Today is Friday the 13th but it’s only the first of three this year. The superstitious day will occur two more times in 2012. Once in April and once again in July. That’s three Friday the 131ths in 13 weeks.

Which is bad news for people who suffer from paraskevidekatriaphobia or  triskaidekaphobia (fear of Friday the 13th). According to the Daily Mail, there are more than 60 million people worldwide who fear Friday the 13th.

And to make matters worse,  it also 2012. Which may not mean much to you but doomsday sayers will undoubtedly use the  numerous Friday the 13ths this year to backup their end of the world claims.

Most people trace fears of Friday the 13th back to the crucifixion of Jesus. There were 13 people at the last supper and Jesus was crucified on a Friday. Some people still believe that dining with 13 people is bad luck. According to the International Business Times, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt refused to dine with 13 people and refused to travel on the 13th day of any month.

Other experts trace back the evil origins of 13 to the Code of Hammurabi which was enacted without a 13th law. Friday, according to History.com, was also the day that Eve offered Adam the forbidden fruit. Others point to the demise of the Knights Templar, who were arrested on October 13th, 1307. It was a Friday.

The superstition has crept into modern culture. Many tall buildings are built without a 13th floor. The ill-fated Apollo 13 mission gave triskaidekaphobes “proof” that the number 13 was unlucky.

Fears of Friday the 13th also have an affect on the economy. Donald Dossey, founder of the Phobia institute, told National Geographic:

“It’s been estimated that $800 or $900 million is lost in business on this day, because people will not fly or do business they would normally do.”

Are you afraid of Friday the 13th? Do you think it’s extra unlucky that 2012 will have three Friday the 13ths? According to the Delaware Online, it isn’t that peculiar. The same thing happened in 2009 and it will happen again in 2015.

Friday the 13th: Superstitious Day to Occur Three Times in 13 Weeks is a post from: The Inquisitr

It’s always nice when the end of one year comes about and the birth of a new year happens. It’s like there is a breath of fresh being breathed through the world, except that good feeling never seems to last all that long and we once again begin longing for a new year to come along.

Part of the whole process of saying good-bye to the old year and heralding in the new is this rather ridiculous habit of making predictions of what we think will happen in the new year. Most of the time they are nothing more than projections of things we wish to happen rather than trying to base them on things that have happened and will affect how things come to fruition in a new year.

No where is this silliness more apparent than in the tech industry as post after post on the last day of the year peers into some crystal ball and pontificate on the miraculous things that are going to happen in the tech world in the year to come. The majority of the time they don’t happen and the times when they do it is because they are so blantantly obvious that even a 2 year-old could have predicted them.

With that in mind I decided to have a bit of fun and come up with a list of predictions for the next year that you can be assured will happen, not that I would recommend buying stock based on them of course. So without further ado here we go.

1. Apple will release an updated and/or a new product – Duh!

2. Apple fanbois will continue to profess their love of the shiny apple and line up to buy anything that comes out. See No. 1

3. Microsoft will release some new operating system and will continue to be pummeled by anyone who lives in the tech bubble world.

4. Researchers will come out with study after study that says that Microsoft will fail as a company. See No. 3.

5. Android will continue pimping outrageous activation numbers as handset makers cut checks to Microsoft.

6. Tablets will be proclaimed as the desktop killer just as netbooks were.

7. Mobile will be proclaimed as the desktop killer and duke it out with tablets. See No. 6.

8. Mobile carriers will come out with new ways to further screw their customers and no-one will be surprised.

9. Piracy will be blamed for everything going wrong for the music and movie industry.

10. And finally – technology will continue to change our world in ways that we can’t even comprehend and we will continue to those innovations will kill everything that came before it.

There you go folks – 10 predictions for 2012 that you can be pretty sure will come about but if they don’t I claim no responsibility in their failure.

Some guaranteed predictions for 2012 – stuff you can take to the bank is a post from: The Inquisitr

Good riddance 2011. President Obama used his weekly address to wish the country a happy new year and said that he was hopeful about 2012.

Obama said:

“As 2011 comes to an end and we look forward to 2012, I want to wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year.”

The president also gives a rundown of what has happened in 2011.

• We’ve ended one war and began to wind down another.
• We dealt a crippling blow to Al Qaeda.
• We began to see signs of recovery.

And in 2012, according to the President, that upward swing will continue. Obama said:

“As we head into the new year, I’m hopeful that we will grow the economy, create more jobs, and strengthen the  middle class.”

So why is Obama hopeful? Obama’s presidency has been marked by an extremely divided political system. Just before Christmas, however, congress managed to compromise and pass an extension to the payroll tax cuts. Obama said:

“It was good to see congress do the right thing to help millions of Americans.”

Here’s President Obama’s New Years address.

VOANews reports that President Obama recorded the address from Hawaii where he is currently vacationing for the holidays with his family.

Are you hopeful for 2012? Do you think the country is on an upward swing?

Obama Wishes Country a Happy New Year, Hopeful About 2012 [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

We all have bad years, so let this serve as your inspiration going into 2012.

Let’s Face It, 2011 Sucked is a post from: The Inquisitr

Harry Potter megastar Daniel Radcliffe has announced plans to host Saturday Night Live on January 14, allowing him to start his new year with the type of acting fervor he ended 2011 with.

Aside from the final Harry Potter and the Death Hallows film Radcliffe also took the the Broadway stage in ”How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying.”

During his January 14 hosting gig Radcliffe will be joined by musical guest Lana Del Rey.

If you simply can’t get enough or Mr. Potter you’ll also be able to catch him in the 2012 film “The Woman in Black.”

As if that isn’t enough praise for Radcliffe he was also recently named Entertainer of the Year by Entertainment Weekly and over the last decade he has constantly topped the list of highest paid actors thanks to his massive payouts from the Harry Potter franchise.

If you’re more of the sports fan type you can also tune in one week earlier when former NBA star Charles Barkley will take on hosting duties with Kelly Clarkson in the guest musician spot.

Do you plan to watch SNL on Jan. 14 to see whether or notDaniel Radcliffe has what it takes to turn his Potter success into 90 minutes of laughter?

Daniel Radcliffe Hosting Saturday Night Live In January is a post from: The Inquisitr

What with all of the Assassin’s Creed spin-offs we’ve been seeing for the past couple years – good spin-offs, granted – I was beginning to wonder just when we’d see the end of the current story arc kicked into motion by the original Assassin’s Creed.

According to Ubisoft’s statements in a recent interview with Eurogamer, we’ll be seeing the end of the first story arc relatively soon – around December 2012, in fact.

“In Assassin’s Creed we set up a timeline with this whole end of the world plot of December 2012,” said Alexandre Amacio, creative director on Assassin’s Creed: Revelations. “That’s fast approaching, and the story we have to tell, we obviously need to do it before we arrive at that point.”

Just as Assassin’s Creed: Revelations will bring about the end of Ezio and Altair’s respective storylines, the next, as-of-yet unnamed (or officially announced, for that matter) Assassin’s Creed title will see an end to Desmond’s story arc.

“Assassin’s Creed is all about cycles – we have the Ezio cycle and the Altair cycle, and both of those are set to conclude in Revelations and we have the Desmond cycle, which is set to end on December 2012,” said Amacio. “But there’s many cycles within the brand – that’s the whole point. History is our playground.”

Ubisoft has plans to continue the Assassin’s Creed franchise after the next game, perhaps with a new character, but Ubisoft says not to expect anymore annual Assassin’s Creed releases.

“We’re already structuring the way we do Assassin’s Creed, so it will no longer ever be like that,” said Amacio. “Our development approach is changing so our cycles aren’t structured the same way – so it gives us a little bit more development time.”

Source: Eurogamer

Current Assassin’s Creed story arc set to wrap up in 2012 is a post from: The Inquisitr

If you are a believer of predictions and interpretations of possible visions of people long dead the one that is in everyone’s minds these days is the cataclysm predicted to hit our world on December 12, 2012; or at least according to people reading the old Mayan calendar. As we get closer to that date many are coming out against the whole thing calling it nothing more than a bunch of rubbish.

But what if it isn’t?

What is there is actually a natural event that is due to take place within that time frame that could indeed have catastrophic effects on our world – especially our technology we have become so reliant on.

Well, according to scientists at NASA our Sun could be walking up from an eons long slumber and it doesn’t bode well for us.

Uh oh. “The Sun is waking up from a deep slumber,” NASA ‘s Richard Fisher says. It looks like old Sol is going to be in a cranky mood when it becomes fully awake, ready to wreak havoc on gadgets across the globe. Could this be the 2012 disaster superstitious fraidy-cats are babbling about?

In April, one of the most massive solar eruptions in years occurred. Luckily, Earth wasn’t in the line of fire. Scientists warn that if we find ourselves in the path of one of these gigantic solar storms, it could cost $2 trillion to fix the resulting mess. Big uh-oh. That’s 20 times the damage of Hurricane Katrina.

We depend so much on technology, this could be an unprecedented disaster. Not only would such an eruption take out numerous satellites that we use for GPS navigation, communications, TV and Internet, but our electrical grid could conduct the massive amount of electromagnetic energy released, perhaps knocking out power across the globe in the most gigantic blackout in history. The Sun could turn the whole world into North Korea.

Source: DVICE

Now scientists are suggesting that much of the potential damage can be averted by putting satellites in to a safe mode and shutting down transformers on smart electrical grids, as well as shutting down all our gadgets when we know one of these huge solar storms are coming. Luckily NASA is constantly improving its solar storm predicting with the help of things like the Solar Dynamics Observatory.

Keep up the good work guys because it seems we are going to go through a period where the Sun is goinf to be excessively bitchy.

About that 2012 disaster prediction … is a post from: The Inquisitr

How long does it take to recoup the cost of a CGI porn laden movie? Roland Emmerich’s 2012 managed it in one weekend with a staggering $225 million box office.

Produced for $200 million, 2012 took an estimated $65 million at the US box office, making it the seventh biggest November opener ever. Proving the value of markets outside the United States, the international (non-US box office) for 2012 came in at a neat $160 million.

For more see our 2012 Movie Review.

2012 Takes A Staggering $225 Million First Weekend is a post from: The Inquisitr

Roland Emmerich returns to the big screen with a sequel of sorts to his hit blockbusters Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow. Some reviews will mention Godzilla, but given how few people saw that movie, it shouldn’t be considered because 2012 is the really the end of the trilogy that started with Independence Day.

My expectations going into the movie were mixed: on one hand, reviews said it is what it is, and it does it well, while others said it’s somewhere close to Transformers 2, but without the soft porn provided by Megan Fox.

I’m happy to report that it was the former. Unlike Transformers 2, 2012 shamelessly suffers its lack of serious plot and acting by overwhelming the senses with CGI porn; Transformers 2 looks like something my son plays in his bedroom by comparison.

John Cussack takes the role as the lead in the trilogy in the footsteps of Bill Pullman and Dennis Quaid before him, but brings a decidedly Gen X take to the role. Here’s a character in his mid to late 30s, divorced with a hot ex wife and some kids who struggles to keep up with his now ex-family.

Fortunately…or unfortunately I just described most of the 30 minutes of the movie, well throw in Woody Harelson as a grade A nutter and some global conspiracy theories for good measure. No, Ron Paul didn’t direct, but he would have been proud.

All you need to know about the first 30 minutes is the world is going to end, then the CGI porn flows from about that point, and by god it is the CGI equivalent on Heidi Klum taking it in a twosome…but even hotter.

If you’ve seen the trailer, you’ll get some of the rough idea. As a visual treat 2012 is the world ender when it comes to a disaster movie, because no other movie will ever be able to beat the CGI and story concept again: how after all can you beat the end of the world?

If I had to criticize, it’s that Emmerich softly decided only to destroy American and Christian icons, as opposed to being truly global (and unbias) in his vision of the end of the world; apparently he was worried about a jihad or something, which says soft to me.

If you love your CGI, you’ll love 2012. If you want to see a movie with a serious story line, stay well away.

3 1/2 stars.

2012 Movie Review: CGI Porn For The Masses is a post from: The Inquisitr

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you would have heard by now that the Mayan calendar is suppose to end in December 2012, with the world to end at the same time.

It’s a theory made so good that Hollywood has turned it into a movie, but the theory has a fatal flaw: it’s not true. The Mayan Calendar doesn’t end in 2012, and even goes out as far as roughly the year 4772.

Mayan Indian elder Apolinario Chile Pixtun tells AP that it’s definitely not the end of the world, saying “I came back from England last year and, man, they had me fed up with this stuff” and that the doomsday theories spring from Western, not Mayan ideas.

The date though is significant as it’s the end of a Mayan calendar period and it does correspond with some astronomical alignments; the two not being a coincidence as the Mayan’s were big on astronomy, however there’s nothing world ending about the date in their records at all, period.

People 2,700 years into the future around December 4772 though may have cause for alarm.

Someone forgot to tell the Mayans that 2012 was the end of the world is a post from: The Inquisitr

When a movie comes with the words “from the producer of Independence Day and the Day After Tomorrow” you just know that we’re going to see an epic disaster flick, and 2012 doesn’t disappoint.

Starring John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Danny Glover, Thandie Newton, Oliver Platt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Woody Harrelson, 2012 has as its premise:

“Never before has a date in history been so significant to so many cultures, so many religions, scientists, and governments. The human race is impacted by a global cataclysm, which lead to the end to the world and has survivors struggling for their lives.”

As much as the premise is obviously bollocks (hardly surprising), the trailer looks…well….epic. The aircraft carrier being washed over the White House at the end is a very nice touch as well.

2012 is due out November 13, 2009. Here’s the 2012 movie trailer:

2012 Movie Trailer is a post from: The Inquisitr

The first teaser trailer for spoof disaster film 2012 has been released.

If you’re not aware of the significance of the date, 2012 is the end of the Mayan calander, and is predicted by lots of kooks to be the end of the world, and you can throw in some suggestions that in 2012 “Planet X” will slam into the earth as well. As you can imagine, taking the piss on the year is right up my alley.

2012 the Movie is due out July 2009. If you’re reading this in the feed, you’ll need to visit the site to review the trailer.