Higuy let us know that work on Lumoria: Episode Two is underway – swing by the HaloMaps thread for screenshots and discussion! (Louis Wu 16:14:18 UTC)

Blue Ninja let us know that he’s updated Views from the Edge, his panorama showcase, with a whole passel of new shots. Go see!(Louis Wu 19:41:51 UTC)

How dare you question us!

Pepsi let us know that he’s whipped up a pretty cool Halo-themed YouTube background – classy! If you like it, you’re welcome to use it!(Louis Wu 15:45:47 UTC)

MGS VP Phil Spencer talked to IGN about what’s coming – including a bunch of discussion about Halo. Two interesting tidbits: a HD version of Halo 2 MIGHT be in the works… and the Halo 4 engine started life as Reach code. Go read the rest! Thanks, Avateur.(Louis Wu 15:43:07 UTC)

According to Rooster Teeth’s Twitter, “Red vs. Blue” Season 9 Episode 1 is now available for sponsors. If you haven’t been following along, here’s a quick refresher on why you should keep a pair of pants handy. The new episode should be available to everyone at 1 p.m. EST. Update: For the perversely poor plebians like myself, the episode is now available! Are you ready for a mind explosion?(Hitmonchan 15:24:22 UTC)

So yesterday, Bungie went live with Bungie Mobile, an App for your iDevice (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch). It’s free. It displays your stats, your commendations, Bungie news, and more. And it offers you some pretty cool bonuses – you can get the All-Star nameplate a few weeks before the rest of the world (it’ll be free to all on Bungie Day)… and you can get the Bungie blue flames early, as well. (You can also GIFT the All-Star nameplate to 7 of your closest friends. Pretty cool!) If you don’t have an iDevice… well, you’ll just have to wait! Update: urk has posted a FAQ. You should read it. There are free puppies.(Louis Wu 14:13:06 UTC)

2011 is a huge year for Bungie. It’s the 20th year of their formation as a game company. It’s the 10th anniversary of their most powerful creation – the Halo franchise. It is also the year that they are turning over that franchise to the 343 Industries team at Microsoft, and heading out for a new universe. To celebrate all this, they’re having their biggest Bungie Day blowout ever. In-game gifts, connectivity tools, information, awesome buying options, and even the possibility of a full steak dinner – for real. They love you – and they want to show you how much. Visit Bungie.net and get all the details… and prepare for the ramp-up to July 7 – a ramp-up that starts in just 10 days!(Louis Wu 02:40:21 UTC)

Two decades and a whole mess of sloppy community love.

Want a Star nameplate in matchmaking? A new playlist, kicking off on June 24 for a limited time, seems like the easiest way to get one! According to Jeremiah, if you play in the BTB ALL STARS list when it’s live, you’ll be rewarded with a Star nameplate (and triple jackpots)… but you have to qualify first. You need at least 5 Invasion games between June 13 (that’s today!) and June 20. Thanks to Myyke and Decommissioner for the heads-up!(Louis Wu 23:42:19 UTC)

Yes, I did steal the title and all the copy from Jeremiah’s post in Optimatch.

There’s an app for that.

Pete Cooper stopped in with updates about Operation Chastity – there’s a preview of a big spread in the UK Official Xbox Mag, and a new t-shirt design. Go check it out! (Louis Wu 17:59:00 UTC)

Colin Carlisle is a gamer who spent most of his time at E3 with a camera on his shoulder, filming hours and hours and HOURS of material from the show floor. It was streamed on Gamespot’s site (here’s the 7 hours of Day 3 footage, for example) – but Halo fans have cut out just the couple of minutes in which he interviewed Frank O’Connor. You can find a few different versions on YouTube, but SIX min WHISTLE pointed to this one. It’s got a few questions that haven’t been answered elsewhere – go listen!(Louis Wu 17:57:58 UTC)

FyreWulff let us know that he plans to hold a 12-hour Bungiedayathon, a couple of weeks before Bungie Day, to raise money for the Brian Morden Foundation. Swing by his post for an itinerary, and more info! (Louis Wu 17:57:24 UTC)

Arithmomaniac updated a couple of his GreaseMonkey scripts to make your HBO browsing more betterer. His HBO Forum Enhancer now closes run-on broken tags in Guestbook mode (this will keep an entire thread from turning bold if someone forgets to close their bold tags), and his HBO Time Adjuster now auto-adjusts time on both the front page of the site and on archived forum posts. Try ’em out! (Louis Wu 17:56:53 UTC)