Bungie has spotlighted the Ascendant Justice blog for its consistently high-quality writing; we’ve mentioned each piece they’ve published as it came out (because we agree with Bungie, the stuff they do is great), but if you missed any of it, this is a great reminder to go back and explore. (The point of this spotlight is to introduce the next community member to populate the ‘Bungie Favorites‘ section of Bungie.net – go see what gametypes, maps, screenshots and films AJ thought was worth your time!) Thanks, Don.(Louis Wu 13:05:32 UTC)

A couple of days ago, JeSteR 343 started up a group at HaloCharts.com, allowing HBO regulars to compare themselves to other HBO regulars. It took a little while for the bugs to be worked out of the grouping system, apparently – but things seem fine now, and there are a number of members already signed up. Go add yourself!(Louis Wu 13:04:07 UTC)

There are nine new pieces in the Fan Fiction section this week – a great step up from the last couple of weeks! One of the stories has some artwork with it – this will be an option for submitters in the near future, but probably not for at least a couple of weeks. (Please don’t try and add artwork to any submissions next week; doing so might get your story deleted. Apologies for that.)(Louis Wu 12:58:13 UTC)

Some of you may have noticed the little cake showing up next to yesterday’s date at the top of the page – it marked the 9th anniversary of the inception of this site. It was blam.bungie.org back then, and in fact just a single, blurry picture stolen from Marathon… but it grew into the site you’re reading now. And I’m still amazed by that. Thanks for the 3288 days of Halo goodness, everyone! (So no, SinisterSamurai, the cake was not a lie.)(Louis Wu 12:46:05 UTC)

One of the people behind the Believe campaign that has won so many advertising awards this year speaks up about the creative process that produced it. Thanks, Anton P. Nym.(Louis Wu 20:22:30 UTC)

The latest Double XP Weekend kicked off a couple of hours ago – Living Dead is back on Xbox LIVE. The Legendary and Heroic map packs are required – go read about it at Bungie.net!(Louis Wu 19:56:23 UTC)

Dennis Powers pointed out Shipwrecked 22 – more water!(Louis Wu 19:51:57 UTC)

elessar787 pointed out that Luke is looking for questions to answer in tomorrow’s Weekly What’s Update. Swing by Bungie.net and toss in your two cents!(Louis Wu 19:48:57 UTC)

MLGPro.com is offering five free team passes for the MLG San Diego tournament, taking place June 13-15. Each pass gets a team of four in to the event – for free. (This is a $240 value.) All you have to do to win one is send an email to contest@mlgpro.com with the subject line “FREE SAN DIEGO HALO 3 PASS”. (Clicking that link in the last sentence should do the trick for you, in fact – just hit send.) You have until just before midnight (Eastern Time) on Tuesday, May 27 to get your entry in – Bungie and MLG will be picking the five winners at random from the valid submissions they receive on May 28. What are you waiting for? Get to clicking! Thanks, Adam.(Louis Wu 17:51:24 UTC)

Hawty McBloggy posted a series of screenshots, created by community members, paying tribute to Frankie and his time at Bungie. Go check ’em out!(Louis Wu 17:45:16 UTC)

We got a note from NZ-TK last night, pointing out a thread at the 405th Forums, and a new helmet he’s been working on. Going through that whole thread, though, showed a SECOND helmet – and with his permission, we’ve put his images online here, for easy viewing. Check out both his EVA helmet (finished a few months ago) and his EOD helmet (brand new pics this week)! We’ll add new ones as he does.(Louis Wu 16:14:15 UTC)

Sam152, of Halo Wars Addict, interviewed Dispraiser, the lead on the C&C Generals mod Halogen (which was asked to shut down by Microsoft just before Halo Wars was announced, a couple of years ago). Seems like Dispraiser is still a bit angry about the whole situation (and very, very negative about Halo Wars) – go give it a read, and see if you agree!(Louis Wu 16:10:37 UTC)

Looks like earlier this month, G4TV’s X-Play started a feature in which MLG’s TSquared provides tips about various multiplayer maps. So far they’ve posted Blackout (May 6), Ghost Town (May 13), and Foundry (May 20). We’ll have to keep an eye on this!(Louis Wu 13:15:25 UTC)

Sniper2477 is back with another episode of Marathon Man – this one is called ‘DoomsDrake’, and is ostensibly the last in the series. Once again, the story’s a bit week, and (again) there’s at least one gratuitously silly scene, but in general, the filming is well-done, and the action at the end is nice. (Louis Wu 13:11:46 UTC)

nomis78 has been playing with panoramas again – there are 7 new ones in this forum post. I really like ‘Setting up Shop’! (Louis Wu 13:09:58 UTC)

I’ve been threatening to write up a summary of my experiences with the Blackmagic Intensity HD capture card – but life’s been getting in the way. Cody Miller beat me to the punch – check out his post for tips on system requirements, software needed, and suggestions on capture settings! This card is your best option for capturing Halo 3 action in HD – check it out! (I may still add to this, if things ever slow down.)(Louis Wu 13:07:41 UTC)