A few quick site updates... The latest issue of the site newsletter has gone out for real this time, after a delay because we realized that we never configured the mailing list software on our new server. Oops! You can subscribe or read the newsletter archives here. We also adjusted the subscription form to correct an unfortunate conflict with our junk mail filter.

The book-to-bill reference section has been updated, and now includes data for both North American and Japanese suppliers through February 2006. Enjoy!

Another day, another batch of interesting online applications. I haven't been using these for very long, so don't blame me if they give you problems.

CoComment lets you track comments you make all over the blogosphere, and shows you responses by other CoComment members. Works with most of the common blog software platforms. Also lets you share your comments, through either a link to your CoComment page (mine, currently empty, is here) or a box on your own blog. Free. Currently in beta.

Webaroo has gotten a lot of attention lately, which I expect means the company is spending lots of its venture money on PR. Downloads either individual sites or their supplied "web packs" to your computer for offline searching. Aimed at business travelers and others who are often disconnected, but may also provide some speed advantages over general web searches. Free, with plans to sell sponsorships and keyword advertising. Currently in beta.

AvantGo has been around for a long time. They let you download individual pages to a mobile device for offline reading. Compared to Webaroo, they are more targeted to specific information, less useful for general queries, and more portable because the amount of data involved is smaller. AvantGo also supports Palm devices, which Webaroo currently does not. Basic service is ad-supported, with a premium service that gives you more data space. The combination of ads and upgrade requests chased me away from the service several years ago; we'll see if they've become less obnoxious.

9400 words in March. Better than February, but nowhere near where I need to be for the year. Sigh... 30,960 for the first three months of the year, and an additional 1200 for April so far, for a grand total of 32,160.

One of the conclusions I reached in my recent report on flexible photovoltaics was that the high cost and limited supply of conventional solar panels is a major driver for investment in new technologies. Piper Jaffray agrees, and expects solar panel shortages to continue through 2006.