Hiatus -- Folks, it's been a fun ride, but we must reluctantly announce that NetBITS is taking a hiatus until April for two reasons.

The first of those is that we haven't established the kind of reach that we felt was necessary to attract advertisers and make the publication self-supporting. We have over 20,000 subscribers and several thousand more people read the publication on the Web site each week, but on today's Internet, those numbers are chicken feed. NetBITS is the result of about 25 hours of work per week of five people's time, plus our guest writers' efforts, and though we enjoy this, we simply can't afford to do it for what we've been able to earn.

The other reason is that yours truly - Glenn Fleishman, NetBITS editor in chief - has unfortunately been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease, one of the most treatable forms of cancer. It's been caught at an early stage, so my prognosis is excellent and I'm extremely upbeat. However, the weekly toll of putting out NetBITS coupled with alternating weeks of chemotherapy will be a bit much in the short term. (I appreciate any support, but my ability to answer email in the next few weeks as I begin treatment will be limited, and another staffer will likely take over email responses in the near future.)

If you've liked NetBITS and have a desire to do something positive, consider a contribution to The Leukemia Society, which is working for cures for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's Disease, and myeloma. It also assists those with these diseases and their families with financial and moral support. I am not in need, but many are.

<http://www.leukemia.org/docs/fs_help.html>

We've enjoyed the last few months, and we look forward to a return in April. Existing subscribers will remain on our mailing list, and you'll receive any updates or new issues. New subscriptions will be accepted during the hiatus, and the Web site will continue online with the search capability noted in last week's issue. Finally, we hope you enjoy this double-sized issue!

Thanks again, and we'll see you in April. NetBITS and I will both be back, better than before. [GF]