AP points to an experimental Web video by Arcade Fire, created using advanced browser technology HTML5, as evidence that the music industry is adapting to videos on the Web. In related news, according to online analytics firm comScore, MTV is now the number 1 music destination on the Web. So it too is evolving fast.

The Arcade Fire online video, developed in association with Google, was directed by Chris Milk. He's an experienced director who has done traditional music videos for Gnarls Barkley, Kanye West and others. Milk told the AP that making music videos is changing: "really the Web is a totally different canvas from broadcast. It allows for a whole different set of rules."

The video features real-time graphics rendering and real-world imagery from Google Maps satellite and Street View. It includes multiple windows, 3D birds and an invitation to write a note to your younger self at the end of the video.

MTV #1 With a Bullet, Online

Meanwhile, MTV is showing that it can translate its music television dominance to the Web. FastCompany reports the latest figures from comScore, showing that MTV has moved above Vevo and MySpace Music to take the number 1 spot in the online music category.

MTV's traffic has increased 165% year-over-year, according to comScore. More than 53 million unique visitors went to MTV properties in August.

Vevo isn't far behind, with over 49 million unique visitors. Vevo is a Hulu-like alliance between Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Abu Dhabi Media Company - with the videos hosted by YouTube. It's worth noting that, unlike MTV, Vevo is 100% devoted to music. Just as it does on television, MTV's online sites include reality shows and other non-music content.

However, MTV also includes more than just music videos in its music-related content. And that may be a key part of its online success. Van Toffler, president of MTV Networks' music group, told Fast Company that "MTV is much more than just music videos: It's performances, live streams, B-rolls, interviews, behind-the-scenes stuff."

Your Current Favorite Online Music Video?

So the lessons in adapting music videos to the Web include offering different and interactive experiences (a la Arcade Fire), plus extras on the Web (a la MTV).

Let us know in the comments whether you're an MTV, Vero or MySpace watcher online - and which you prefer. Also, what online music videos have you seen lately that have impressed you?

The Q&A Partner Platform leverages the company’s recently launched Q&A feature, which integrates search technology and routes questions to appropriate members of the Ask.com community. Members are selected based on their interests and areas of knowledge.

The “Answers for the Cure” program is the first partner example of how Q&A community members can help raise money for charities simply by answering questions. Ask will contribute ten cents for every question answered to Komen, from now through the end of the year. For those that participate, membership badges and a progress meter appear on participants’ home pages and profile pages.

Launching the partnership program with charities may prove to be a smart move. As Ask.com visitors join the Q&A community in an effort to help various causes, they are in return giving the company an attractive growing base of consumers. Someting that may prove especially attractive to paying businesses and organizations in the near future.

Tags: Causes, Q&A, Q&A community, raising money

Companies: Ask.com, Susan G. Kolmen

However, only 11% of mobile users are participating in the location-based social networking community, with the majority of mobile users claiming they're simply "not interested" in these types services.

Myxer surveyed over 1,500 users in the U.S. and found that only 11% of the respondents used these location-based mobile applications. While that figure seems low, it's actually several points higher than analyst firm Forrester Research's report from July, which claimed that only 4% of U.S. adults used apps like these.

Forrester also claimed that only 1% of those who use location-based apps do so more than once per week. Myxer, however, found heavier usage: 31% of those surveyed claimed they check in a couple of times per week, 30% check in once per day, 26% check in every hour (who are these people, we wonder?) and 13% said they check in just a couple of times per month.

The new survey also found that the use of location-based services is increasing within its user base, with 74% saying they've been using the apps more often than before, while 27% said they've been decreasing their use. Nearly half (47%) of respondents say they use two-five location-based social networks, 45% say they use just one and only 8% say they use six or more.

Who Uses Location-Based Social Networks? Those Who Don't Care About Privacy

Another interesting insight the data reveals is that the current users of location-based social networking services aren't overly concerned with their privacy, it seems. A whopping 77% of the users reported that they check in the most often from their own home. Work, restaurants, the gym and events trailed with 16%, 3%, 2% and 2% respectively as other popular check-in venues.

The users of these services are also surprisingly social, especially given the concerns over cyber-stalking that these networks could contribute to. In fact, 59% said that they have more friends on their location-based networks than on their traditional social networks like Facebook and Twitter; 41% said they have less. They also said their primary reasons for using the apps is to share their location with their friends (58%) and to find out where their friends are located (42%).

As for the demographic make up of the users, the largest group (30%) is 35-54 and the second largest group (22%) is 25-24, which seems to imply these networks are skewing older than Twitter and Facebook. Perhaps this is because using check-in services require users to move about around the city, a freedom that tweens and teens don't often have to the same degree. Only 19% of location-based apps users are teens (13-17) and 22% are young adults (18-24). And those aged 55 and up make up 7% of users, according to the data collected.

Who Doesn't Use Location-Based Networks and Why?

As for the large majority of mobile users - the 89% who say they don't use check-in services at all - privacy, surprisingly, isn't the top concern regarding their non-use of these services. Instead, 23% of users say they are unable to participate because their phone doesn't have the ability to use location-based apps, which often exist solely as mobile applications on smartphones.

The larger majority (56%) say they're simply "not interested." That engagement hurdle is what makers of location-based applications and games are now working to overcome. By providing more rewards, coupons, discounts and deals while also offering spirited and fun gameplay, some of those 56% may eventually change their minds. As we've noted earlier, rewards are the key to location-based application success.

Google has added "Walking Navigation", a marriage of walking directions, turn-by-turn GPS navigation and satellite imagery, to the newest version of Google Maps for Android.

The latest addition comes as a part of Google Maps for mobile 4.5 for Android. It takes walking directions, which takes advantage of pedestrian pathways, overpasses and other such things, and pairs them with turn-by-turn GPS directions and satellite imagery.

Simply enter the address of where you're trying to go, chose the "Walking" option from the navigation icon and the app will guide you, following along and vibrating when you reach the next turn. The map even rotates as you turn the phone, orienting the map to the direction you're facing. As Google engineers Andrey Ulanov and Kevin Law note in their blog post, you can "use it like a virtual compass with satellite imagery to look ahead or help pick out landmarks along the way."

If the satellite view doesn't offer enough in the way of contextual clues, the new and improved Street View navigation for Google Maps on Android should help. The feature brings street view straight to your phone and adds "smart navigation", wherein you can simply drag the "Pegman" around to move your vantage point.

We often joke with friends about how the smartphone is like the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but it's features like this that make that notion more and more a reality. It wasn't long ago that GPS navigation in a car seemed like a modern day luxury, and now we have access to turn-by-turn directions and imagery in our pockets. The integration with satellite imagery is just a step away from Street View integration and we can't imagine that an augmented reality addition is far off. While we often feel silly holding our phones up to the horizon to look for the nearest pizza joint, having this data on-screen as we navigate about our lives may prove even more handy.

What do you think - what's next for mobile personal navigation? That is, aside from getting similar functionality for the iPhone?

Faster than TraceMonkey - Not as Fast as Chrome

In our own (unscientific) tests with the help of the SunSpider  and V8 benchmarks, the JaegerMonkey version of Firefox 4 easily outperformed the most recent beta of Firefox 4 (around 370ms vs. 450ms in SunSpider and 2200 points vs. 1200 points in V8). At the same time, though, Google's Chrome is still significantly faster (260ms for the SunSpider benchmark and 6631 points in V8 for the current developer version). These benchmark results show that the JaegerMonkey team clearly managed to speed up the browser's performance, but with regards to pure JavaScript performance Firefox is still far behind Chrome.

That said, though, benchmark performance is not always a good indicator for how fast a browser feels in actual usage and there can be little doubt that the JaegerMonkey-enabled build feels faster than the current Firefox 4 betas, and the difference with Chrome is barely noticeable.

You can download a copy of Firefox with the JaegerMonkey engine here.

According to Mozilla developer David Mandelin, the team spent the last eight months "studying the classic research, reverse engineering the competition, measuring, experimenting, designing, prototyping, analyzing performance, scrutinizing assembly code, redesigning, coding, and lots and lots of debugging." The result of this project is a completely revamped JavaScript engine for Firefox that makes demos like this far more enjoyable. Mandelin also notes that the final version should be "a little bit faster yet by the time Firefox 4 is released."

Given the combination of hardware acceleration, better JavaScript performance, a revamped interface and many other small changes, Firefox 4 is shaping up to be a very interesting release for Mozilla. The final version of Firefox 4 is currently scheduled for the fall.