Top 10 video Games of 2012

In many parts of the world it is still 2012, while the year 2013 has started traveling from the farthest east and is rapidly traveling due west - just about 15 minutes from Pakistan.

As the year 2012 wraps itself up, reviewers and analysts are hurrying up with their collections of events, gadgets, smartphones, apps and games that stood out from the rest. Of many such efforts, Mashable has compiled a list of top 10 best video games of the year 2012.

Top 10 Video Games of 2012

I am sure the gamers must have heard these names, but the listing may or may not be the one as they would have thought. However, here is one listing of the top 10 best video games of the year 2012 and let us see if these match your liking or not. The names given are from bottom upwards:

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10. FTL: Faster Than Light
9.  Spec Ops: The Line
8.  Hotline Miami
7.  Spelunky
6.  Far Cry 3
5.  Halo 4
4.  Dishonored
3.  XCOM: Enemy Unknown
2.  Journey
1.  The Walking Dead

Why Walking Dead as no.1? Well the Walking Dead has already snatched a number of "Game of the Year" awards, hopefully paving the way for more like it.

The game is one of the most visceral experiences ever offered by the medium. Some of the most fascinating information can be gleaned from the statistics developer TellTale Games releases after each episode, detailing how players reacted to each of the key decisions. Often the numbers aren't a decisive split, proving the game is playing with the murkiest levels of moral ambiguity.

Is this listing according to your calculation, taste and mood? If not, how would you re-number these - tell us in our comments box.

via Mashable
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The Last Sunset of 2012

The last sunset of 2012 just happened and I was lucky to have my camera ready to preserve the moment. Here are some of the shots taken by me of the last sunset:

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Tomorrow will be a new day, Insha Allah (God Willing), a new sun and a new world, I hope - peaceful and free of hate, wars and killings!!

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All photos above are personal property of Jalal Hameed Bhatti

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Top 10 most anticipated games of 2013

Year 2013 is just days from now - and many expectations and assumptions are already rumoring for what all the new year is bringing for us.

But as for games, the schedule is already out and right from early January the new titles will start to hit the market for the gamers and gaming fans. C|net has compiled a list of 25 most anticipated games of 2013 - but here we have selected 10 most anticipated games as these appear earlier than the rest.

Here we go:

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• DmC: Devil May Cry - Release date: January 15
• Dead Space 3 - Release date: February 5 
• Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time - Release date: February 5 
• Crysis 3 - Release date: February 19
• Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - Release date: February 19
• Tomb Raider - Release date: March 5 
• God of War: Ascension - Release date: March 12
• SimCity - Release date: March 5 
• Gears of War: Judgment - Release date: March 19
• BioShock Infinite - Release date: March 26

Well these are just the top 10 most anticipated games we are going to see till March. The next game Injustice: Gods Among Us is likely in April and others beyond it.

Let us wait for these and then we can find out what follows beyond.

Read more about each these ten games above and the remaining 15 games at: C|net
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Download Demon’s Score THD For Android Tegra 3 Devices [Official Link]

Square Enix has released Demon’s Score THD  for Android Tegra 3 devices Saturday, which is now available for download via the official Google Play Store.

Demon’s Score is Square Enix’s Unreal Engine built rhythm-based RPG title which at the moment is only available for Tegra 3 based Android devices. Being a rhythm-based action game, you have to literally act upon the rythm by tapping or swiping to the beat of it to attack the enemies. You can choose between one of the Story or Free mode to get into rythm and tap the hell out of your Android device.

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One of the greatest edge these Tegra 3 powered Android devices have over the iOS devices is the twice the resolution than other versions of the game, resulting in higher-quality and sharper graphics.

So head towards the Google play store now from the link below and get this awesome title for an expensive price-tag of $20.07.

Official Download Link for Demon’s Score THD For Android Tegra 3 Devices

via Chip Hazard
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Sketch a portrait with one continouos line

Painting, sketching and portraiting is a much adopted hobby around the world. There are hobbyists whose passion is to draw portraits both of the living and the legends now no more.

But the portraiting attains its height when a portrait is made of one continuous line - that is once the sketching starts, the tip of the drawing pencil remains in contact with the paper - even during pauses.

One line sketch of Marilyn Monroe

This is the specialty of the Self-taught French artist Pierre Emmanuel Godet, who has attempted to make his work as basic as possible by painstakingly drawing famous faces from across the decades with just one single continuous line. And the results are simply classic.

Godet has managed to create lifelike sketches of stars including Marilyn Monroe, Bono and Michael Jackson using his simple technique. The end result is similar to drawings produced on Etch-A-Sketches - the popular drawing toy invented in the 1960s - but without the red plastic toy frame.

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Godet’s first attempts were chalk drawings on the streets of Dublin, Ireland, but as he got better he transposed them on canvas, with Indian ink. In the beginning he created simple shapes, like animals and symbols, but as he became more experience he moved on to more elaborate works, like celebrity portraits.

One line sketch of Elvis Presley

Godet started his collection of celebrity art back in 2010 and has since produced portraits of some the world's greatest film stars, movie characters and singers.

Read moe about the one-line portraits and sketches of Pierre Emmanuel Godet at Daily Mail
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Swedish gets disability benefits for addiction to heavy metal

Listening to music is always amusing - a hobby that most of the people have around the world.

Hobbies, do become passion for many, but more often than not these turn into addiction. And this what happened to a heavy metal lover Swedish Roger Tullgran who attended over 300 gigs last year and now he thinks that is the addiction to the heavy metal that is devastating him.

Photo: PA

The 42 years old Tullgran has told Global Post that  he consulted three psychologists to testify his addiction to the Devil's Rock, which led to him attending over 300 concerts last year, leaving him seemingly unable to hold down a job.

He adds:

"I have been trying for 10 years to get this classified as a handicap and I spoke to three psychologists and they finally agreed that I needed this to avoid being discriminated against."

And this addiction has earned him state disability benefits.

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According to the report, he now has a part-time job as a dishwasher at a restaurant in Hassleholm, which will be supplemented by disability benefits. Tullgren's new boss has agreed to let him rock out to Slayer as loud as he wants while scrubbing dishes, so long as it doesn't disturb guests. He has even agreed to grant Tullgren time off to go to gigs.

Well, Tullgran was lucky to have his addiction recognized as addiction - but not everyone will.

So let the hobbies remain hobbies - pastimes to keep one light and ready for life and not like the Swedish who will remain addicted to his heavy metal and become slave to it forever.

via NME
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Steve Jobs's $198M yacht stranded at Netherlands

Although Steve Jobs is no more, his passion of cars and yachts is still echoed in the news headlines.

While he was known to change his car model every six months simply because he never wanted to have a number plate on his car, his passion for yachts also made his choice unique and peculiar.

Steve Jobs' yacht stranded at Port of Amsterdam [Photo: Ed Oudenaarden/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images ] 

Jobs while alive had ordered a uniquely sleek luxury yacht specially designed for him by French product designer Philippe Starck, now stands docked and stranded at Netherlands over a civil dispute with the designer.

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Reportedly, Starck had only been paid $7.9 million US by Job's heirs, but believed he was owed $11.8 million. The boat cost $197.9 million.

The 78.2-metre all-aluminum yacht with a minimalist aesthetic is docked at Port of Amsterdam.

via CBC News
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Amazingly realistic 3D images

Painting has always been a passion for many and even today when a majority of people have taken refuge in teir digital world and remain glued to their laptops, desktops or even smartphones, there are some who are not willing to do away witht ehir passion of painting.

And when it comes to the 3D images, the painters need to be giving a big filip as these almost take onlookers by surprise.

The painting of 3D images on pavements is growing across Europe and America and one is really spellbound to see these paintings.

Recently, street artist Kurt Wenner from USA created a playboy's bachelor pad in a Singapore Airport, a magic carpet for children to ride over an Arabian fantasy city and a grand prix car for local female drivers to try out during the Bahrain Grand Prix. And when you look at these, specially right there on the pavement, you will be nothing but flabbergasted.

Even watching the images on the internet is simply amazing,as can be seen from the image captioned 'The Flying Carpet' painted at Bettona, Italy above.

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Watch the video below for a time-lapse amazing 3D photo being pained by Wenner:

Read more about it/see more 3d Images at: Daily Mail
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Incredible interactive two 'billion pixel image' of Everest

Photography is one of the most common hobbies around the world. Many develop this hobby from their early ages with cheap cameras and then the hobby continues to develop from casual to informal and finally the formal world of photography.

Those who venture into the world of formal or professional photography come out with wonders that are simply astounding and awe inspiring.

Screen shot of interactive two billion pixel image of the Everest [Daily Mail]

Filmmaker David Breashears is one such person whose passion in photography and later film-making has taken him to the rooftop of the world - the monumental Mt Everest along with a nonprofit organization GlacierWorks photograph the Mt Everest and its surrounding peaks and glaciers to highlight the effect of climate change on the area. The team which extensive photos of the Mt Everest has produced an incredible interactive two BILLION pixel image of Everest which can be seen Here.

The Breashears-GlacierWorks team has also issued a group of 477 photos digitally stitched together (above)  that make up the gigapixel image of the Khumbu glacier. These photos have been captured by David Breashears during the spring of 2012, from the Pumori viewpoint near Mount Everest.

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Then and now: The Main Rongbuk Glacier in the Himayala region photographed in 1921, left, and in 2009 by the Glacier Works team. 

The team has also produced stunning set of 'then and now' pictures to show the effect climate change on the area since 1921.  The images are awesome as we can see huge glaciers replaced by water as the glacier no more exist. This the price we are paying by depleting the natural reserves due to our negligence and inability to control emissions that are the main cause of melting of the glaciers due to global warming effect.

Watch the video below:

Read more about it at: Daily Mail

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Collectors grab Greta Garbo's Personal Things for $1.6 Million at the auction

Just a few days ago, Rain Man's Buick Roadmaster, the 1949 model classic was auctioned off for a whooping $170,500 - the same Buicky that was driven by Tom Cruise in the movie. What a delightful collector would be who bought the car, hired only $357.20 a week during the shooting of the movie.

Greta Garbo's personal belongings that were auctioned for $1.6 Million [Auction Items Photos: Julien Auctions]

But more than recently, personal belongings of great Hollywood actress Greta Garbo went on auction and fetch $1.6 million - more than three times the original estimate, according to Julien's Auctions.

Remember Great Garbo? Well she was the Hollywood's most romantic heroine of the 30s and her belongings were still very much sought even after twelve years of her death.

Some of the personal belongings of Greta included her passport, black velvet dress, bag and hats she so lovingly donned during her movies.

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Only her U.S. passport issued in 1964, sold for $15,000 - three times the estimate of $3,000-$5,000, while a black velvet evening dress from the Thirties that had an estimated value of $1,200 went to the highest bidder for $13,750.

Besides, an antique gold pocket knife sold for $8,960, her jewelry set for $9,600, a favourite pair of Ferragamo shoes hit $8,125, and a Maltese cross brooch went for $13,750.

Read more about it at Daily Mail
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Rain Man's Classic 1949 Buick Roadmaster, driven by Tom Cruise, Auctioned for $170,500

Collectors of old and vintage cars can go to any extent to add classic additions to their fleet of rare, memorable and 'historic' cars.

When the Classic 1949 Buick Roadmaster appeared in the Oscar Award winning 1988 film 'Rain Man' and was driven by Hollywood Superstars Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman, many collectors would have wanted to buy the car right then.

But it was only their hard luck that the car finally appeared in Auction in Dallas, Texas last Saturday - almost 25 years later.

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1949 Buick Roadmast was rented on weekly basis @$357.20 for five months between the rental company and the United Artist, the maker of the Rain Man.

The rental contract of the Buick Roadmaster [Credit: Hemmings Daily]

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Online Casinos - the Best Pastime Destinations

Everyone seems busy these days and it looks as if no one has a time to oneself to relax, enjoy and refresh. It is generally because people do not know how much is out there waiting for them on the net that can relieve their anxiety, make them lighter, and happy and healthy.

Hobbies of many types are in fact designed to relax and please the hobbyists. From fishing to trekking, gazing stars at night and even cooking. One could call friends on weekends and play board games and even play cards like bridge or poker.

But if one is kind of a person who likes to be alone but still wanted to enjoy and please him? Well, just yesterday I came to know that one of the smartphones is offering poker app for their users. This sounds good as now one can play poker right from one's smartphone whenever one is free.

But this app is only about one game – poker, and that too restricted to a particular smartphone.

I think this is not a wholesome answer to the solution of finding solace and pleasure from games available online. What to do then? I did not know before - but hit and trial led me to the conclusion that online games that are usually played in the glittering lights of a casino can be now accessed right from one's laptop or the desktop whether at one's work place or home. 

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In fact the online casinos offer hundreds of games that include the Roulette, remember the spinning wheel we usually see in James Bond movies, Blackjack and of course poker. Talking of poker, one has a wide choice of games that one can select and play right from one's cockpit at home. And what is more, one gets a chance to play top pokies like the Hitman, Battlestar Galactica, Thunderstruck 2 and even the Tomb Raider. And if you are in Australia or the countries around, Australian Online Casinois one such pace where one can turn to and find plentiful games to play, and enjoy.

The online casinos can be accessed and played very easily and games played even for free. The free games provide a kind of tutorials for those not very well versant with the games played in a casino, and when one has mastered the art of playing, one can bet and win cash prizes, just like hitting a jackpot.

Not only this, such casinos can be accessed from major social media sites like the Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or even YouTube. And if one is not feeling confident how to go about it, online videos are available too for the step-by-step guidance just to make a potential player feel at ease in playing online.

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Postage stamps issued by Pakistan Post in 2012

The year 2012 is just a days away to welcome the new year 2013. During 2012, Pakistan Post issued stamps on 23 different occasions single or multiple stamps. These are appended below:

100th Meeting of the Federeal Cabinet, January 18, 

Arifa Karim, The World's Youngest Microsoft Certified Professional, February 2

Birth celebrations Air Marshal Nur Khan, February 22

Gems and Minerals of Pakistan, February 24

125th anniversary Celebrations of the Aitcheson College, Lahore March 3

150th Anniversary of St Joseph's Convent School, Karachi, March 19

50th anniversary of Asian Pacific Postal Union, April 1  

Centenary of Government High School No.1, Thana Malakand Division, April 15

Celebration of Yum-e-Shuhda (Martyrs Day), April 30

15th anniversary of State Visit of Their Majesties King Bhumibol and Quenn Sirikit of Thailand to Pakistan (1962-2012), May 5

Prevention of Thalessemia in Pakistan, May 8

40th Anniversary of UN Environment Programme, June 5

Golden Jubilee of Ayub Bridge 1962-2012, June 15

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Child Art Competition National Stamp Exhibition "Kurrachee", June 22

Eid Celebration 2012, August 13

150th Anniversary of King Edward Medical College, Lahore August 28

65 Years of Independence of Pakistan, 30 August: The stamp shows the great water colour painter Abdul Rehman Chughtai who designed the first stamp of Pakistan after independence.

30th Anniversary of Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry, September 26

The Migratory Birds in Pakistan, Wild Life Series, September 27

The Wetlands of Pakistan, The Arabia Sea Coral Reefs, October 4

 92nd Birth Anniversary of Hameed Naseem, October 19

 50th Anniversary of National Investment Trust Ltd. (NITL), November 21

Muhammad Luthfullah Khan, (The Archivist) 1916-2012, November 25

via My Philatelic World
Stamps Courtesy Pakistan Post
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Download Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour For iOS-Android [Official Links]

Good news for gaming hobbyists, specially the Modern Combat 4 lovers!!

While the iOS users got Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour a week earlier, the same is now available for the Android users via Google Play and App Store respectively for just $6.99.

This is the the fourth installment in the first-person shooter franchise which has been pushed out a little over a year after Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation. Just like the addition in Call Of Duty franchise every year, the amount of anticipation for this FPS title is intense every year, inform Wahaab JB of Chip Hazard.

So go ahead and enjoy playing Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour that offers eye-popping “console quality” graphics and amazing sound quality that will mesmerize players with its jam-packed action. The game’s intensity is beyond any other title than many other games of its kind and it’s multiplayer mode will surely keep you glued to your smartphone/tablet.

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The officla download links for this awesome FPS title for Android-iOS device are given herein under:

Download Link for iOS
Download Link for Android

via Chip Hazard
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100 years of Sinking of RMS Titanic: Theme Specific Stamps

Before 2012 fades away in the history a few days from hence, let me write about RMS Titanic tragedy and the postage stamps issued in the memory of the great sunken ship and perhaps the deadliest tragedy that occurred at sea. 

Titanic [Photo: Wikipedia]

It was year 1912, just a hundred years from the present time that this large vessel, considered to be the largest ship afloat at the time of her maiden voyage, sailed from London to its maiden journey to New York. 

The ship that left Southampton on 10 April 2012, carried carried 2,224 passengers and crew and all went right till the fateful 15th April 1912, when amid the cold waters of the North Atlantic Ocean, the ship struck a huge iceberg that caused it to sink. The tragedy that occurred at night caused 1502 passengers and crew members to die in the frozen water.

The passengers included some of the wealthiest people in the world, as well as hundreds of emigrants from Great Britain and Ireland, Scandinavia and elsewhere throughout Europe seeking a new life in North America - but their destination lied somewhere else. 

For almost a century, the tragedy was almost forgotten, and the ship wreckage lied on the bottom of the sea some 12, 000 feet below the surface. A number of expeditions were mounted to find Titanic but it was not until 1 September 1985 that a Franco-American expedition succeeded.

And it was this discovery that led to the making of the Oscar awards studded film 'Titanic' that immortalized the sinking of the ship in the backdrop of a fiction love story.

Many countries have since issued postage stamps commemorating the great tragedy. Some of these stamps are as under:

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via My Philatelic World
For details about Titanic, read Wikipedia

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