do they claim their prize when the world has ended? All of this is complete superstitious nonsense that is of no value to anyone. So let's just shut up, and get on with our pathetic little lives while they last. :roll:

GuiltyBystander · **Posted:** Thu Nov 01, 2012 5:26 pm

Anytime anyone brings it up even jokingly, I'm not amused, I'm mad. The idea isn't worth my time, even for a retarded joke. I have "friend" who says dumb stuff like "I can't wait for the Hobbit, too bad we'll all be dead."

I haven't heard anything about this 8 point star thing but I'm 99% sure it's complete BS. All of it.

bmenrigh wrote:

Yeah the interpretation that their calendar ends in 2012 is totally baseless anyways.

There is a teeny tiny sliver of basis for why this Mayan long year (b'ak'tun) is the one that ends it. Their calendar counts time since the last creation. They believe that we are in the 4th creation. The 3rd creation lasted 13 b'ak'tuns. Dec 21, 2012 will be the 13th b'ak'tun since the creation, but there's nothing in their lore that suggest all creations last 13 b'ak'tuns. So that's why this b'ak'tun is a little more special than the last one.

Video explaining the Mayan calendar and what their units of time are. It misses a few details about some extra leap day like days, but it hits the main points.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjKUqQ2uSzg

In my opinion, the Mayan calendar is a fun thing to learn about how other cultures keep track of time, but the apocalyptic prophecy stuff isn't worth your time. You might as well be talking about how you were abducted by Martians.

BN · **Joined:** Thu Sep 16, 2010 4:35 am

Ah it's definitely all a hoax in my opi̱̱͕̤̩̩̥͈̖̹̇̈́̓̅̃̐̒̚̚͝n̢̖̙̦͈̜̪͓̥̭͛͗̊̎͗͊͐̐͐̊i͍̣̫͚̣̖̮͈̦̗̾̈̔̐̌̏̅͘̕͝o̢̧͙̹̦̦͓͔̟̽̓̽̆͑͌̀́̚͝ͅ ̲͚̳̝̺̺̝̥̜̑̌̂̆̌̃̑̽̍̀ͅO̢̜͇̟̫̰̟̘͍̙͒̋̈́̎̒͑̿͘͠͝H̨̛͍̦͔̠̯͓͇̩̯́̇̑͛̀͆͘͘͝ ̢̲͔̺̼̼̤̯̖͙̑̈́́̀͑̈́̆̿̀͝N̼̝͙͉̫̤̪̥̬̂̈̈́̂̎̈́̋̑̒͜͝Ớ̘̜̰̙̜̻͉̦̫̀̊͐̉́̓͝͝ͅ ͍͙̪͓̜̺̲͇͉̖̂̍̏̍͂̏́̑͘͠I̢̠̹͙̼̰̳̜͕͂̈̌̔̐̅͌̑̈́̕ͅT̰͇̥̭͕̭̝͎̮̭͌̔͑̽͂̈̈̍͝͠'͍̱̠̹̟̣̗͇̫͗͐̉̔̔̐̔̐͗͜͠S̹̩̮͚͍̩̦̻̩̤̒͆̒̾͛̎̊͑͂͝ ̡̡̜̭̰̱̩̦͉̫̉͋͒̏̔̈̈́̌̈́̏Ḩ̧̯̦̺͉͕̪͔̣̌̽̍̑̉̍̈́̋͆̕A̦͔̯̙̗̼̟̺͖͑̓̒͌̐͌̃͋͜͝͝Ṕ̧̡̰̮̦͕̞̟̜͔͗̿͑͋̇͐̀̇͠P̧͈̝̺̗͈̺̻̭̖̋̍́́̀͑͛̄̈̚Ę̬̭̞̙̲̤̻̱̿̀̇̌̈́̐͑͌͝͠ͅN̞̣̲̹̼̥̜̫̖̥̏͊̆̈́̄̒̀̃̇̍Ĩ̡̤͈̣̘̲͓̹̠͔̇͛́͋̇́͐̓̚N̢̛͙̬͎͇̟̩̭̪̫͑̈͌̌̊̊͂̅͊G̨̢̢̢̛̰̘͖̭̙͒̒̑̀̒̀͘̚͠ͅ

Iranon · **Joined:** Wed Apr 01, 2009 2:59 pm

bmenrigh wrote:

TomZ wrote:

Why would anybody believe that the Mayans in particular had any kind of knowledge about when the world was going to end? Besides, most Mayanist scholars dismiss the idea that the world is coming to an end or even that the Mayan calender "ends" in 2012 at all.

Yeah the interpretation that their calendar ends in 2012 is totally baseless anyways.

It is the equivalent of us writing 2-digit dates. We're in "year 12" right now. When we get to 99 do we panic and say the calendar ends (and there for the world ends)? Or do we add another digit (or roll around to 00)? Either adding another digit or rolling over to 0 is all that happens to the Mayan calendar.

Suggesting that running out of digits implies anything about the world is utter stupidity.

If you recall, people DID panic on 31 Dec 1999... One of the few things I envy about the current generation of teenagers is that they didn't have to sit through listening to everyone worry about "the Y2K bug."

Tony Fisher · **Joined:** Sun Mar 27, 2005 7:37 pm

The world will definitely end this year. Please send me all your money and puzzles since you won't need them any more.

Tony Fisher · **Joined:** Sun Mar 27, 2005 7:37 pm

BN wrote:

Ah it's definitely all a hoax in my opi̱̱͕̤̩̩̥͈̖̹̇̈́̓̅̃̐̒̚̚͝n̢̖̙̦͈̜̪͓̥̭͛͗̊̎͗͊͐̐͐̊i͍̣̫͚̣̖̮͈̦̗̾̈̔̐̌̏̅͘̕͝o̢̧͙̹̦̦͓͔̟̽̓̽̆͑͌̀́̚͝ͅ ̲͚̳̝̺̺̝̥̜̑̌̂̆̌̃̑̽̍̀ͅO̢̜͇̟̫̰̟̘͍̙͒̋̈́̎̒͑̿͘͠͝H̨̛͍̦͔̠̯͓͇̩̯́̇̑͛̀͆͘͘͝ ̢̲͔̺̼̼̤̯̖͙̑̈́́̀͑̈́̆̿̀͝N̼̝͙͉̫̤̪̥̬̂̈̈́̂̎̈́̋̑̒͜͝Ớ̘̜̰̙̜̻͉̦̫̀̊͐̉́̓͝͝ͅ ͍͙̪͓̜̺̲͇͉̖̂̍̏̍͂̏́̑͘͠I̢̠̹͙̼̰̳̜͕͂̈̌̔̐̅͌̑̈́̕ͅT̰͇̥̭͕̭̝͎̮̭͌̔͑̽͂̈̈̍͝͠'͍̱̠̹̟̣̗͇̫͗͐̉̔̔̐̔̐͗͜͠S̹̩̮͚͍̩̦̻̩̤̒͆̒̾͛̎̊͑͂͝ ̡̡̜̭̰̱̩̦͉̫̉͋͒̏̔̈̈́̌̈́̏Ḩ̧̯̦̺͉͕̪͔̣̌̽̍̑̉̍̈́̋͆̕A̦͔̯̙̗̼̟̺͖͑̓̒͌̐͌̃͋͜͝͝Ṕ̧̡̰̮̦͕̞̟̜͔͗̿͑͋̇͐̀̇͠P̧͈̝̺̗͈̺̻̭̖̋̍́́̀͑͛̄̈̚Ę̬̭̞̙̲̤̻̱̿̀̇̌̈́̐͑͌͝͠ͅN̞̣̲̹̼̥̜̫̖̥̏͊̆̈́̄̒̀̃̇̍Ĩ̡̤͈̣̘̲͓̹̠͔̇͛́͋̇́͐̓̚N̢̛͙̬͎͇̟̩̭̪̫͑̈͌̌̊̊͂̅͊G̨̢̢̢̛̰̘͖̭̙͒̒̑̀̒̀͘̚͠ͅ

How on earth are you able to post outside the boundaries of the box?

Paradox · **Posted:** Thu Nov 01, 2012 6:46 pm

The world's ending again?! It's hard to keep up with all these doomsday predictions.

Please do excuse me while I go get my tinfoil hat...

bmenrigh · **Posted:** Thu Nov 01, 2012 6:55 pm

Tony Fisher wrote:

BN wrote:

Ah it's definitely all a hoax in my opi̱̱͕̤̩̩̥͈̖̹̇̈́̓̅̃̐̒̚̚͝n̢̖̙̦͈̜̪͓̥̭͛͗̊̎͗͊͐̐͐̊i͍̣̫͚̣̖̮͈̦̗̾̈̔̐̌̏̅͘̕͝o̢̧͙̹̦̦͓͔̟̽̓̽̆͑͌̀́̚͝ͅ ̲͚̳̝̺̺̝̥̜̑̌̂̆̌̃̑̽̍̀ͅO̢̜͇̟̫̰̟̘͍̙͒̋̈́̎̒͑̿͘͠͝H̨̛͍̦͔̠̯͓͇̩̯́̇̑͛̀͆͘͘͝ ̢̲͔̺̼̼̤̯̖͙̑̈́́̀͑̈́̆̿̀͝N̼̝͙͉̫̤̪̥̬̂̈̈́̂̎̈́̋̑̒͜͝Ớ̘̜̰̙̜̻͉̦̫̀̊͐̉́̓͝͝ͅ ͍͙̪͓̜̺̲͇͉̖̂̍̏̍͂̏́̑͘͠I̢̠̹͙̼̰̳̜͕͂̈̌̔̐̅͌̑̈́̕ͅT̰͇̥̭͕̭̝͎̮̭͌̔͑̽͂̈̈̍͝͠'͍̱̠̹̟̣̗͇̫͗͐̉̔̔̐̔̐͗͜͠S̹̩̮͚͍̩̦̻̩̤̒͆̒̾͛̎̊͑͂͝ ̡̡̜̭̰̱̩̦͉̫̉͋͒̏̔̈̈́̌̈́̏Ḩ̧̯̦̺͉͕̪͔̣̌̽̍̑̉̍̈́̋͆̕A̦͔̯̙̗̼̟̺͖͑̓̒͌̐͌̃͋͜͝͝Ṕ̧̡̰̮̦͕̞̟̜͔͗̿͑͋̇͐̀̇͠P̧͈̝̺̗͈̺̻̭̖̋̍́́̀͑͛̄̈̚Ę̬̭̞̙̲̤̻̱̿̀̇̌̈́̐͑͌͝͠ͅN̞̣̲̹̼̥̜̫̖̥̏͊̆̈́̄̒̀̃̇̍Ĩ̡̤͈̣̘̲͓̹̠͔̇͛́͋̇́͐̓̚N̢̛͙̬͎͇̟̩̭̪̫͑̈͌̌̊̊͂̅͊G̨̢̢̢̛̰̘͖̭̙͒̒̑̀̒̀͘̚͠ͅ

How on earth are you able to post outside the boundaries of the box?

Unicode tricks. Here is an example of what's going on:

Code:

00000000  20 6f 70 69 cc b1 cc b1  cd 95 cc a4 cc a9 cc a9  | opi............|
00000010  cc a5 cd 88 cc 96 cc b9  cc 87 cc 88 cc 81 cc 93  |................|
00000020  cc 85 cc 83 cc 90 cc 92  cc 9a cc 9a cd 9d 6e cc  |..............n.|
00000030  a2 cc 96 cc 99 cc a6 cd  88 cc 9c cc aa cd 93 cc  |................|
00000040  a5 cc ad cd 9b cd 97 cc  8a cc 8e cd 97 cd 8a cd  |................|
00000050  90 cc 90 cd 90 cc 8a 69  cd 8d cc a3 cc ab cd 9a  |.......i........|
00000060  cc a3 cc 96 cc ae cd 88  cc a6 cc 97 cc be cc 88  |................|
00000070  cc 94 cc 90 cc 8c cc 8f  cc 85 cd 98 cc 95 cd 9d  |................|
00000080  6f cc a2 cc a7 cd 99 cc  b9 cc a6 cc a6 cd 93 cd  |o...............|
00000090  94 cc 9f cc bd cc 93 cc  bd cc 86 cd 91 cd 8c cc  |................|
000000a0  80 cc 81 cc 9a cd 9d cd  85 20 cc b2 cd 9a cc b3  |......... ......|
000000b0  cc 9d cc ba cc ba cc 9d  cc a5 cc 9c cc 91 cc 8c  |................|
000000c0  cc 82 cc 86 cc 8c cc 83  cc 91 cc bd cc 8d cc 80  |................|
000000d0  cd 85 4f cc a2 cc 9c cd  87 cc 9f cc ab cc b0 cc  |..O.............|
000000e0  9f cc 98 cd 8d cc 99 cd  92 cc 8b cc 88 cc 81 cc  |................|
000000f0  8e cc 92 cd 91 cc bf cd  98 cd a0 cd 9d 48 cc a8  |.............H..|
00000100  cc 9b cd 8d cc a6 cd 94  cc a0 cc af cd 93 cd 87  |................|
00000110  cc a9 cc af cc 81 cc 87  cc 91 cd 9b cc 80 cd 86  |................|
00000120  cd 98 cd 98 cd 9d 20 cc  a2 cc b2 cd 94 cc ba cc  |...... .........|
00000130  bc cc bc cc a4 cc af cc  96 cd 99 cc 91 cc 88 cc  |................|
00000140  81 cc 81 cc 80 cd 91 cc  88 cc 81 cc 86 cc bf cc  |................|
00000150  80 cd 9d 4e cc bc cc 9d  cd 99 cd 89 cc ab cc a4  |...N............|

So for example, if we take all of the modifiers after the i in the example above and put them after an A like so:

Code:

00000000  41 cc b1 cc b1 cd 95 cc  a4 cc a9 cc a9 cc a5 cd  |A...............|
00000010  88 cc 96 cc b9 cc 87 cc  88 cc 81 cc 93 cc 85 cc  |................|
00000020  83 cc 90 cc 92 cc 9a cc  9a cd 9d                 |...........|
0000002b

Then the result is that we get something that looks like this:

Ȧ̱̱͕̤̩̩̥͈̖̹̈́̓̅̃̐̒̚̚͝

The browser layout engine doesn't reflow the text and other DOM elements to reflect how tall these characters are so they end up drawing outside of the normal bounds.

In UTF8 'cc' and 'cd' are prefix bytes for combining an accent onto the previous character.

So using this table:
http://www.utf8-chartable.de/unicode-ut ... number=128

When you see 'cc b1' that's combines a "Marcon Below" with the previous character:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macron_below

stardust4ever · **Posted:** Thu Nov 01, 2012 6:57 pm

Hybrid424 wrote:

The world's ending again?! It's hard to keep up with all these doomsday predictions.

Please do excuse me while I go get my tinfoil hat...

This!

It keeps the CIA brain scanners from analyzing your thoughts. Big Brother is watching!

katsmom · **Posted:** Thu Nov 01, 2012 10:21 pm

Attachment:

truth-about-2012-mayan-calander.gif [ 61.95 KiB | Viewed 1550 times ]

Pete the Geek · **Posted:** Thu Nov 01, 2012 10:37 pm

I'm going to order a big pile of puzzles on December 21st and the clockwork of the Universe will still be ticking away on December 22nd. I do give some credence to the superstition that as soon as someone solves a 13x13x13 puzzle, the world will end, apparently due to all of those spooky 13's causing an existential divide-by-zero. I'll be happy to test that out, if someone cares to design, make and send me a 13x13x13 puzzle :mrgreen:

.

As I was typing this, I received an email from Shapeways that they are back online, so... yeah, that tiny fact alone makes it pretty hard to imagine that some all powerful Creator has his infinite fly swatter ready to splat us out of existence on December 21st 8-)

.

Gus · **Posted:** Fri Nov 02, 2012 3:59 am

Mayan's predicting the end of the world! BS. The alignment of the galactic center and the Earth's equator already happened in 1998. No "prediction" by Nostrodamus have ever usefully predicted anything before it happened, every one has been interpreted after the event already happened. That is not prediction, it is postdiction. See you next year :lol:

KelvinS · **Joined:** Mon Mar 30, 2009 5:13 pm

I love Rox's cartoon - hilarious, and yet so true! :lol:

Tony Fisher · **Joined:** Sun Mar 27, 2005 7:37 pm

bmenrigh wrote:

Tony Fisher wrote:

BN wrote:

Ah it's definitely all a hoax in my opi̱̱͕̤̩̩̥͈̖̹̇̈́̓̅̃̐̒̚̚͝n̢̖̙̦͈̜̪͓̥̭͛͗̊̎͗͊͐̐͐̊i͍̣̫͚̣̖̮͈̦̗̾̈̔̐̌̏̅͘̕͝o̢̧͙̹̦̦͓͔̟̽̓̽̆͑͌̀́̚͝ͅ ̲͚̳̝̺̺̝̥̜̑̌̂̆̌̃̑̽̍̀ͅO̢̜͇̟̫̰̟̘͍̙͒̋̈́̎̒͑̿͘͠͝H̨̛͍̦͔̠̯͓͇̩̯́̇̑͛̀͆͘͘͝ ̢̲͔̺̼̼̤̯̖͙̑̈́́̀͑̈́̆̿̀͝N̼̝͙͉̫̤̪̥̬̂̈̈́̂̎̈́̋̑̒͜͝Ớ̘̜̰̙̜̻͉̦̫̀̊͐̉́̓͝͝ͅ ͍͙̪͓̜̺̲͇͉̖̂̍̏̍͂̏́̑͘͠I̢̠̹͙̼̰̳̜͕͂̈̌̔̐̅͌̑̈́̕ͅT̰͇̥̭͕̭̝͎̮̭͌̔͑̽͂̈̈̍͝͠'͍̱̠̹̟̣̗͇̫͗͐̉̔̔̐̔̐͗͜͠S̹̩̮͚͍̩̦̻̩̤̒͆̒̾͛̎̊͑͂͝ ̡̡̜̭̰̱̩̦͉̫̉͋͒̏̔̈̈́̌̈́̏Ḩ̧̯̦̺͉͕̪͔̣̌̽̍̑̉̍̈́̋͆̕A̦͔̯̙̗̼̟̺͖͑̓̒͌̐͌̃͋͜͝͝Ṕ̧̡̰̮̦͕̞̟̜͔͗̿͑͋̇͐̀̇͠P̧͈̝̺̗͈̺̻̭̖̋̍́́̀͑͛̄̈̚Ę̬̭̞̙̲̤̻̱̿̀̇̌̈́̐͑͌͝͠ͅN̞̣̲̹̼̥̜̫̖̥̏͊̆̈́̄̒̀̃̇̍Ĩ̡̤͈̣̘̲͓̹̠͔̇͛́͋̇́͐̓̚N̢̛͙̬͎͇̟̩̭̪̫͑̈͌̌̊̊͂̅͊G̨̢̢̢̛̰̘͖̭̙͒̒̑̀̒̀͘̚͠ͅ

How on earth are you able to post outside the boundaries of the box?

Unicode tricks.

Wow, I didn't know about any of that stuff.

BN · **Joined:** Thu Sep 16, 2010 4:35 am

Honestly, I didn't either. I just used this generator. It's neat to know how it works now though.

51 days to Armageddon

Who is online