How can we improve the localized MSDN Flash Ireland?

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MSDN Flash Biweekly In today's issue of the biweekly MSDN Flash Ireland, I took the opportunity to ask what our subscribers think about our localized newsletter.

We've been using MSDN Flash Ireland to keep people informed of new developer technologies and community events.  For example, in this week's issue, Clare put together a very thorough list of upcoming developer community events. 

But if you're like me (or the other members of our group), you tend to rely more and more on weblogs and other subscription-based news sources to keep up-to-date.  In our blogs, we frankly tend to include more information, it's already broken out by categories, and we generally post it sooner.

With this week's arrival of the Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 preview, you can now use Internet Explorer itself to subscribe to RSS (or "Really Simple Syndication") feeds like our weblogs.  And there are many other applications you can use to subscribe to blogs.  I use NewsGator, the same RSS reader used by the inimitable Microsoft blogger, Robert Scoble, because it integrates nicely with Microsoft Outlook.  I also use www.live.com as an Internet Explorer homepage, which lets me integrate any RSS news source right onto my browser's homepage.

So, my question for you, my readers in Ireland and Northern Ireland is this: as we continue to increase our use of weblogs and RSS feeds to get information out, do you want us to keep sending you an e-mail newsletter?  And if so, what would you like it to contain?

Here are two options.

Option 1: We keep sending out this MSDN Flash Ireland, which contains what’s new on MSDN, as well also local events and an editorial.

Option 2: An Ireland / Northern Ireland news and events newsletter.  Rather than also including what's new on the MSDN site, you would get a streamlined view of local news and events, plus an editorial.  You could still get technical updates from the US through the international MSDN Flash.  And you'd have our blogs for a unique, local, frequently-updated perspective.

What do you think?  Mail me at robburke@microsoft.com to let me know if you have strong feelings either way. 

In either case, we're going to keep blogging up a storm.  So if you're not into reading RSS feeds... why not get started?