It’s been a long time since we’ve heard from Chris Burke, and the machinima series ‘This Spartan Life’ – but Episode 6 has been released, in advance of the completion of Episode 5. (Sometimes these things happen.) The guest is Katie Salen, who works on game design (you can read more about her here), and the interview, interspersed with TSL’s normal wackiness, is pretty interesting. It’s 14 minutes long – swing by and watch! (QuickTime version is up now, WMV should be available in short order.) Chris is still working on finishing up Episode 5 – he’s run into some snags with Microsoft licensing. Here’s hoping they get worked out soon! (Louis Wu 14:46:40 UTC)

Hawty McBloggy ran across a very cool ring, being made by Weta Workshops in New Zealand – it’s sterling silver, it’s Master Chief’s helmet, and it’s pretty darned expensive. Go look!(Louis Wu 14:43:45 UTC)

According to Shaun555, last night’s episode of Eureka (on Syfy, definitely the stupidest name change for a cable TV channel ever) had two Halo references, from different characters. The episode, “Your Face or Mine?”, had Jo Lupo saying “Give me scifi and some Halo 3 and I am a happy girl!” and later on, Douglas Fargo saying “You had me at Halo.” You can watch it online on Hulu. (Warning: the ‘science’ in the show might make you annoyed.)(Louis Wu 16:31:08 UTC)

Looks like Stuart Beattie is on a promotion tour for G.I. Joe right now, and in many of the interviews he’s giving, he’s mentioning Halo. Always good to keep the buzz alive! Check out MTV Movies (thanks, Zeouterlimits), Dark Horizons (thanks, evildoctorwill), and /Film (thanks, Google).(Louis Wu 15:38:06 UTC)

jake108 let us know about a special Teabag Prevention article – it’s all about the cons. Recon, Comic-con, scorpicon. (Okay, that last one was a stretch.) They’re looking for feedback – go give ’em some!(Louis Wu 15:32:02 UTC)

The Bungie Weekly Update is live – and it’s full of apologies, and warnings, and general overall advice. And some information about upcoming showings of ODST. And artwork. And stuff. Go read! As always, the alternative to Bungie.net is our Weekly Update Archive.(Louis Wu 23:16:35 UTC)

Mrguy discovered an artist using the 3D program Modo who chose a subject near and dear to some of our hearts – amazing work! Check it out.(Louis Wu 20:04:29 UTC)

CaptainTony noticed another Helljumper preview at Marvel.com – some of the pages we’ve seen before, but now they have text. And a cameo from an old friend…(Louis Wu 20:03:00 UTC)

Tyrant’s Summer Mythic Recon Challenge continues – Week VI focuses on Cortana. Tyrant’s writeup on Bungie.net gives you full details on what you need to do to win Recon for this level – but if you need a little extra help, Tyrant’s Mythic Walkthrough v2.0 here on HBO has been updated with a chapter on Cortana. (Nothing’s stopping you from using the v1.0 guide – it’s just that he’s had an additional eight months to hone some of the techniques with v2.0.) Go, Marine! You’ve got a week!(Louis Wu 17:11:42 UTC)

jdars and Team Pepto are back with another Aesthetic Artist Interview – this one’s a little different. It spotlights odmichael, Bungie Forum Ninja by day, screenshot maestro by night (remember, it’s ALWAYS day or night SOMEWHERE) – but for the first time, it’s video-based, rather than a text interview. It’s sort of huge (nearly 200mb) – but there’s an audio-only version if you’d rather. And screenshots. Cool screenshots. Go watch/listen/see!(Louis Wu 17:01:05 UTC)

A lot of people make Halo machinima – most of it is either really serious, or pretty juvenile. The Chronicles of Lyle is neither. (Well, okay – it’s a bit juvenile. But it’s pretty funny anyway.) Check out the promo on YouTube. Then thank urk for finding it (in between donuts).(Louis Wu 16:55:00 UTC)

SonicJohn and friends have put together a new Bungie Community Podcast, and posted it on the Bungie forums (I found it here) – 79 min, 73 mb worth of discussion about Halo 3: ODST, Halo: reach, and more. Go listen!(Louis Wu 16:52:10 UTC)