Q: Who are you?
A: You can read about me here.
Q: What the heck is up with your name? And how do you spell or pronounce it?
A: Thanks for asking. My last name is the result of a massive misunderstanding at Ellis Island while my grand father was entering the United States as an immigrant. It is spelled H R Y B.
It is pronounced 'HER-b' My name is often mis-spelled H Y R B.
Q: There are not vowels in your name! Why not?
A: It's just the way it is. Sorry.
Q: Is running this blog your full time job?
A: No, I do this in my spare time for the benefit of the community.
Q: Why do you run it then?
A: I do it because this is another way to talk to the Xbox customers, and to (when appropriate) talk about projects we are working on at Xbox. Since I work on the Xbox development team, and not in PR or Marketing, it provides readers a peek into the world of working at Xbox.
Q: What can I expect on this blog?
A: I run this blog as part of my passion for community. I run this blog on my own time, and with my own money. It’s important to note that what I say on this blog (including any podcasts) is my personal opinion and is not read or approved by anyone before it is posted. Even though I work for Microsoft, not everything accurately reflects the views of my employer, my management, my co-workers, Microsoft partners or affiliates. I do my best to ensure that everything I post is accurate, but the postings on this site are provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
Q: Can you confirm a rumor that I heard?
A: I can’t comment on rumors, unreleased details, data or anything that is covered under my Microsoft NDA
Q: What happened to the comment I posted? I posted it and I don't see it.
A: Comments posted to the blog take a few minutes to appear due to the caching that is used. In addition, the blog software I use has spam software, and your comment may have either been held in a queue for me to allow to go live, or the software was even more aggressive and just deleted it..at which point I never see it. If you have not registered (it’s free) on the blog, and you posted anonymously, your comments may take longer to appear since most anonymous comments are automatically moderated. I check moderated comments once a day, so it may take some for it to appear.
Q: Do you delete any posts?
A: Absolutely not. Unless it is spam or porn, you are ok. All I ask is people resist the urge to personally attack each other or senselessly toss around F-bombs (and the profane parts of the vocabulary.)
Q: How do I get a job at Xbox?
A: We post all of our job postings at this site on Microsoft. com
Q: I want to beta test games and or hardware, how do I do it?
A: You would have to contact individual game publishers / developers and ask them. If I ever hear of any beta programs, I'll be sure to post about them. If you live in the Seattle, WA area, you can also check out the Microsoft Playtest program.
Q:Can you help me? I have a problem or suggestion for Bungie or Halo.
A: No, you need to go to Bungie.net and they can help you there.
Q: Can you help me? I have a problem with my Xbox or Xbox Live.
A: I can't provide support..start by going to Xbox.com’s support section
Q: I want to start a blog...what do you use? Can you help me?
A: I use a version of Community Server. . If you are just starting out with blogging, take a look at blogger.com or spaces.msn.com
Q:Who does all your blog ‘stuff’?
A: While I make all of the posts, Litheon (his gamertag) is an MVP and the technical brains behind MajorNelson.com. Both he and I volunteer our time to create and maintain this blog.
Q: Do you read the comments?
A: Yes, I read as many as I can. I will often respond in comments as well. You can tell when I respond, as my comment will have a green frame around it (so you know it’s really me.)
Q: How can I get in touch with you?
A: As long as it's not game specific or support related, you can email me at Major@xbox.com
Q: Do you do a podcast each week?
A: I try to do one each Sunday night, but some weeks I don’t have time to produce one. The podcasts (or blogcasts as I call them) are produced on my personal time and sometimes I don’t have spare time to create one.
Q: Who is Litheon? I hear you mention him on your shows and you have posted about him.
A: Litheon is the Gamertag of the guy who is the tech brains behind the blog. He is part Web server geek, part code geek and and full time FPS geek.
Update: Jan. 2009