Interconnected: Googlematic. You can now do a Google search using AOL Instant Messenger or MSN Messenger; see the page for details. This is the sort of incredible mind bomb I was hoping to see when Google opened up its new API.

It occurs to me that someone should take the next logical step and create an email gateway to Google. There are times that it’s helpful to have a permanent record of searches, for instance when researching a topic for a paper. Email would be one way to automate that process.

Blogaritaville: Price Fixing Since 1996 Caused CD Sales Slowdown. When the RIAA is trying to blame consumers’ file-sharing ways for slumping sales in 2001, I think it’s worth looking at some other factors. Scriban compares average cost of a CD (from the RIAA’s own figures!) against CD unit sales and makes a fairly persuasive argument.

Of course, correlation is not causality. There are other factors at work, like the rise of lousy me-too bands in just about every segment and the inexplicable resurgence of teen pop (I thought Kriss Kross had been the final stake in that coffin. You remember Kriss Kross—fourteen year old kids rapping “I’m the mack daddy! No, I’m the daddy mack!”).