Since we are on a Halo bend today, and with Halloween creeping around the corner, I was thinking about what costume to break out next week. A couple of years ago, I bought the Halo 3 Crazy Ultimate Edition, which had the Spartan helmet because I thought I could actually wear it. But alas, it's more of a bookend, than a real helmet. So my days of a Halo Halloween seemed over.

Along comes this video of Petemander1 creating an animatronic Covenant Elite, and it's impressive as these two videos demonstrate.

While Petermander1 seems to be working on this project as a labor of love, as opposed to trying to collect as much candy (loot) as he can, and scare the dickens out of the neighborhood kids, it is fun to dream of terrorizing the town with a couple of Spartans and Covenant baddies on Oct 31st. I wants to be Masta Chief.

With Microsoft just confirming that they are releasing a new Wi-Fi adapter which takes advantage of the latest 802.11n standard, I seriously thought about upgrading. But like many people, I had no idea what real benefits this new adapter would bring to my online gaming world.

What exactly makes the new standard better than the current 802.11g wireless adapter currently on the market? Here are a few tips to help you determine if you should upgrade. My research is your benefit!

If your Xbox 360 system is far away from the wireless hub - Upgrade. The new standard has stronger signal integrity, so you should have much better wireless connectivity if you upgrade. According the the Wi-Fi Alliance, you could see an improvement up to twice the range as before. It’s also been reported that the new adapter will have two antennae, which will greatly enhance reception as well.

If you are a competitive gamer - Upgrade. The new standard greatly improves the stability of your wireless connection, as it is more resistant to interference from outside sources. Without getting to technical, you should also see up to 5 times the throughput as before. For games that require quick delivery of multiple packets of data, like Call of Duty or Team Fortress 2, this should make your gameplay experience that much more smoother.

If you download HD movies, and big demos - Upgrade. Now that HD movies are becoming more prevalent, trying to stream in a movie in 1080p can be spotty if you don’t have the fastest connection. The new adapter should greatly reduce the bottleneck of streaming via wireless, as it delivers about double of what the current 802.11g standard does with 54 Mbps. Considering that Microsoft plans to reveal a new HD movie streaming service later this year, you'll want to upgrade to this new adapter if you want to really enjoy the full benefits.

Before you upgrade you should make sure that you are getting the best internet speed with your provider. As an example, Comcast has multiple tiers of broadband speed, with the cheapest package limiting your download speed so severely, it really doesn't matter if you upgrade your wireless adapter. You are still capped in throughput from your internet provider.

Now I know all you PS3 fanatics are laughing because the PS3 has wireless already built into the console, while Xbox 360 owners have to buy the wireless adapter. And a Gold membership just to download content, and play games multiplayer… but it’s nice to know that having the option to upgrade your wireless adapter is something that you can look forward to.

No word yet on the actual release date, or the price, but assume it would cost more than the current 802.11g wireless adapter. Word on the street is that the new wireless adapter will go for .99 right, while the old version will be marked down to .99.