As promised, the One One Se7en Archive gets updated today… and a pretty massive update it is. 31 strips. Some came from the Guest queue voluntarily, some were moved there by the management, some are strips posted to our forum, and some have simply been submitted to the Archive. Six are from Stuntmutt himself. If you want to see just the 31 new ones, this link should do the trick – otherwise, browse the archive, and see if you can find inspiration for a Plinth of Art submission yourself!

Last year, Bungie.org ran the Pillar of Art contest, where we solicited traditional-media artwork from Bungie fanatics. With $500 in cash, plus oodles of schwag (and some pretty cool stuff straight from Bungie), we were assured of fierce competition. We brought out the best in people… but for some, the best wasn’t good enough. Never let it be said that bungie.org neglects the little guy. Introducing… The Plinth Of Art – the contest for the rest of us. All you have to do is come up with an art-themed One One Se7en strip, and you could be a winner! Full details, including rules, prizes, and deadlines, can be found on the Plinth page. Remember – it’s not how good you are, it’s how many people you can claw your way over.

Gamespy’s 2003 Gamers Choice poll is up and running, and Halo PC is a contender for PC Action Game of the Year and Overall PC Game of the Year. Go vote! (Thanks to Dinky for the heads-up.)

Today’s Guest One One Se7en comes from Jillybean, and once again makes fun of long waiting times for guest submissions. This seems to have been significantly reduced by the advent of the Archive, since Jilly didn’t expect this strip to show before the new year… still funny, though.

Yesterday, by request, I created a new pair of versions of the Inside Halo 2 video – they’re for Windows Media Player, and there’s a large version (640×480, 86.7 mb) and a small version (320×240, 26.4 mb). At the moment, they’re only available via Two Degrees peer-to-peer sharing. I just tested the small one out… and it was downloading at pretty much 100% capacity of my pipe. (Well, okay, to be accurate, it averaged out at 94% of my pipe’s full capacity over the length of the download… but let’s not nitpick, okay?) If you haven’t downloaded this file yet (maybe because QuickTime movies don’t work well for you), this is a great chance to try out this new protocol. Grab the client (it’s tiny, and linked above the movies), and get to downloading!

A post was put up on our forum this afternoon – it calls for fan feedback. There’s a documentary in production about Bungie and the making of Halo 2. It’s going to contain, among other things, profiles of Halo fans with something interesting to share. Folks who win Halo tournaments, folks who create cool artwork inspired by Halo, folks whose lives are changed by some aspect of the game. If this is you (or someone you know), check out the forum post, read the details, follow the instructions. Who knows – a few million people might end up watching your story!

Homelan Fed interviewed Burnie Burns of Red vs Blue yesterday. JCal mailed us about it, but I totally spaced on putting it up until Toby Dillman mentioned it on our forum. (oops…) It’s a great read, and I’m really, really sad I’m going to be in Florida when Season 2 debuts at the Lincoln Center in New York in January.

Marty O’Donnell offered a few words on our forum to express his feelings towards a recent awards ceremony he attended. I can’t tell for sure, but I think he was unhappy with the overall experience.

There’s a new episode of EchoFourNineteen over at 343gs.com (check the downloads section); I think all of us have felt the way the MC feels in this one, at one time or another… Thanks to IXIGhandiIXI for the heads-up.

It’s snowing hard here at HBO HQ, with four inches already on the ground and 24 hours of this storm to go… a fine time to curl up with a warm mug of cider and the Halo Story page. Make it a big mug… Finn put up a pretty big update.

rendar noticed that the Bungie Store seems to be selling the new, improved Special Edition Halo Soundtrack with the Halo 2 DVD. The link on Sumthing Else’s page STILL points to the original soundtrack at Amazon… so if you want this version, visit the store!

Some interesting stuff over at HaloMods yesterday… dmauro and Aztec have managed to put AI into multiplayer. Stefander made a film. It’ll be interesting to see where this goes. (There’s also a new ‘Pillar of Autumn detonation’ projectile, for those who want REALLY big explosions…) Lots of people sent word of this last night, but Dan H. was first. Thanks!

Another Friday, another Halo Babies comic – and what a great use for the Active Camo! (There are also some Halo Babies avatars for use on forums that allow them – check out the Cool Crap section!)

Today’s One One Se7en looks at careless Multiplay, and what would be a pretty cool addition to the status reports…

Finchmeister points out that the Red vs Blue promo for Spike TV is now visible on the Spike TV website. If you haven’t seen it… grab it now. (Follow the enormous VGA link on the main page, then the ‘Vegas, baby, Vegas” link on the subsequent popup.)

27 stories posted in the Fan Fiction section in the last 2 days. (A goodly number this time around are poems.)

• A Rough Beginning Part 2, by Covie Armada
• The Battle for Phi Delta: Chapter 5, by witelancer
• The Spear of Tyr: Chapter 2, by Gre’Thor117
• Summit of Mout Denumbran Prt. 1, by Delta Force
• The Summit of Mout Denumbran Prt 2, by Delta Force
• The Twelve Days of Halo, by Jason
• My name is Master Chief and I’m here to say…, by stan
• A Series of Wierd Events – Sequel, Part One[FORUNNER], by Hunter_Killer
• A Series of Wierd Events – Sequel, Part One[STERFRYE], by Hunter_Killer
• Life Workin for HBO, Part One, by Hunter_Killer
• Earth’s Destruction Chapter 2: The Battle of , by Sentinel
• On A Pale Horse: Into the Belly of the Beast, by Silent Hunter
• IONCLAD: Prologue, by Capo Rip
• Spartans in NYC Chapter 6, by Chief-117
• Hero of the Day, by Steele
• Fight or Flight: Chapter Five, by teemus
• S.O.R.D.- The Assault on Beckwith Alpha (Part 1&2), by Maxximus
• A Spartan’s Path – chapter 4, by Myth
• A Case Of The Blahs, by Sathanas
• Halo 2 Rise of a Hero Chapter 7, by CovieKilla
• Episode 2: Forerunner, by Unorthidox Everything Man
• The Exchange – Part 2 – La Continuacion, by Dispraiser
• PERSONAL DATA DIARY: UNKNOWN (full version!!!), by Myndreach
• The Valiant, Hopeless Fight of the Valiant and the Hopeless, by Chief-117
• Hell, by teemus
• Last of a Dying Breed-Fierce Retaliation, by hornet34
• The Rebel: Just One of Those Days, by Elfster

What are you waiting for? There’s gonna be more before you know it…

Gotta watch those tires… check Halo: Resolution today.

Thanks to David Tinkler, President of Two Degrees, for providing links for a new peer-based protocol for serving large Halo-related files. You’ll find information (and mirror links) in this protocol on both the Inside Halo 2 documentary mirror page posted recently, and the large Halo E3 Demo trailer mirror page. Client is currently Windows-only… but you should check it out!

Cysco (Marc Tardif, Halo PC Producer for Gearbox) posted a pretty extensive overview of the 1.03 patch, and stated it would likely be released next Monday, the 8th. Go visit the Gearbox forums for all the details!

Our very own Count Zero is the subject of the latest Spotlight over at the Junkyard. Ever wonder about the guy who answers the email you send to halo@bungie.org? Wonder no more – go read.