A little over a month ago new GPS satellites were launched with relativity low fan fare, but they could have a potentally large impact on the way we navigate through life. The current GPS set-up that many of us use on our iPhones, car navigation systems, etc… can, assuming you have a good clear signal, pinpoint you within about 20 feet.

The new technology will trump that, promising not only a much stronger signal but accuracy up to two feet - that's about an arm's length.

Social check-in apps like FourSquare and Gowalla will no doubt take advantage of the stronger signal (especially in densely populated areas) and will be better able to pinpoint a business' location. With a accuracy of +/- 2 feet, the apps can tell not only if you are in Kroger, but in which aisle. Heck, you could become the mayor of aisle 6 of dirty Kroger....or I guess that would be an alderman?

With such a degree of accuracy, retail outlets can (via your smart phone) market a specific product or send a coupon to a consumer as they approach that product on a store shelf. How's that for interactive POS?

Augmented reality apps may finally become a reality. Think of looking through your iPhone as you walk down a street. Your screen will now be a virtual tour guide with restaurant reviews popping up or directions to the nearest ATM.

The possibilities are limitless, or at least within a few feet or so.

Hopefully in (+ -) 6 hours from now, we'll be welcoming our second child into this world.

As we made our last minute preparations, my FourSquare check-ins have been dominated by Kroger, Home Depot, Babie R Us and of course, Target. It was at Target that I came across a product straight from the pages of the Onion, Huggie's Denim diapers, seriously.

At first, I assumed it was some kind of weird baby-on-the-brain dream and I had imagined only them. Ohhh no, I was wrong.

Surely as a society, we have learned from our past mistakes, that unless your product is really jeans, adding denim just isn't a good idea.

I understand as much as the next ad guy that you constantly need to make improvements to your product. The consumer has grown to expect it. It needs to be sleeker. It needs to be faster. It needs to be WiFi compatible. Has the evolution of diapers come so far that the only improvement left is to add denim?

Maybe the folks at Huggies R&D should focus on something that would really be an improvement, like making them out of some eco-friendly biodegradable materials. Or better yet, it would be really sweet if they could send me a Tweet to alert me that it's time to be changed.

Until then, I'll choose my diapers like I do my jammies, with Yodas and crap on them.

About 5 years ago, I bought a replacement point and shoot and it had the breakthrough new technology of being able to shoot small video clips. They were small in size (320x240 - roughly half the size of the size of footage on tv), short in length (mainly due to memory card restrictions) and jittery (because of low frame rates).

Watching the video was a whole other experience. The footage looked bad enough on the whopping 1.5" display on the back of the camera, but if you tried to feed it to your TV, it made old Super 8 movies look like they were shot in IMAX.

All in all it seemed pretty gimicky. I mean who wants to watch some crappy video shot with your point and shoot? Handy? Maybe if you didn't have a video camera nearby & you witnessed Big Foot walking through the woods. But shoot video with anything other than a video camera? Call me a skeptic.

Of course, like everything else, camera & video technology has snowballed at a crazy rate. Image quality, image size, frame rate have all drastically improved. Nice for home movies or maybe sharing over YouTube, but to use it for a professional television production? I'll pass.

A year ago, Canon introduced video capabilities to it's pro & prosumer level of SLR's. Initially designed as a way for photojournalist to add video content to web sites (for the deteriorating newspaper industry). It has begun to be adopted by serious videographers & even film makers.

The cameras are an amazing piece of technology at a relatively low price. They shoot beautiful 1080p footage (aka top of the line HD), use Canon's existing line of lenses and because of their smaller size they can used in ways that previous high end video & film cameras couldn't.

CurrentMarketing shot our first spot with one last week and I would hold the footage up to almost anything else shot on much more expensive equipment. Their low cost has translated to lower production costs for our clients and has allowed some to enter the broadcast arena and at a much higher level of quality.

With broadband growing (and getting faster), the importance of high quality video will only grow with it. The playing field has been leveled a little more & I'm a changed man.

It's a phrase that's been used around the office quite a bit over the years as technology has gotten more and more advanced & crept into our daily lives. With the official announcement of Apple's 3rd generation iPhone looming, speculation of its improvements has been rampant on various blogs & chat rooms. In addition to some cosmetic modifications, one that seems universal is a real GPS navigation feature. It kind of seems a bit like a no brainer since the technology seems to be fairly common these days.

Although I will have to admit, the current quasi-GPS isn't bad. On a recent trip, I found it hugely helpful in finding my way around & getting me pointed in the right direction. It may not have pinpointed my exact location, but once I found a cross street or two, I had no problems. Plus it kept me from carrying the massive map that just screams tourist - ok, I like to blend in & feel like a local.

But to me, the most exciting speculative new feature is an improved camera for video calling. Seriously, video calling. I remember watching all of those great 1980's SciFi tv shows as a kid that all spawned from the popularity of Star Wars & ALL of them had video phones of some sort. If rumors are true, in a few months we'll all be walking around having video calls with our handheld comm devices. Can the flying bubble cars and Gary Coleman inspired butler robots really be that far behind?

My wife refers to it as a "yard sale in waiting". Others may think of it as cubicle chic. I simply call it "home" for roughly 52% of my weekly awake time, my desk. An homage to all that is kitsch and molded PVC, my "collection" has grown and traveled with me during my professional career. I've always been strangely attracted to kitsch culture and have had a soft spot for B-list celebrities, so I guess this kind of grew out of it. It seems to help lighten the stress of the day and keep me grounded  knowing that a 19.5" Duff Beer holding Godzilla is always watching over me as I work on my latest design project . And seriously, who can't be inspired by an autographed 8x10 black and white glossy of Dennis Burkley.

A good portion of my collection has come from some of the finest and tackiest gift shops across the globe. Check out this great source! USB rocket launcher. Say no more.

Don't know if you caught it in the news this morning, but yesterday the Kentucky Derby Festival unveiled their official poster for "Thunder Over Louisville - 2008". It's big news to us because it's the 3rd consecutive year that CurrentMarketing has had the privilege of designing it. Fellow creative and resident "poster-boy" Donovan Sears did a great job capturing the excitement of the uber-spectacular airshow and fireworks extravaganza in a convenient poster-sized snapshot. If the thought of a Stealth B-2 bomber flying at you doesn't get you all warm and tingly, then maybe the fact that the poster glows in the dark will.

On a fairly unrelated note, for those of you that may be training for the miniMarathon you can get a great training schedule here.

I've used it the past couple of years and I always felt ready come race day. And since I'm on a running tangent, another great site is MapMyRun.com.

You can accurately plot your course without leaving the house (thanks to the ever-growing wonders of Google maps). It shows you course elevation, it can even calculate your pace and give you an idea of calories burnt - if you're into that kind of thing.