I heard the asteroid is coming in 2015 or 2016. As for 2012, just a whole lot of hype as Solarskye said. Every few years someone always says the
worlds going to end on a certain date, one philosopher (can't remember who it is

) thought the world was ending in the 80's. Watch "2001, A Space
Oddissy" and you'll see what I mean, back in the 60's they thought we would be living on the moon by now.
As for the Maya Calender, could it just be that they ended the calender on that date because they decided, "Hey, we're not going to live that long,
let the younger generation complete it." It seems to be happening a lot in our culture.
[edit on 13/03/07 by MAD Hatt3r]