Elliott Fitzgerald sent us word about Ox Planet’s recent machinima efforts, centered around ‘Recon 7’, a comedy series about a team of soldiers in the Halo: Reach universe. (They started in Halo 3 last summer, but switched over to Reach during the winter, and finally started releasing full episodes this spring. Episode 1 came out in late March, and Episode 2 was released on Saturday. Voice work is a bit rough, but it’s been a little while since we’ve seen a series like this – check it out!(Louis Wu 12:24:58 UTC)

Dogiojoe let us know about a new Bungie Day tribute, created by CarnageA51 – it’s a Rube Goldberg machine built in Reach… and the end is pretty amazing. (Well, large swaths of it are pretty amazing. Loved the Golf Ball section.) Go watch!(Louis Wu 12:14:45 UTC)

Kaidon’s back with more custom figures – this time, it’s the Prophet of Truth (pretty cool!) and a white Spec-Ops Elite. Go follow the links!(Louis Wu 23:25:16 UTC)

DEEP NNN pointed out a very cool swag bag received by a gamer at 2old2play – it contains pencil sketches of potential cover art for the first game. NICE! (Louis Wu 21:14:23 UTC)

xExOp91x created a tribute vid, as well – go check out Love, Bungie.(Louis Wu 21:13:49 UTC)

MLG is hosting a 10-hour live Fourth of July broadcast, and at 7:15 p.m. EST, you can catch Status Quo vs. Dynasty in a best of five “Reach” showmatch. As with all live broadcasts, the time is tentative, so be sure to check in 15 to 30 minutes beforehand to make sure you don’t miss it!(Hitmonchan 20:17:18 UTC)

Grifball Hub wants to wish you a Happy 4th of July – even if you’re not in the US, explosions are fun. Thanks, Goosechecka!(Louis Wu 14:49:42 UTC)

General Battuta looked at how various sci-fi franchises (including Halo) treat humans in terms of their necessity in wartime. Very interesting read!(Louis Wu 14:47:13 UTC)

Futur Life let us know that his buddy Ace Party released a farewell tribute to Bungie called ‘We say goodbye but we also say Halo‘. Give it a watch!(Louis Wu 14:45:12 UTC)

What is it that makes one a hero? Swing by Halo: Waypoint and learn about courage. (thanks, CaptainTony.)(Louis Wu 18:41:53 UTC)

Sqorck snagged some cool artwork in his Swag Bag he purchased last week from the Bungie Store – so he framed it and put it on his wall. Check out the links in his post! (Louis Wu 18:39:00 UTC)

The latest Arby ‘n’ the Chief (“Hard End”) is now live – it’s TOSER training time. Well… for some. (Arby’s better at this stuff than he looks.) Thanks, hotshot revan. (Louis Wu 18:32:19 UTC)

Want to buy an original Xbox 360 Kiosk Retail Display, with a built-in LCD screen and a Halo Xbox 360? Swing by eBay now, then. Thanks, Joshua Allen. (Louis Wu 18:31:36 UTC)

Jon Goff created some character sketches of the Spartans he wrote about in Headhunters – and yesterday, he posted those via Twitter. Awesome! Thanks, Leviathan. (Louis Wu 18:30:40 UTC)

Marcelo Vega sent word that he’s got a bnch of new tracks for you to try – but they’re more than racetracks. They’re adventures. Check out Gartantuan Valley, Garganuan Mines, and the latest version of The Gargantuan. (He’s got a trailer so you can see how Gargantuan Mines plays.) Update: There are vids for Gartantuan Valley and Gargantuan, as well. (Louis Wu 18:29:16 UTC)

General Vagueness found a video at G4 with some staff members reminiscing about their favorite Bungie memories. (Of course Halo figured in several.) Nice watch! (Louis Wu 18:28:30 UTC)

Spencermx14 from Halotracks.org asked us to let you know about their latest screenshot contest – send in a pic of great Forge art, you could win a full donation kit through World Wildlife Fund Canada. Full details are on their site. (Louis Wu 18:27:34 UTC)

Over on NeoGAF, MrBig pointed out the portfolio site of Esequiel Garcia, an artist who worked on Halo Reach (and Halo 3: ODST). Some very cool stuff in there! (I wish we’d seen more of those female civilians in the game…)(Louis Wu 18:46:08 UTC)