Everybody still OK? Giant planet collided yet? angel of death visited? Plague of rats nibbling at your nether regions? Sun gone out? Thought not

I woke up today and put my pants on backwards. If that's not a bad omen I don't know what is

They were rats?

If indeed it is the last day, I better tie up all my loose ends at work and make sure my taxes and bills are all paid in full.

-d

Today, I was expecting two puzzle-related packages, either of which would have let me assemble a Shapeways puzzle that I've had dyed and sitting in pieces for far too long... neither package arrived, but I did get the afternoon off. I believe this ironic turn of events is the main reason that the world didn't end today.

Congratulation that we are all still here !
I enjoy to bring out more and more fantastic puzzles to our twisty friends.
Cheers.

Oh no! They made a maths error and forgot to carry a 1. It's really today! The skies are on fire and rocks the size of buses are falling here in the UK. Take cover!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe the Mayans were already thinking about the fiscal cliff and Nash equilibrium/stalemate. That would be quite some foresight they had!

re the rocks the size of buses..did nothing happen for hours then the whole lot fall all at once?.(n.b english humour regarding the english transport system or lack thereoff).

I wonder how many people didn't do their homework or study for the next day's huge exam...

Probably not THAT many. Most everyone I know who is in school was already out for winter break. And the people who believed the world was going to end probably didn't have a very got shot at success on the test anyway....

I saw a documentary on this the other night and they were pretty much saying the whole end of the world thing was made up by the media. The origin never mentioned the end of the world at all. It was just a date which suggested a change and most of the text was lost anyway.
It made me laugh on UK program Newsnight when they had a live link to a woman who had organised a big end of the world party. When asked if she had purchased a return ticket she went all embarrassed and wouldn't answer.

Even if every civilization contemporary to the Mayans all definitively predicted the end of the world in their ancient texts there would be absolutely no reason to believe it.

As much as I'd like to blame the modern mass media for giving doomsday predictions all the press, they're really just giving the uneducated / illogical masses what they want. The existence of this thread alone shows people like hearing about it.

...and writing their own opinions about it - don't tell me you haven't seen Independence Day, Deep Impact, Armageddon, The Day After Tomorrow, etc., etc.

No
No
No
Sadly yes.

But I'm an outlier when it comes to movie watching. I don't own a TV or DVD/Blue-Ray player, and haven't been in a theater in more than two years.

But to be fair, I do find doomsday predictions entertaining because I enjoy watching how far they go and how ridiculous the reporting can get.

So what do you think about the La Palma Mega Tsunami - a 600m high wave that will wipe out all east coast US cities?

Too true. It certainly wouldn't have made me believe in it if it had been based on an actual prediction (unless it was an accurate tracking of a comet or something). I just find it interesting that it wasn't even that.
I think it is a natural social thing to be interested in "what other people are talking about" however ridiculous it may be. That also includes sceptics like myself poo-hooing.