The Weather Channel

. Volume 2 is in the making. Before this was implemented, the local forecast was only seen two times every hour, according to The Weather Channel in the past. Volume 2 also has music composed and played by Incubus, Hoobastank and Breaking Benjamin:. The reason for the name is that it airs at times that end in "8". Two soundtracks, both composed by Martin O'Donnell, have been released based on the Halo game series. During this segment, weather information for the local area is given. There should, according to previously established canon, not be a SPARTAN-458.

Local on the 8s airs every 10 minutes. Since they were sequentially numbered, all SPARTAN-II soldiers should have numbers ranging from 001 to 150. The two green walls used at the TWC studios in Atlanta is displayed a few feet from the main studio desk is used normally for on-air weather forecasting, some people tease at the fact that a meteorologist is pointing to a blank green wall. Of those, only about 35 completed the augmentation process to become fully-capable SPARTANS (the rest died or were crippled by the side effects). More recently, in August 2005, the logo was re-overhauled; the blue rectangle’s corners are straight, and the "Weather Channel" text is now in lower-case and left-justified. It should be noted that the Halo novels state that 150 children were selected for the SPARTAN-II program, and that only 75 were brought in because of room and funding issues. The URL text "weather.com" was permanently added underneath the logo in 1999. For the time being Nicole-458 is trapped in the 21st century; guarding Nassau Station's secrets with all but lethal force (she realizes killing someone in the past could have dire consequences), waiting for the "bubble" to collapse and hopefully returning her to the year 2552.

This logo would later be revised in 1996, with the corners and "Weather Channel" text font less rounded. The anomaly intersected Nassau Station; creating a semi-stable "bubble" in the space/time continuum on its way back to the 21st Century. The Weather Channel's most recognized logo started out as a slightly-squished blue rectangular box that debuted on TWC’s first broadcast on May 2, 1982. SPARTAN-458's unit was preparing for a classified mission on Nassau Station when the ONI stealth ship Apocalypso (see I Love Bees) tumbled into real-space – being carried along in the wake of a freak slipspace anomaly. The Weather Channel aired overnights in Hawaii on local TV stations, but its WeatherStar 4000 unit suffered from several technical difficulties during its run, its programming has since been dropped. The SPARTAN-II program was the UNSC's highly successful military project to augment and hone perfect soldiers. At one point, there was also a Portuguese version in Brazil. At six years of age she was abducted by the Office of Naval Intelligence and conscripted into the SPARTAN-II program.

The service's three original anchors were Paola Elorza, Sal Morales and Mari Carmen Ramos who left the channel within a year of its launch and went on to work for Univision in Miami, Telemundo in Los Angeles and CNN International. Nicole was born in the year 2531 in the city of New Legaspi on Mars. TWC also ran The Weather Channel Latin America (TWCLA), which operated in Spanish in Mexico, Puerto Rico and South America, this network ceased operations in December 2002. This is the result of a collaborative effort between Bungie and Tecmo's Team Ninja. A UK version of The Weather Channel ran from 1 September 1996 to 30 January 1998, when it was closed due to low viewing figures. A female SPARTAN character, SPARTAN-458 (Nicole), appears in the fighting game Dead or Alive 4 as an unlockable character, along with a Halo-themed environment as an unlockable stage. Over the years, attempts to broadcast international versions of TWC (apart from Canada's The Weather Network/MétéoMédia) have failed. This is due to the reason that Halo manages to appeal to both casual and hardcore gamers, and broke sales records, making gaming more mainstream entertainment.

This change began on August 15, 2005, with changes in formats and programming taking place as part of a subsequent gradual transition that lasted until December. Recently, the creators of Halo were listed in Time's 100 most influential figures of the past year. In March 2005, The Weather Channel announced that it would receive a new logo/tagline, "Bringing Weather to Life," replacing the 2001 "Live By it" campaign. Other machinima have been created, ranging from the like minded Fire Team Charlie to the sharply contrasting The Codex, a more serious series. Cruikshank, was published by Harvard Business Press in May 2002, on TWC's 20th anniversary. Not Halo canon, the series is largely comical in nature and can be found at RedvsBlue.com. A definitive history of the network, The Weather Channel: The Improbable Rise of a Media Phenomenon, by Frank Batten and Jeffrey L. Red vs Blue chronicles the Civil war that supposedly ensues between differing human factions in the time between the two Bungie games, specifically the story of the men and a woman (Tex), a robotic female tank with impeccable manners(Shiela), a Spanish robotic head(Lopez), and a load of religious maniacs who worship 'The Flag' posted at both armies' outposts at Blood Gulch, a dried creek bed in the middle of nowhere.

Apart from their stake in The Weather Network/MétéoMédia, TWC only runs their US channel, although it does air an international forecast. Virtually all of the footage of the series is taken from Halo and Halo 2 gameplay. TWC also runs websites in Brazil (Canal do Tempo), the United Kingdom (Weather Channel), France (Meteo 123) and Germany (Wetter 123). Red vs Blue, a production of Rooster Teeth, is a machinima series based on the Halo universe. TWC's sister channel in Canada is The Weather Network in English and MétéoMédia in French, which uses similar technology that is currently in use in the USA. The URL was discovered when it was briefly flashed on an official Halo 2 trailer. based on modified versions of WeatherStar technology, called Weatherscan, on which a separate channel constantly displays local and regional conditions and forecasts, along with The Weather Channel's logo and advertisements. The game was centred on a website at ilovebees.com, and was created by 4orty2wo Entertainment, commissioned by Microsoft and endorsed by Bungie.

The Weather Channel produces a service. The Haunted Apiary (aka I Love Bees) was an alternate reality game used to promote the release of Halo 2. Satellite viewers see a roundup of local TWC forecasts for major cities across the U.S., as well as satellite and radar images, and severe weather watch and warning maps when active. Additionally, fanfiction.net hosts a selection of Halo-inspired fiction whose numbers, as of December 2005, had just crept over 1000. The original WeatherStar technology has been upgraded on most cable systems to IntelliStar, including Vocal Local to announce the three-day local forecast. Fanfiction authors like Mr_Clark, Scorptank, soulguard, sir_brilliant and, AxE, garner no small amount of prestige as some of the more famous writers of the Halo community. TWC also uses special proprietary equipment that inserts local weather forecast and warning information if it is viewed on a cable TV system. Indeed, there are several works of fan fiction that run to the length of a novel or more, and are well-known among the Halo community.

TWC originally gathered its national region forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and gathered its local forecasts from local National Weather Service offices, but since 2002 has done local forecasting in-house; however, current weather and forecast model data is still provided by the National Weather Service, and the ultraviolet index is from the Environmental Protection Agency. The sites bungie.net and halo.bungie.orgboth host collections of Halo fan fiction. The Weather Channel went on the air on May 2, 1982 and reports the weather and other meteorological information for the United States as well as other countries and regions of the world. A large body of fan fiction based on the Halo series has been written, covering both the past and future of the setting. . They are expected to be released sometime in 2006/early 2007.
. Bungie has confirmed that at least two novels are in development, one by Eric Nylund, the other by an unknown author.

It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Landmark Communications. Many fans had hoped more Spartans would appear in Halo 2, but this did not eventuate in the final release of the game, most likely due to balancing issues. The Weather Channel is headquartered in Vinings, Georgia, near Atlanta. There are a number of differences between the novels and the games, most notably that there are no Spartans besides the Master Chief in the games, whereas by the end of the novel series at least 4 additional Spartans are shown to survive. The Weather Channel (TWC) is a cable and satellite television network that revolutionized the reporting of weather and weather-related news by being on 24 hours a day. Dietz. "Bringing Weather to Life" (2005–present). Both the Fall of Reach and First Strike were written by Eric Nylund, while The Flood was written by William C.

"Live By It" (2001–2005). The Flood is a novelization of Halo: Combat Evolved, while First Strike describes events that take place between Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2. "No Place on Earth Has Better Weather" (1996–1999). The Fall of Reach leads up to Halo: Combat Evolved, and describes how the Spartans came into being. "Weather You Can Always Turn To" (1991–1995). Three licensed novels based on the Halo series have been published: Halo: The Fall of Reach, Halo: The Flood, and Halo: First Strike. "You Need Us, The Weather Channel, For Everything You Do" (1986–1991). Chief's genetic, chemical, and otherwise unnatural enhancements do qualify him for "cyborg" status- at least loosely.

Vicki Williams. Candidates for the SPARTAN-II program were chosen for natural genetic superiority, and thus were naturally taller, stronger, smarter, and faster than most humans even before augmentation. Craig Weber. Despite this, he would certainly not be average by any Human measure. Charlie Welsh, (deceased). Master Chief is entirely Human in appearance, as his armor is in no way permanently attached. Melissa Tuttle. Bungie's own statements identify Master Chief as being a cyborg (down to dialogue from the Covenant Grunts), in addition to comparisons between Master Chief and the military cyborgs from Bungie's earlier game series Marathon.

Terri Smith. The SPARTANs were originally created to bolster the UNSC's own defenses against piracy and other jacks as part of the upgrades necessary to don the MJOLNIR armor, in addition to other measures. Marny Stanier. He was taken from his home world Eridanus II as a child and brought up in the military's Spartan II program on the planet Reach (Epsilon Eridani) (resulting in his other designation, Spartan-117) to be a super soldier. Lisa Spencer. Master Chief is also known as "The Demon" to the Covenant. Norm Sebastian. In the Halo universe, Master Chief and the entire SPARTAN project are under the command of the United Nations Space Command Navy.

Bill Schubert. This rank roughly corresponds to the modern rank Master Chief Petty Officer of the United States Navy in the 21st century. Sally Schmies. His birth name was effectively erased, and so he is known by his rank of Master Chief or Spartan-117. Jodi Saeland. Master Chief's true name is John, and his surname has never been revealed. Gene Rubin. Halo uses a number of common plot devices, although often they are not immediately apparent.

Lane Roberts. Starhammer, written by Christopher Rowley, details the story of a genetically altered man who escapes slavery by a race of blue overlords, and finds an ancient weapon that was created by an ancient race to destroy a parasitic alien life form than may have been a partial basis for the Flood. Kevan Ramer. Ringworld, written by Larry Niven is a likely source of inspiration, with the first introduction of self-sustaining giant ring structures into science fiction literature. Cindy Preszler. From reading Ender's Game, one would notice a plethora of other small similarities, from the fleets, down to the alien species. Jon Nese, Storm Analyst. Johnson as "Buggers, heading over the rooftops!" There are numerous other references and links, such as the Spartan program, which closely mirrors the super soldier program from the novel.

Liza Mozer. The Drones that appear in Halo 2 resemble the "Buggers" from Ender's Game, as in the third level they are referred to by Sgt. Myke Motley, (deceased). Halo seems to be inspired by a number of other science fiction books, particularly Ender's Game. Meteorologist. Furthering this theory is the fact that the Covenant resemble in no small measure the Idiran race, religious zealots bent on eradicating The Culture, which they regard as heretical. Tom Moore, Current Sr. These smaller structures have the advantage of not needing additional machinery to generate a day/night cycle.

Karen Minton. Banks, as they are ring-shaped megastructures that orbit stars or gas giants, rather than rotate around them. Vince Miller. Alternatively, it's possible (or even likely) that "Halo" was inspired by the Orbitals featuring in The Culture novels by Iain M. Bonnie McLaughlin. Some of these names include:. Gary Ley. It is probable that Halo took names from world history and mythology to aptly name objects and important characters in the Halo universe.

Charlie Levy. In both Halo and Known Space, humans develop space travel on their own and later encounter a hostile and technologically superior alien civilization. Arch Kennedy. This idea has been copied numerous times in science fiction, although normally on a larger scale than in Halo. Bruce Kalinowski. Ringworld is a megastructure 95 million miles in radius that resembles the Halo installations, albeit on an enormously large scale. John Hope, Hurricane Expert (deceased). A film adaptation of the game, with Peter Jackson and wife Fran Walsh as executive producers, is expected to be released in 2007 (see Gamespot.com press release).

Chuck Herring. Both characters even use the line "They're not paying us by the hour, marines!" Also in the realm of movie quotes enemies will sometimes use the line "its only a flesh wound". Rick Griffin. Finally, Halo's Sergeant Johnson is very strongly based on Aliens's Sergeant Apone - both are very enthusiastic, black, cigar-smoking squad leaders. David Grant. The colonial marines' dropship resembles a Pelican and the Pelican pilot Foe Hammer is based on the dropship pilot from Aliens. Paul Emmick. Also, there are numerous similarities between the marines of Halo and those of Aliens.

George Elliot. The Flood Spores share a similar purpose with the Face Huggers in the Alien film series. Chris Edwards. The shape of the Elites' heads is similar in shape to the creatures in the Alien filmseries and have mouth parts similar to the Predators'. Dale Eck. There are notices near the Pillar of Autumn's bridge looking for a cat named Jonesy (the name of Sigourney Weaver's cat in the Alien film series). Brian Durst. For instance, the Active Camouflage power-up is very similar to the type of camouflage used by the alien Predator in the Predator film series.

Dale Dockus. Some film parallels in the games have been pointed out by various people. Gay Dawson. On Bungie's own Marathon page, there is a Q&A which states, "Is Marathon the prequel to Halo? [...] No, Marathon is a separate story, with wholly different characters, story and gameplay." [1]. Janine D'Adamo. However, due to technology differences (the lack of transporter technology in Halo, for one), this is impossible. John Coleman. According to both the Halo video games and books, the events in Halo coincide with the events in Marathon.

Kam Carman. These large similarities led to early speculation that Halo took place in the same universe as Marathon, only with different time frames - however, this was later proved highly unlikely. Declan Cannon. There are two multiplayer gaming options, a version of king of the hill and a game called Oddball (called "Kill the Man with the Ball" in Marathon), which are present in Marathon's multiplayer mode. Don Buser. Also, both games use uniform color to differentiate between different ranks of aliens (and crew members), with higher ranks being stronger and harder to kill. Dale Bryan. A type of alien that was modeled for Halo 2 but later cut is nearly identical to the Drinniol from Marathon.

Mary Brown. The Hunters from Halo, though much larger, also clearly share design elements with the Hunters from Marathon. Jill Brown. Hunters appear in both games filling the same roles. Mike Bono. The Elites from Halo are somewhat similar (in their appearance, not their role) to Marathon's Pfhor. Andre Bernier. Upon close inspection, crew members of the Pillar of the Autumn have the Marathon symbol on their uniforms, and the symbol is even embedded in the Halo logo itself.

Melissa Barrington. These include the concept of MJOLNIR "cyborgs," the supersoldier main character, the weapons, artificial intelligences, and even some of the alien creatures. Diane Barone. A number of weapons and plot devices seem to borrow from ideas seen in the Marathon series of first person shooters made by Bungie in the early to mid-1990s (see List of weapons in the Halo universe). Fred Barnhill. No comment has been made about these possible influences by the developer and these ideas are only speculation. Ray Ban. These include StarCraft, the Alien and Predator movies, the Marathon series, and Larry Niven's Known Space universe.

Carl Arredondo. Some fans believe Halo and Halo 2 were influenced by a number of other games and pop culture references, partially based on the game series own references to some of these pop culture icons. Will Annen. Since the posting of the script, the message board has been closed down. Nick Walker, Co-Anchor, First Outlook. Bungie said in this news article that the script was in fact fake. Dao Vu, Host, Weekend View. On October 4, 2005, ivanjrn, a user at www.richeswillrust.com deployed a fake script for Halo 3.

Heather Tesch, Co-Anchor, Your Weather Today. The pre-order page has since been taken down, but other retailers have followed suit. Bob Stokes, Co-Anchor, "PM Edition Weekend". Soon after the Xbox 360 was unveiled in May 2005, EB Games and FYE started taking pre-orders for "Halo 3", despite having no official word from Bungie on whether they would make another Halo game. Alexandra Steele, Co-Anchor, Evening Edition. Wideload Games has been suggested by fans as a potential such outside developer, reasoning that the third Marathon game was developed by a company which was, like Wideload, founded by former Bungie employees. Dennis Smith. This view could explain Bungie's reluctancy to speak on their next project, as if they have indeed handed Halo 3 to a third party, the two announcements (of Bungie's next project and of Halo 3) would likely be made concurrently.

Mike Seidel. An alternative possibility is that, following the precedent of Marathon Infinity, either an outside agency or a contractor to Bungie is developing the content of Halo 3 and using the existing engine, or possibly porting the engine to the Xbox 360. Marshall Seese, Co-Anchor, Your Weather Today. An article in Game Informer in November 2005 reports that: "Halo developer Bungie is so paranoid about the storyline for Halo 3 leaking out that two different storylines are being worked on so that even the company's employees are in the dark as to the plot of the game.". Dave Schwartz, Co-Anchor, Evening Edition (West Coast). Bungie has also recently stated that Sapien and Guerilla, custom-made programming tools used to build Halo and Halo 2, are being worked on. Kevin Robinson, Co-Anchor, Weekend Now. Though no official statements have been made regarding what that next game is, most believe it is indeed Halo 3, and that Bungie is just being coy about the project in typical Bungie fashion.

Sharon Resultan, Co-Anchor, Evening Edition Weekend. Bungie has recently made regular references to "our next project" in their website's weekly news updates. Kim Perez, Co-Anchor, First Outlook. However, the studio is known for being highly secretive and even occasionally misleading regarding development of their games. Carl Parker, Co-Anchor, PM Edition. Bungie has not denied that another Halo game is in progress, but they have not officially announced the game. Jeff Morrow, Co-Anchor, Afternoon Outlook. We'll work with the Bungie guys and let people know [when they have something to announce]".

Nicole Mitchell, Travel Analyst, Your Weather Today. With all respect to Bill, I don't run Bungie's studio, and neither does he. Mark Mancuso, Co-Anchor, Weekend Outlook. When asked shortly afterwards however, Microsoft senior vice president Robbie Bach was less definite, saying: "We haven't announced anything on what Bungie is doing or where we're going with the future of the 'Halo' franchise.. Warren Madden ,Co-Anchor, "Evening Edition (West Coast)" Also Professional Hurricane Hunter. "It's perfect," Gates said, "The day Sony launches [the new PlayStation], and they walk right into Halo 3."(Time.com article, registration required; relevant quotes on Gamespot.com). Steve Lyons, Hurricane Expert. Bill Gates, Microsoft's chairman, stated in a May 2005 Time Magazine interview that Halo 3 would be released in the "second wave" of Xbox 360 titles in 2006, as close to the PlayStation 3's launch as possible, to divert sales.

Jennifer Lopez, Co-Anchor, PM Edition. Steve Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft, was quoted as saying that Halo 3 was in development alongside Halo 2; however, this quote was recognized as a slip of the tongue and debunked before the release of Halo 2. Sarah Libby, Weather.com Broadcaster. Sources from inside both Microsoft and Bungie have made contradictory claims regarding whether Halo 3 is currently in development. Cheryl Lemke, Co-Anchor, PM Edition Weekend. It is speculated that Halo will become a trilogy, after which Bungie may be done with the series. Paul Kocin, Winter Weather Expert. The cliffhanger ending of Halo 2, as well as the success of the Halo franchise, makes a sequel extremely likely.

Bill Keneely, Co-Anchor, Weekend View. With the move to Windows Vista, Halo 2 for PC can be expect to have improved graphics, and to take full advantage of the modding community due to the afforementioned map editing tools. Jeanetta Jones, Co-Anchor, Weather Center. Bungie has also commented that Halo 2's gameplay balance is finely tuned, making such additions as new weapons or vehicles less likely, although new maps are certainly expected. Rich Johnson, Co-Anchor, Weather Center. Halo 2 PC will have some new features, potentially including some sort of map-editing software like the Halo Editing Kit, released by Gearbox Software for use with Halo Custom Edition. Ryan Goswick, Weather.com broadcaster. The game will only be compatible with Microsoft's upcoming Windows Vista, a move that is likely intended to entice users to upgrade to the new Operating System.

Paul Goodloe, Co-Anchor, Evening Edition. Announced on 9th Feb 2006, Halo 2 is coming to pc later in the year. Kristin Dodd, Co-Anchor, Weekend Weather Center. Arguments are mainly directed at the multiplayer aspect of the two games, with emphasis placed on Halo 2's greatly simplified learning curve and controversial matchmaking modes. Eboni Deon, Co-Anchor, Weekend Outlook. There is heated debate over whether the game is superior to its predecessor. Betty Davis, Co-Anchor, Weekend Weather Center. Halo 2 is much more ambitious than its predecessor.

Kelly Cass, Co-Anchor, Weekend View. The cliffhanger ending suggests that another sequel is in the works. Jennifer Carfagno, Travel Analyst, First Outlook. The Halo universe expands as well, with new worlds and characters being introduced, as well a deeper look at the culture and society of Covenant. Jim Cantore, StormTracker, Evening Edition. The aborted countdown in response triggers a fail-safe protocol that allows remote firing of all the other ring-worlds from one place: The Ark. Vivian Brown, Co-Anchor, Afternoon Outlook. In the end, the second Halo is almost fired, but the Arbiter and human Commander Miranda Keyes, with the help of Sergeant Johnson, are able to prevent this occurrence.

Mike Bettes, Co-Anchor, Evening Edition Weekend. Meanwhile, the Covenant slides into civil war and a disgraced Elite commander known as the Arbiter is introduced to the series as a second playable character. Adam Berg, Weather.com Broadcaster. In Halo 2, Master Chief battles the Covenant on Earth and later continues the fight on a second Halo: Delta Halo. Hillary Andrews, Co-Anchor, Evening Edition (West Coast). No ports to other platforms have been announced so far. Stephanie Abrams, Field Reporter, Weekend View. It also has Bungie.net integration and rankings and tracking of every online match, pushing the envelope of online console gaming further.

Kristina Abernathy, Co-Anchor, Weekend Now. It has an advanced graphics engine that utilizes normal mapping and bloom effects, helping to make it one of the best looking games on the Xbox. The sequel features new game mechanics such as dual wielding, new vehicles and weapons, better AI, the ability to hijack vehicles, and Internet-based multiplayer via Xbox Live. It was recently announced that a port for Windows Vista operating system is currently in development. Halo 2 was released for the Xbox on November 9, 2004, generating a $125 million dollar entertainment record on its premiere day.

During an online match, players with the same user-created map can play together on it. This version does not have the option to play in campaign mode. Halo: Custom Edition (commonly known as Halo CE) is a free stand-alone expansion for Halo: Combat Evolved (for the PC) that has the ability to load and play user-created content and maps. Halo ends with the Master Chief and Cortana destroying the Halo and escaping in a Longsword fighter.

After learning that the ring is a weapon that would destroy all sentient life in the galaxy if activated, Master Chief embarks on a mission to destroy it. Stranded with the rest of the crew of the human ship Pillar of Autumn, including the AI Cortana, he fights against The Covenant (an alien alliance waging a 'holy war' of sorts against humanity) while attempting to uncover the ring's secrets, which include the sinister parasitic lifeforms known as The Flood. The story deals with the adventures of the protagonist, referred to in the game only as "Master Chief". It was later ported to both Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems.

The game was released on November 15, 2001. Halo was then converted for development for the Xbox game console. However, during its many years of development, it changed into a third person shooter and then to a first person shooter. When Halo began development, it was a real time strategy game that would have been released on Apple and Windows PCs.

Halo was the most popular application for the Xbox console up until the release of its more ambitious sequel, Halo 2. . The Halo series is a popular series of video games developed by Bungie Studios and published by Microsoft. 2 : Original Soundtrack (Unreleased).

Halo 2, Vol. 1 : Original Soundtrack. Halo 2, Vol. Halo Original Soundtrack.

Halo 2 Hacks: Tips & Tools for Finishing the Fight by Stephen Cawood. Secrets Of Halo 2 by Greg Orlando, Russell Garbutt. Trautmann. The Art of Halo by Eric S.

The Unauthorized Halo 2 Battle Guide: Advanced Combat Techniques by Stephen Cawood. Halo 2: The Official Game Guide by Piggyback Interactive. Halo 2