The Devil's Triangle.............

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The BermudaTriangle, also known as the Devil'sTriangle, is a region of the northwestern Atlantic Ocean in which a number of aircraft and surface vessels are alleged to have disappeared. Somepeople have claimed that these disappearances fall beyond the boundaries of human error, equipment failure or natural disasters. Popular culture hasattributed some of these disappearances to theparanormal, a suspension of the laws of physics, or activity by extraterrestrialbeings. Though asubstantial body of documentation exists showing numerous incidents to havebeen inaccurately reported or embellished by later authors, and numerousofficial agencies have gone on record as stating that the number and nature ofdisappearances is similar to any other area of ocean, proponents of paranormalphenomena claim that many have remained unexplained despite considerableinvestigation.
The Triangle AreaThe boundaries of the Triangle vary with the author; some statingits shape is akin to a trapezoid coveringthe Straits of Florida,the Bahamas andthe entire Caribbean islandarea and the Atlantic east to theAzores; others add to itthe Gulf of Mexico. The more familiar triangularboundary in most written works has as its points somewhere on the Atlanticcoast of Florida; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and the mid-Atlantic island of Bermuda, with most of the accidentsconcentrated along the southern boundary around the Bahamas and the FloridaStraits.The area is one of the most heavily-sailed shipping lanes in theworld, with ships crossing through it daily for ports in the Americas, Europe, and the Caribbean Islands. Cruise ships are alsoplentiful, and pleasure craft regularly go back and forth between Florida andthe islands. It is also a heavily flown route for commercial and privateaircraft heading towards Florida, the Caribbean and South America from points north.

History of the Triangle story

Origins

The first article of any kind in which the legend of the Trianglebegan appeared in newspapers by E.V.W. Jones on September 16, 1950, through theAssociated Press. Two years later, Fate magazine published "Sea MysteryAt Our Back Door", a short article by George X. Sand covering the loss ofseveral planes and ships, including the loss of Flight 19, a group of five U.S. Navy TBM Avenger bombers on a training mission. Sand'sarticle was the first to lay out the now-familiar triangular area where thelosses took place. Flight 19 alone would be covered in the April 1962 issue of American Legion Magazine. It was claimed that the flight leaderhad been heard saying "We are entering white water, nothing seems right.We don't know where we are, the water is green, no white." It was alsoclaimed that officials at the Navy board of inquiry stated that the planes"flew off to Mars." This was the first article to connect thesupernatural to Flight 19, but it would take another author, Vincent Gaddis,writing in the February 1964 Argosy magazine to take Flight 19 togetherwith other mysterious disappearances and place it under the umbrella of a newcatchy name: "The Deadly Bermuda Triangle"; he would build on that article with amore detailed book, InvisibleHorizons, the next year. Others would follow with their ownworks: John Wallace Spencer (Limbo of the Lost, 1969, repr. 1973); Charles Berlitz (The Bermuda Triangle, 1974); Richard Winer (The Devil's Triangle, 1974) , and many others, all keeping to someof the same supernatural elements outlined by Eckert.

Kusche's research

Lawrence David Kusche, a research librarian from Arizona State University and author of The Bermuda Triangle Mystery:Solved (1975) has challenged this trend. Kusche's researchrevealed a number of inaccuracies and inconsistencies between Berlitz'saccounts and statements from eyewitnesses, participants, and others involved inthe initial incidents. He noted cases where pertinent information wentunreported, such as the disappearance of round-the-world yachtsman Donald Crowhurst, which Berlitz hadpresented as a mystery, despite clear evidence to the contrary. Another examplewas the ore-carrier Berlitz recounted as lost without trace three days out ofan Atlantic port when it had been lost three daysout of a port with the same name in the Pacific Ocean. Kusche also argued that a largepercentage of the incidents which have sparked the Triangle's mysteriousinfluence actually occurred well outside it. Often his research wassurprisingly simple: he would go over period newspapers and see items likeweather reports that were never mentioned in the stories.Kusche came to a conclusion:§  Thenumber of ships and aircraft reported missing in the area was not significantlygreater, proportionally speaking, than in any other part of the ocean.§  Inan area frequented by tropicalstorms, the number of disappearances that did occur were, for the most part,neither disproportionate, unlikely, nor mysterious; furthermore, Berlitz andother writers would often fail to mention such storms.§  Thenumbers themselves had been exaggerated by sloppy research. A boat listed asmissing would be reported, but its eventual (if belated) return to port may nothave been reported.§  Somedisappearances had in fact, never happened. One plane crash was said to havetaken place in 1937 off DaytonaBeach, Florida, in front of hundreds of witnesses; a check of the local papersrevealed nothing.Kusche concluded that:The Legend of the Bermuda Triangle isa manufactured mystery… perpetuated by writers who either purposely orunknowingly made use of misconceptions, faulty reasoning, and sensationalism.

Further responsesThe marine insurer Lloyd's of London has determined the Triangle to be nomore dangerous than any other area of ocean, and does not charge unusual ratesfor passage through the region.United StatesCoast Guard recordsconfirm their conclusion. In fact, the number of supposed disappearances isrelatively insignificant considering the number of ships and aircraft whichpass through on a regular basis.The Coast Guard is also officially skeptical of the Triangle,noting that they collect and publish, through their inquiries, muchdocumentation contradicting many of the incidents written about by the Triangleauthors. In one such incident involving the 1972 explosion and sinking of thetanker V.A. Fogg in the Gulf of Mexico, the Coast Guardphotographed the wreck and recovered several bodies in contrast with oneTriangle author's claim that all the bodies had vanished, with the exception ofthe captain, who was found sitting in his cabin at his desk, clutching a coffeecup.

 

Supernatural explanations

Triangle writers have used a number of supernatural concepts toexplain the events. One explanation pins the blame on leftover technology fromthe mythical lost continent of Atlantis. Sometimes connected to the Atlantisstory is the submerged rock formation known as the Bimini Roadoff the island of Bimini in theBahamas, which is in the Triangle by some definitions. Followers of thepurported psychic Edgar Cayce takehis prediction that evidence of Atlantis would be found in 1968 as referring tothe discovery of the Bimini Road. Believers describe the formationas a road, wall, or other structure, though geologists consider it to be ofnatural origin. Other writers attribute the events to UFOs. This idea was used by Steven Spielberg for his science fiction film CloseEncounters of the Third Kind, which features the lost Flight 19as alien abductees.Charles Berlitz,grandson of a distinguished linguist and author of various additional books onanomalous phenomena, has kept in line with this extraordinary explanation, andattributed the losses in the Triangle to anomalous or unexplained forces. 

 

 Natural explanations

 

      Compass variations

Compass problemsare one of the cited phrases in many Triangle incidents. While some have theorizedthat unusual local magnetic anomalies may exist in the area, such anomalieshave not been shown to exist. It should also be remembered that compasses havenatural magnetic variations in relation to the Magnetic poles. For example, in the United States the only places where magnetic (compass)north and geographic (true) north are exactly the same are on a linerunning from Wisconsin tothe Gulf of Mexico. Navigators have known this forcenturies. But the public may not be as informed, and think there is somethingmysterious about a compass "changing" across an area as large as theTriangle, which it naturally will.Deliberate acts of destructionThis can fall into two categories: acts of war, and acts ofpiracy. Records in enemy files have been checked for numerous losses; whilemany sinkings have been attributed to surface raiders or submarines during the World Wars anddocumented in the various command log books, many others which have beensuspected as falling in that category have not been proven. It is suspectedthat the loss of USS Cyclops in 1918, as well as her sister ships Proteus and Nereus in World War II, were attributed to submarines,but no such link has been found in the German records.Piracy, as defined by the taking of a ship orsmall boat on the high seas, is an act which continues to this day. Whilepiracy for cargo theft is more common in the western Pacific and Indian oceans,drug smugglers do steal pleasure boats for smuggling operations, and may havebeen involved in crew and yacht disappearances in the Caribbean. Historicallyfamous pirates of the Caribbean (where piracy was common from about 1560 to the1760s) include Edward Teach (Blackbeard) and Jean Lafitte. Lafitte is sometimes said to bea Triangle victim himself.Gulf StreamThe Gulf Stream isan ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico, and then through the Straits of Florida,into the North Atlantic. In essence, it is a river within an ocean, and like ariver, it can and does carry floating objects. It has a surface velocity of up toabout 2.5 metres per second (5.6 mph). A small plane making a waterlanding or a boat having engine trouble will be carried away from its reportedposition by the current, as happened to the cabin cruiser Witchcraft on December 22, 1967, when it reportedengine trouble near the Miami buoy marker one mile (1.6 km) from shore, but wasnot there when a Coast Guard cutter arrived.

Humanerror

One of the most cited explanations in official inquiries as to theloss of any aircraft or vessel is human error. Whether deliberate oraccidental, humans have been known to make mistakes resulting in catastrophe,and losses within the Bermuda Triangle are no exception. For example, the CoastGuard cited a lack of proper training for the cleaning of volatile benzene residueas a reason for the loss of the tanker V.A.Fogg in 1972. Humanstubbornness may have caused businessman Harvey Conover to lose his sailingyacht, the Revonoc, as hesailed into the teeth of a storm south of Florida on January 1, 1958. Manylosses remain inconclusive due to the lack of wreckage which could be studied,a fact cited on many official reports.

Area51

Area 51 is a nickname for a military baselocated in the southern portion of Nevada in thewestern United States (83 miles north-northwest of downtown Las Vegas). Situated at its center, on thesouthern shore of Groom Lake, is a large secretive militaryairfield. The base's primary purpose is to support development and testing ofexperimental aircraft and weapons systems. The base lies within the United States AirForce's vast Nevada Testand Training Range. Although the facilities at the range are managedby the 99th Air Base Wing at Nellis Air Force Base,the Groom facility appears to be run as an adjunct of the Air Force Flight TestCenter (AFFTC) at Edwards Air ForceBase in the Mojave Desert, around 186 miles(300 km) southwest of Groom, nd as such the base is known as Air ForceFlight Test Center (Detachment 3) Other names used for the facility include Dreamland, Paradise Ranch, HomeBase, Watertown Strip, Groom Lake, and most recently Homey Airport. The area is part of the Nellis MilitaryOperations Area, and the restricted airspace around the field isreferred to as (R-4808N), known by the military pilots in the area as "TheBox."The intense secrecy surrounding the base, the very existence ofwhich the U.S. government barely acknowledges, has led it to become thefrequent subject of conspiracy theories and a central component to unidentifiedflying object (UFO)folklore.
GeographyArea 51 shares a border with the Yucca Flat regionof the Nevada Test Site (NTS), the location of 739 of the 928nuclear tests conducted by the UnitedStates Department of Energy atNTS. The YuccaMountain nuclear waste repository isapproximately 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Groom Lake.The same "Area xx"naming scheme is used for other parts of the Nevada Test Site.The area is connected to the internal NTS road network, with pavedroads leading south to Mercury andwest to Yucca Flat. Leading northeast from the lake, the wide andwell-maintained Groom Lake Road runs through a pass in the Jumbled Hills. Theroad formerly led to mines in the Groom basin, but has been improved sincetheir closure. Its winding course runs past a security checkpoint, but therestricted area around the base extends further east. After leaving therestricted area, Groom Lake Road descends eastward to the floor of the TikabooValley, passing the dirt-road entrances to several small ranches, beforeconverging with State Route 375,the "ExtraterrestrialHighway", south ofRachel.

Operations at Groom Lake

Groom Lake is not a conventional airbase, as frontline units arenot normally deployed there. It instead appears to be used during thedevelopment, testing, and training phases for new aircraft. Once these aircrafthave been approved by the United States AirForce or otheragencies such as the CIA,operation of that aircraft is generally conducted from a normal air force base.Groom is reported, however, to be the permanent home for a small number of Soviet-designed aircraft which are analyzed and used fortraining purposes.Soviet spy satellites obtained photographs of the Groom Lake areaduring the height of the Cold War, and later civilian satellites produceddetailed images of the base and its surroundings. These images support onlymodest conclusions about the base; they depict a nondescript base, longairstrip, hangars and the lake, but nothing that supports some of the claimsabout underground facilities.
Though no ICAO identifier for the base appears on anyofficial document, in December 2007, airline pilots noticed that the base hadappeared in their aircraft navigation systems' latest Jeppesen databaserevision as "KXTA".

 

U-2 program

Groom Lake was used for bombing and artillery practice during World War II, but was then abandoned untilApril 1955, when it was selected by Lockheed's Skunk Works teamas the ideal location to test the forthcoming U-2 spyplane. The lakebed made an idealstrip from which they could operate the troublesome test aircraft, and theEmigrant Valley's mountain ranges and the NTS perimeter protected the test sitefrom prying eyes and outside interference.Lockheed constructed a makeshift base at the location, then knownas Site II or "The Ranch", consisting of little more than a fewshelters, workshops and trailer homes in which to house its small team. In onlythree months a 5000-foot runway was constructed and was servicable by July 1955. TheRanch received its first U-2 delivery on July 24, 1955 from Burbank on a C-124 Globemaster II cargo plane, accompanied by Lockheedtechnicians on a Douglas DC-3. The first U-2 lifted off from atGroom on August 4, 1955. A U-2 fleet under the control of the CIA began overflights of Soviet territoryby mid-1956.During this period, the NTS continued to perform a series ofatmospheric nuclear explosions. U-2 operations throughout 1957 were frequentlydisrupted by the Plumbbob series of atomic tests, whichdetonated over two-dozen devices at the NTS. ThePlumbbob-Hood explosion on July 5 scattered fallout acrossGroom and forced a temporary evacuation.

Blackbird programs

Even before U-2 development was complete, Lockheed began work onits successor, the CIA's OXCART project, a Mach-3 high altitudereconnaissance aircraft, a later variant of whichbecame the famed USAF SR-71 Blackbird. The Blackbird's flightcharacteristics and maintenance requirements forced a massive expansion offacilities and runways at Groom Lake. By the time the first A-12 Blackbirdprototype flew at Groom in 1962, the main runway had been lengthened to 8,500ft (2,600 m), and the base boasted a complement of over 1,000 personnel. It hadfueling tanks, a control tower, and a baseball diamond.Security was greatly enhanced, the small civilian mine in the Groom basin wasclosed, and the area surrounding the valley was made an exclusive militarypreserve. Groom saw the first flight of most major Blackbird variants: A-12, the abortive YF-12 interceptorvariant, and the D-21 Blackbird-based drone project. The A-12 would remain atGroom Lake until 1968. (The SR-71 firstflew at Palmdale, California.)

Have Blue/F-117 program

The Lockheed Have Blue prototype stealth fighter (a smallercousin of the F-117 Nighthawk) first flew at Groom inDecember 1977. Testing of aseries of ultra-secret prototypes continued there until mid-1981, when testingtransitioned to the initial production of F-117 stealth fighters. In additionto flight-testing, Groom performed radar profiling, F-117 weapons testing, andwas the location for training of the first group of frontline USAF F-117pilots. Subsequently, the still highly classified active-service F-117operations moved to the nearby Tonopah Test Range,and finally to Holloman Air Force Base
Area51 border and warning sign stating that "photography is prohibited"and that "use of deadly force is authorized" under the terms of the1950 McCarranInternal Security Act. A government vehicle is parked on thehilltop; from there, security agents observe the approach to Groom Lake.Commuter service is provided along Groom Lake Road by a bus,catering to a small number of employees living in several small communitiesbeyond the NTS boundary (although it is not clear whether these workers areemployed at Groom or at other facilities in the NTS). The bus travels GroomLake Road and stops at Crystal Springs, Ash Springs,and Alamo, and parks at the Alamo courthouseovernight.

Runways

The airbase, given the ICAO airport identifier code of KXTA andlisted as "Homey Airport" inaviation GPSdatabases, has seven runways includingone that now appears to be closed. The closed runway, 14R/32L, is also by farthe longest with a total length of approximately 7,100 meters (23,300 ft), notincluding stopway. The other runways are two asphalt runways, the 14L/32R witha length of 3,650 meters (12,000 ft) and 12/30 with a length of 1,650 meters(5,400 ft), and four runways located on the salt lake. These four runways are09L/27R and 09R/27L, which are both approximately 3,500 meters (11,450 ft), and03L/21R and 03R/21L, which are both approximately 3,050 meters (10,000 ft). Thebase also has a helipad.The probably-inadvertent release of the airport dataled to advice by the AircraftOwners and Pilots Association (AOPA)that student pilots should be explicitly warned about KXTA, not to consider itas a waypoint or destination for any flight even though it now appears inpublic navigation databases.

Portrayal in media and popular culture

Popular culture often portrays Area 51 as a haven for extraterrestrials. The numerous conspiracytheories surrounding Area 51 have granted it a fairly high profile in popularculture, specifically in the area of science fiction. Dozens of films andtelevision programs deal with fictionalized events at the site. The followingis list of such media:§  Themost widely seen example is the 1996 actionfilm Independence Day,in which the complex is shown to have been studying the crashed scout ship fromthe Roswell UFO incident of 1947. The heroes of the film latermake their final attack from the airstrips at the base, and in a nod toestablished fact, Randy Quaid's character Russell Casse at onepoint refers to the base not being shown on a state map of Nevada.§  Thetelevision series Seven Days took place largely inside the Area 51complex itself, with the base depicted as being run by a covertNational SecurityAgency (NSA) operationwhich used time travel madepossible by alien technology recovered from the 1947 Roswell incident.§  Lara Croft infiltratesArea 51 in Tomb Raider 3. She must find a specialstone called "Element 115."§  Joanna Dark infiltratesArea 51 in the multi-million selling first person shooter video game Perfect Dark. Her objectives are to meetup with a fellow secret agent, find the autopsy lab of the assumed to be deadalien named Elvis, and to get out successfully.§  Inthe beginning of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,"Hangar 51" is revealed to be the location of the government warehouse where the Ark of the Covenant was stored at the end of Raiders of the LostArk, and where KGB agents go to recover the remains ofthe Roswell alien,eventually revealed to be an interdimensional being with a crystalline skeleton.Writer David Koeppacknowledged the number 51 as areference to popular beliefs about the connection between Roswell and Area 51. §  Inthe television series Stargate SG-1, Area 51 is used as afacility for storage and research of technology brought back to Earth from other planets.§  Inthe Metal Gear series, Area 51 turns out to be one ofthe headquarters of the Illuminati groupknown as The Patriots,who manipulate the government, public, and economy from behind the scenes. Thecharacter Raiden is injured during an attempt to rescue Sunny.§  Inthe comic Superman: Red Son, Abin Sur's body is stored in Area 51 by orderof J. Edgar Hoover. John F. Kennedy later gives Lex Luthoraccess to the base to developweapons to defeat the Soviet Union.§  Forthe finale of the documentary televisionseries UFO Hunters,Season Two, Area 51 was filmed in October 2008. The high definitionfootageaired February 25, 2009 on the History channel.

Big praise to Doctors at Sarwal Hospital, Jammu

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A patient 35 years of age poor widow women from Samba was diagnosed to have a big uterine fibroid. She had complained of bleeding regularly and the haemoglobin was 5. The patient was getting checked at Samba and SMGS Hospital but was not being operated upon as she was not fit for surgery; moreover she was so poor and had no attendants to give blood. The patient came to Sarwal Hospital where ultrasound and other tests were repeated to confirm the diagnosis and was admitted a month back. She was given five transfusions of blood and build upon and today Surgery was done in Government Hospital Sarwal, Jammu by Dr. Shafiqua Bano Consultant Gynaecologist  Others who also assisted in the surgery included were – Anaesthetists were Dr Sangeeta Singh. Other staffs who assisted and contributed in successful performance of the operation were Mr Rajesh Sharma & Mr Rajinder Sharma Theater Technicians, Staff Nurse Vijay Rekha and class IV employee Uttam and Vishal. 


Medical Superintendent Dr. Arun Sharma congratulated the team for the initiative and informed that this type of this operation is being done in Medical College, Sarwal hospital and also in other Health institutions but the removed mass was very large weighing more than 5 Kg (approx 20 cm x 15 cm) and also that such surgery will give benefit to the poor lady who otherwise could not afford to spend in private or also in Govt. institutions for buying things required for surgery and would definitely increase the confidence of gynaecologists to perform such surgeries in health care institutions on routine basis.

1960's Batman series will get a Mattel toyline

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If the date 12/21/12 held any other significance other than "The End Is Nigh", then is is certainly GOOD NEWS for fans of the classic 1966 Batman show!


Via a report from Superherohype and this month's issue of License! Global magazine, Mattel confirms that the classic 1960's Batman series will be getting the toyline treatment, meaning that star and legendary actor Adam West will FINALLY be getting an action figure! This comes on the eve of reports of 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. negotiated a deal to finally release the long desired superhero TV show in home media, so it's certainly a good way to tie-in and reintroduce fans to a legendary franchise with a new toyline!


Batman 1966 Intro
With Mattel's popular DC Universe Classics/ All-Stars line receiving figures with multiple points of articulation, this is certainly good news for Batfans who have wanted the campy but iconic version as part of their collection! Related DC action figure news also sees the "DC Super Friends" toyline continuing, as well as the release of the new "Beware The Batman" and "Man Of Steel" tie-in figures. For more info, visit the source post at License! Global's website and SHH!

So watch out old chums and collectors, Adam West/ Batman's making a comeback!

The Walking Dead: Skyfall mash-up trailer & Season 3 Promo

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Slated to return and resume its 3rd season next month, AMC's fantastic zombie drama series that is The Walking Dead is not showing any signs of slowing down. It's become a big draw thanks to its fantastic storytelling and characters, and anything significant about Rick Grimes, Daryl Dixon, and their fellow survivors becomes the stuff of legends in the world of popculture and beyond.

It's on this note that a pretty awesome tribute video was made, courtesy of YouTube user Jonathan Wong. Thanks goes to Geek Tyrant for pointing this one out. It's a great collage of the events from the past two seasons as well as half of season 3 too, and uses the recent James Bond 007 flick's theme song to boot sung by Adele... Skyfall!

The Walking Dead: Skyfall
With current showrunner Glen Mazarra leaving after Season 3 ends, a lot of people are wondering who'll take over now that Season 4's confirmed. It still remains to be seen, but we have 8 more episodes left until the end of the current season, and The Walking Dead returns in a few weeks time. Til then, here's a new promo for the next episode entitled "The Suicide Kings", via YouTube and Screen Rant.

The Walking Dead Season 3 Promo #2 "The Suicide Kings"
The Walking Dead returns on February 10.

Mass Effect 3 Completed for the Second Time

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I finished my second playthrough of Mass Effect 3 tonight, this time on Hardcore Difficulty.  Personally, I don't care what all the bandwagon hoppers say, this is a great game and a great story.  While there's certainly some plot holes, the Mass Effect trilogy is the single greatest video game story telling experience I've ever played.

For this playthrough, I imported my FemShep from Mass Effect 2, though I don't think it got her face quite right.  I had used the default female Shepard provided by Mass Effect 2, but she just looked wrong, so I went with the new default from Mass Effect 3 itself.

My Class was an Adept and I went Renegade, choosing "Destroy" as my ending option.  Interestingly though, this is the first playthrough of any Mass Effect title where I didn't romance anyone (officially), though not for a lack of trying.  Jacob was my romance in Mass Effect 2 and as I expected, he rejected me here.  Prior to that though I had chosen not to pursue both Liara and Vega, as I intended to pursue Kaiden, but he rejected me!  I should have known better since BioWare seemed to have retconed his sexual orientation, but it still annoyed me.

I hit on Joker and he rejected me to, I hit on Traynor but didn't seem to get anywhere there, so I just sorta-romanced Allers, even though I didn't like her character.

For the bulk of the playthrough, which took me 57 hours, I used Vega and EDI as my squadmates, as being combat and tech specialists respectively they complimented my biotic skills.  Typically I'd lay down Singularities or Lifts and then spammed Warp like crazy, while I had EDI use Overload or Incinerate to bring down any Shields or Armour quickly.  James I pretty much let do his own thing, save when I needed to do high damage to Armoured targets with Concussive Shot; very handy.

This is also my first playthrough with the Extended Cut, and I liked how it properly shows your Squad Mates leaving the final battle.  Both the evac and departure have some real meaning now.  Otherwise though, while I have no issue with the Extended Cut, I personally feel it's not necessary as everything else it elaborates on was implied just fine in the retail ending.

Regardless though, Mass Effect 3 is a great gameplay and storytelling experience, and I've got one more Shepard to do an Insanity run with soon.

Dead Space 3 Demo Release Date and Early Access

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The demo for Dead Space 3 will be available on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on January 22nd.  The demo can be played Single Player or Co-Op, allowing players to try out both game modes.

For those who want early access to the Xbox 360 demo, you can try to win an early release code by signing up here (note, you'll need an Origin account).  Those selected will get access to the Xbox 360 demo on January 15th.

Top 3 Novels of the Year, 2012

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With 2012 wrapping up, time for me to start posting my Top of the Year awards, starting with novels.

I actually read a lot less this year than any year prior, as I picked up a PlayStation Vita to occupy my commute time.  Jack Whyte's latest historical fiction was released, his second novel in the Guardians series entitled "The Renegade," but in hardcover only and I'm waiting for the mass market paperbound coming in July of 2013.

Thus, I only have four novels to choose from this year.  And so, my top three are:


3) Dead Space: Catalyst.  Dead Space is a great sci-fi horror game franchise, one that surprised and terrified me and of which I'm anxiously awaiting the third installment.  The second novel for the franchise released this past year, entitled Dead Space: Catalyst, and follows two brothers, the troubled Istvan and his younger brother Jensi.

Istvan is psychologically disturbed and constantly hears voices and sees odd shapes in the world that no other can see, and when the time comes for the boys to be put in foster care Istvan flees.  Ultimately getting involved with some shady characters, Istvan ends up in a grander scheme that leads him to a penal colony and a Marker.  Jensi constantly tries to protect his other brother, but is powerless against the secret factions and EarthGov agents blocking him at every turn, and when the Marker unleashes hell on the penal colony Jensi begins a fight for shear survival.

I found the relationship between the two brothers touching and well written, and the novel boosted some great Dead Space flare while being set apart from the main storyline of the games.  The only shame of it was how rushed and incomplete the ending felt, but overall, it was an enjoyable read that fans of the franchise will like.


2) Halo: The Thursday War.  There's no denying the power and entertainment value of the Halo franchise.  Grand in scope and longevity, Halo has been a video game staple for well over ten years now and a driving force behind the Xbox brand.  The novels for the franchise are generally top notch and excellent military sci-fi in their own right, however the first novel in the Kilo-Five trilogy, Halo: Glasslands, was such a disappointment that I was very concerned for the quality of the sequel.

Much to my surprise Traviss began fixing many of the canonical issues through Halo: The Thursday War that were introduced with Halo: Glasslands, and this was such a flood of relief.  Simply put, Halo: The Thursday War feels much more like a proper Halo novel with compelling characters and conflict bridging the gap between Halo 3 and Halo 4, but with the strong character development that Traviss is known for.

The civil war on Sanghelios that ONI was hoping to ferment has begun in earnest, and Kilo-Five needs to race to the world to rescue a stranded agent there.  Meanwhile, ONI and Fleetcom launch the newly built UNSC Infinity, the largest UNSC vessel ever built, to make sure this cival war goes according to plan, officially supporting the Arbiter but also secretly assisting the Sangheli rebels to further destabilize things.  Finally, an Elite prisoner on the former Forerunner shield world of Onyx realizes humanity's grim intentions for his kind and breaks free to form the Storm Covenant, a critical faction in the recently released Halo 4.

Halo: The Thursday War entertains wonderfully and is a great read for any Halo fan.


1) Halo: Primordium. Halo fans have long since heard about the war between the Forerunners and the Flood, a war the Forerunners won but which resulted in the sacrifice of their species.  With Halo: Cryptum, we finally got to witness the beginning of that conflict and to experience Forerunner culture at its apex, and its dissolution as the Forerunners are engulfed in civil war.

The second novel continues the tale, but from a different perspective.  Halo: Primordium looks at things from the human perspective, following the continued tale of Chakas as he's stranded on a Halo installation.  This ring is under the control of the now corrupt Mendicant Bias, and Chakas begins to see first hand the true horror the Flood can bring to the galaxy.

Halo: Primorodium, like its predecessor, is unlike any other Halo tale told to date.  Greg Bear takes great liberty in creating a truly fantastic universe for readers to experience with some great character moments and epic conflicts that have far reaching repercussions for the entire galaxy.  We also begin to really see the begins of some of the first themes further developed in Halo 4, particularly with the Didact himself.

It's that originality, consistency, and imagination that so captivated me with the book, and why I'm calling Halo: Primordium my Novel of the Year for 2012.

Top 3 Games of the Year, 2012

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With 2012 ending today, it's time to post my top three games of the year!

As I mention every year, I'm not a professional reviewer and I don't get review copies of games, so I'm limited in considering only games that I've played through.  This means that certain triple A titles that don't interest me won't be on the list, and I'll also only list something that I've played through fully and reviewed.

This year I also spent a lot of time playing games released in 2011 as I've been rather busy and free time's been at a premium, so keep that in mind as you read the below.


3) Halo 4 (Xbox 360).  As 343 Industries first brand new game on any platform ever, they had a lot of expectations to live up to.  The Halo franchise is massive and synonymous with the Xbox platform itself, and that's a mighty high bar that they had to raise.  Thankfully, 343 Industries was up to the challenge.

The first true sequel to Halo 3, Halo 4 continues the story of John-117 and Cortana as they face a terrifying new threat in the wake of the end of the Human-Covenant War.  While 343 Industries generally plays things safe and doesn't mess too much with the franchise's long established formula, the gameplay mechanics and the way they tell their story is done in such a way where the game and franchise are now definitely theirs.

The Chief speaks more and shows genuine emotion in the face of this new threat to humanity and Cortana's degrading Rampancy.  Featuring a slower paced but more focused Campaign, the Single Player element feels more like classic Halo than many titles before it.  Infinity Multiplayer is a new take on the tried and true online carnage, incorporating actual story elements to the traditional matches we know and love, and introducing a new episodic Cooperative game mode: Spartan Ops.

Filled with a healthy mix of new and old, Halo 4 is a solid entry to the franchise and a great first step for 343 Industries.


2) Mortal Kombat (PlayStation Vita).  Some may call this double dipping, as I gave Mortal Kombat Game of the Year for 2011, however the PlayStation Vita version released this past Spring and like its console big brother, I've spent way too much time with it.

Featuring almost all the extensive content from the console versions, the PlayStation Vita version of Mortal Kombat also includes a 150 mission Bonus Challenge Tower as well as two new mini-games, Test Your Slice and Test Your Balance.  NetherRealm Studios also included several more Klassic Costumes not available on consoles, amongst a few other minor additions.

While the portable version isn't as graphically impressive as the console versions, it features a proper frame rate and plays exactly like its bigger brother, making it a great portable version and wonderful companion for those who love the game.  In truth, Mortal Kombat is the reason I got a PlayStation Vita and still stands as the game I've played the most on that platform, and thanks to being able to enjoy it during my lengthy commute, I've greatly improved my game with my primary characters (Mileena and Scorpion) and also really tackled learning Kitana, allowing her to become another main.

With the PlayStation Vita version of Mortal Kombat I continue to learn new things about the game and for me, it's been a solid reason to give Sony's new portable a go.


1) Mass Effect 3 (Xbox 360, PC, PlayStation 3).  So many people jumped on the hate bandwagon with Mass Effect 3, and I feel this was truly done unfairly.  Featuring the end of your Commander Shepard's journey to stop the Reaper threat from destroying the galaxy, players can once again import their Shepard's from the previous game to continue their adventure and allow their choices to have an influence on the story.

What follows is a character driven, emotional ride throughout the galaxy where gamers see the Reapers' devastation first hand as they struggle to unit the galaxy against the common foe.  In addition to forming alliances players attempt to build their War Assets for the final assault to take Earth back, and the number of Assets you have will generate subtle to not so subtle changes to your Shepard's ending.

Not only is there an amazing in-depth Single Player game here, but for the first time the franchise features Multiplayer.  Tied into the Single Player experience, gamers take part in specialized N7 squads in a cooperative "Horde" style experience where players take on waves of enemies to achieve objectives and build their Galactic Readiness, a variable that affects the effectiveness of the War Assets Shepard is collecting in the Single Player game.

This all comes together to form an engaging and complete action RPG experience that's as story driven as it is intense.  Though many took great exception to the game's ending, I personally had no such qualms as I kept my experiences realistic.  At the end of the day, it's the journey that matters, and the Mass Effect franchise provided me with an exceptional experience from start to finish.  As such, BioWare's epic deserves the honour of my Game of the Year for 2012.

1960's Batman series will get a Mattel toyline

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If the date 12/21/12 held any other significance other than "The End Is Nigh", then is is certainly GOOD NEWS for fans of the classic 1966 Batman show!


Via a report from Superherohype and this month's issue of License! Global magazine, Mattel confirms that the classic 1960's Batman series will be getting the toyline treatment, meaning that star and legendary actor Adam West will FINALLY be getting an action figure! This comes on the eve of reports of 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. negotiated a deal to finally release the long desired superhero TV show in home media, so it's certainly a good way to tie-in and reintroduce fans to a legendary franchise with a new toyline!


Batman 1966 Intro
With Mattel's popular DC Universe Classics/ All-Stars line receiving figures with multiple points of articulation, this is certainly good news for Batfans who have wanted the campy but iconic version as part of their collection! Related DC action figure news also sees the "DC Super Friends" toyline continuing, as well as the release of the new "Beware The Batman" and "Man Of Steel" tie-in figures. For more info, visit the source post at License! Global's website and SHH!

So watch out old chums and collectors, Adam West/ Batman's making a comeback!

DeviantArt Animated DC The New 52 Justice League fanart looks amazing

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For those who enjoy Cartoon Network and DC Animated shows like "Justice League" and "Young Justice", here's a treat for you from a DeviantArt user named Eric Guzman. Using his very amazing skills as an animator, the man has put together some amazing "animated style" designs of the Justice League and other supporting characters and baddies from The New 52 era of DC Comics! It almost looks as if DC and Warner Bros. are actually going to make a show on the new universe, and to say it's impressive and good are total understatements!

For more on the designs, check out the source post at Bleeding Cool and Eric Guzman's official DeviantArt page!

The Wolverine: New poster/ motion poster revealed

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Revealed and shown in the film's official Facebook page, 20th Century Fox and Marvel have released this stunning new poster for Hugh Jackman's return as Logan in "The Wolverine". The new one sheet shows the feral mutant kneeling on a Japanese rooftop ledge that overlooks Tokyo, with a Samurai sword in one hand and his Adamantium claws unsheathed in the other.


A motion poster was also released, which looks something like this:

The Wolverine Motion Poster
Being the sixth film where he reprises the role (the total including the surprise cameo he made in "X-Men: First Class"), Mr. Jackman's adventures as the X-Men's most popular member takes him to Japan, where he finds himself embroiled in a battle with a figure from his past that has consequences and molds Logan into the warrior he is destined to be. The story is adopted from Chris Claremont and Frank Miller's classic limited series of the same name, so it remains to be seen how the film version will pan out. So far, it looks to be quite serious and epic in tone for a superhero movie.

For more details and information, check out the source at The Wolverine Facebook page!

The Wolverine, directed by James Mangold, slices his way into theaters on July 26, 2013!

Batman #900 a possibility?

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An interesting post came up on Bleeding Cool, wherein the possibility of honoring the 900th issue of DC Comics' popular Dark Knight hero Batman popped into question. Given The New 52 changes and the renumbering system that reflected the reboot, chances of it happening were slim... Until this query came into the picture.

A reader and fan named Brian O' Sullivan posed the question to current Co-Publisher and writer Dan DiDio via his own Facebook page, and the man himself has responded so... Albeit in a very unclear and coy way.:) Will we get Batman #900? That still remains to be seen, but April 2013 draws so near...

Thanks goes to Bleeding Cool for pointing this one out. Check out the source post for for the pic, and details.

Star Trek Into Darkness: First Teaser Trailer officially debuts

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After the "Announcement Trailer" was released earlier this month, fans of J.J Abrams' Star Trek films are officially getting their taste of the next adventure with the FULL teaser trailer to "Star Trek Into Darkness". Check out the embedded trailer below, or download it into your computer or mibile devices via Apple Trailers.




Star Trek Into Darkness Teaser Trailer
For more info and details, visit the source post on Slash Film.

Star Trek Into Darkness warps into theaters on May 17, 2013

1960's Batman series will get a Mattel toyline

To contact us Click HERE


If the date 12/21/12 held any other significance other than "The End Is Nigh", then is is certainly GOOD NEWS for fans of the classic 1966 Batman show!


Via a report from Superherohype and this month's issue of License! Global magazine, Mattel confirms that the classic 1960's Batman series will be getting the toyline treatment, meaning that star and legendary actor Adam West will FINALLY be getting an action figure! This comes on the eve of reports of 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. negotiated a deal to finally release the long desired superhero TV show in home media, so it's certainly a good way to tie-in and reintroduce fans to a legendary franchise with a new toyline!


Batman 1966 Intro
With Mattel's popular DC Universe Classics/ All-Stars line receiving figures with multiple points of articulation, this is certainly good news for Batfans who have wanted the campy but iconic version as part of their collection! Related DC action figure news also sees the "DC Super Friends" toyline continuing, as well as the release of the new "Beware The Batman" and "Man Of Steel" tie-in figures. For more info, visit the source post at License! Global's website and SHH!

So watch out old chums and collectors, Adam West/ Batman's making a comeback!

Welcome to 2013!

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It's a new year, and there's going to be a lot of things to look forward to. 2012 was full of surprises indeed, and this year holds a lot of promises and opportunities. Hopefully we'll be riding some great stuff along the way as well as some changes. That being said, this site is long overdue for an upgrade, and maybe getting to that will be a work in progress somewhere down the road. For the meantime, here's a toast for big things to come for everyone this year!

Happy New Year and Welcome to 2013!

- Timzster, PopCulture Crusader!