Link Post for December 2nd through December 4th

This is the A2SM Link Post for December 2nd through December 4th:

Bing Outage Due to Configuration Change Error – Microsoft’s search engine Bing was down for a period of time, displaying only a cryptic error message to the perplexed users
Introduction to The Real-Time Web and its Future – Read Write Web's new report
Are We All Going to Die? YouTube Holds Vote on Climate Change Questions – YouTube announced today that in conjunction with CNN the site is now offering an opportunity for users to submit and vote on questions for world leaders to be asked at next week's UN Climate Change Conference.
Friendster Relaunching: A Lesson in How Not to Brand – Being one of the first social networking sites in existence certainly doesn't establish you as the best or most popular. For this reason, Friendster leaked a video outlining its look and product features. According to TechCrunch, the company is set to release the new product features tomorrow morning. If the below video was meant to get prospective users excited for a revitalized service, they could have approached it from a different angle. Below are the top four reasons Friendster's new messaging needs to change.
Twitter Takes Features (and the Fail Whale) Mobile – Twitter is testing out a new mobile interface at http://mobile.twitter.com the company announced just minutes ago and it really is a must-see. Beautiful design and some unique functionality are built on top of the company's own API.
Researchers Say the Social Web Improves Kids’ Literacy (Geeks Say ‘Duh’) – According to a recent survey of around 3,000 kids, those who text, blog and use social sites such as Facebook have better writing skills than their less technologically inclined counterparts.
Top 10 International Web Products of 2009 – Includes gems like Hootsuite and Tweetmeme
Digg Makes it Easier to Get Dugg – Digg has announced that it is revamping its API so that developers can create more feature-rich applications for the social content-sharing site and write/contribute data using OAuth. The new API will also let developers write tools that give users the ability to Digg, bury or comment on stories.
Positively Social: Blogging & Tweeting with AIDS/HIV –
Google Rolls Out New Format for Image Results – According to an announcement on the Official Google Blog, the search engine giant is rolling out a new format for their universal image results. Set to go live over the next 24 hours, the updated format will now feature one larger image alongside multiple smaller images. Because of this new layout, you'll be able to see "more pictures than before," writes Google Software Engineer Alex Petcherski in the blog post.