Finn has taken some time and updated the Halo Story Page FAQ – it’s absolutely worth a read if you’re interested in submitting info to that portion of the site. Remember: the Story page is there for thoughtful speculation about… well, the story. To speculate about fiction, you have to ENJOY reading, really – Story page submitters have less excuse than anyone (except maybe Fan Fiction submitters) for not reading Frequently Asked Questions lists before contributing. So go read! (He did good, even. It won’t hurt.)

This is one of the oddest things I’ve seen – but it’s pretty fun. There’s a talk radio program in the Orlando, FL market called The Philips Phile – they’ve got a couple of real Halo fans on staff. (In the past, they’ve sponsored mini tournaments – Motherstooth made this cool trophy for one.) Now, if you visit their homepage, and look for a picture of a Master Chief with an energy sword, you can follow the link to ‘Philips Phile – Halo Style’… a series of videos (made by Motherstooth, hosted by That Weasel) starring the characters of the show in Halo machinima. (For the record, all hosting and moviemaking is done by fans – the radio program is not making any money off of this.) It’s probably of most interest to those who know (or at least can hear) the show… but for me, it shows the lengths to which fans will go to show their love. Check it out!

Another fun piece from Stephen Loftus – this time, he’s chosen to look at uniforms used on the Pillar of Autumn. There’s some interesting speculation, which he’d love to have input on (via email, or on the forum) – so read it over and toss in your two cents! Update: oops, looks like Stephen already STARTED a discussion. (I’ve been out all afternoon.) Use this thread, instead.

You thought Calvin and Halo was dead… it’s not. It’s just resting. Special Sunday Edition – thanks, Blackstar!

Oliver Stopienski sent along info about the World Cyber Games 2005 European Championships at CeBit recently; German Sebastian “hAnkey” Droschak (from the OCRANA.ATI squad) took first place, beating out DJE the KING of France. (Stopienski is a fellow squadmember.) Nice going!

The Red vs Blue website is over its recent problems (hard drive failure) – and Episode 51 is now up for sponsors. Eight and a half minutes… history continues to be rewritten. (It’s even called ‘Episode 50 part 2′.) I’m lovin’ this…

Fourteen new stories added to the Fan Fiction section today – the series continue to grow. Go read!

Graham Bouvier points out a halo 2 tournament, played out on movie screens, in Canada (more than a dozen across the country). Check the page for details!

A couple of days ago, WraithX found one more Swahili clip on Outskirts – he posted it, along with a guide to finding all the overhead speakers on the level, on our forum. Rehema came by and translated it – we’ve added it to our Dialogue Databank. Thanks, guys! (We don’t know for SURE that there aren’t any more snippets – you might hear something new, for example, when in possession of the IWHBYD skull. Or via some other trigger. This seems to be the lot, though, for regular gameplay.)

Alan James has finished the gun for his MC suit – you can see a picture on his Suit page.

ICDedPpl reminds the community that today is the last day to vote for the Halo in my Hometown contestants. Apparently, lots of people visited, but not very many voted. So go vote!

If you missed grabbing the GDC Keynote blogcast at Major Nelson’s yesterday, there’s another source for it – GloryFish has put up a copy. Save the Major a bit of bandwidth…

Dang, still going. Halo (the original) moved into 7th place in overall game sales for the week of February 20-26, according to the NPD Group (as reported by Evil Avatar). Halo 2… ain’t on the Top 10 list. Wow. Thanks, 3Suns. Update: Oops… that was the PC list – no WONDER Halo 2 wasn’t in it! My bad – thanks, Borgboy. (Still pretty cool; the game is a year and a half old, with TONS of stuff released in the interim!)

It’s Friday evening, which means time for another Weekly What’s Update over at Bungie.net. More vagueness, some surprising lack of easter-egg knowledge, another Hint Word (I’m thinkin’ we’re gonna see Tinkerbell underneath Union Station in the next DLC), a fair response to the ‘please keep sword flying in!’ request, and the saddest looking coconut bra I’ve ever seen in my life. Go read.

Captain Spark released another bundle of dialogue snippets on his website; we’ve added them to our Dialogue Databank, as well. Elites, Grunts, and a couple of Marine bits…

Wow, nice. CrowPath has written up a really nice tutorial on bumpmapping in Halo CE – the first 3 parts of the five-part tutorial are online now, with the last two coming soon. Check it out! Thanks, MasterGrief.

Oh, man… so Frankie invited me out for drinks, he just wanted to chat, he said. I was a little suspicious when I woke up with a headache in a strange hotel room… but all my clothes were on, so I let it go. Little did I know he was recording the whole thing… I deny everything. Except the dog.

Stuntmutt anticipates more DLC comments in this evening’s Weekly What’s Update – check today’s One One Se7en.

Wow. Blind Sniper005 noticed a Halo 2 Kubrick toy (distributed for free to early purchasers of Halo 2) on eBay – with a starting bid of $75. OUCH! Update: Item sold early via a Buy it Now bid. All gone! Thanks, Jammerfer.

We mentioned Chronic V1RU5 about a month ago, when their release of Delta Squad Episode 1 hit the net. They now have a website, and a trailer for Episode 2 (due out March 26). WMP9 format, 9.2 mb. (The money shot at the end is fun.)