Links for Friday, November 26, 2010

• Search Engine Land: How Did The Beatles Sell 2 Million Songs On iTunes? Mostly Facebook (Not Search) – “According to Experian Hitwise, it was social media — not search — that drove a lot of the online interest and, more importantly, the online traffic surrounding The Beatles addition to iTunes. Consider this stat: On November 16, the first day Beatles songs were available on iTunes, 26% of UK traffic to Apple.com came from social media, about double the amount that came from search.“
• Scientific American: Distant Galaxies Confirm Dark Energy’s Existence and Universe’s Flatness – “Marinoni and Buzzi confirmed two tenets of the current cosmological model: that the universe is a flat space and that it is dominated by a dark energy, which makes up roughly two-thirds of the universe, that looks a lot like Albert Einstein’s famed cosmological constant.“
• Peteris Krumins: Announcing Browserlinq! – “*Our first product is built on top of StackVM and is called Browserling. It’s an interactive cross-browser testing tool inside of your browser. A real browser inside of your browser! Just go to browserling.com to try it out! *“
• Service Alley: About – “Service Alley was built to help consumers find trusted local service providers. Whether you have a leaky pipe or have decided it’s time for a new kitchen, Service Alley give you access to information about all the service providers in your area so you can start to figure out which one is best for you.“
• CNBC: Next Debt Crisis May Start in Washington: Bair – “*The US needs to take urgent action to cut its debt in order to prevent the next financial crisis, which may start in Washington, Sheila Bair, chair of the Federal Deposits Insurance Corp. (FDIC) wrote in an editorial in the Washington Post. *“
• The Washington Post: Will the Next Fiscal Crisis Start in Washington? – “*Unless something is done, federal debt held by the public could rise from a level equal to 62 percent of gross domestic product this year to 185 percent in 2035. Eventually, this relentless federal borrowing will directly threaten our financial stability by undermining the confidence that investors have in U.S. government obligations. Financial markets are already sending disquieting signals. *“