Google has updated backlinks and visible PR
The visible PR on the Toolbar has been updated by Google this week.
I notice that the Sitemap has really helped spread Toolbar PR quite well. More and more webmasters are realizing that the TBPR updates are just not that important. Does PR affect your SERPS still? Yes, but not nearly as dramatically as it used to.
Google has seemingly jumped to a huger than normal lead lately in the logs here. Why that is, I cannot say for sure, but the traffic is up in quantity.