05 March 2010
	GIMME Eye in the sky By Kate Thompson

The Trackstick Mini is a GPS tracker for your car that allows you to record your journeys in great detail. The small transmitter communicates with satellites to document a vehicle's position, speed and direction, as often as every five seconds during a journey. It then plugs directly into a USB port on your computer, allowing you to download and view the journey data. It also charges through the USB port. The device can take a while to lock on to satellites, but the status of this is indicated by the LED light, so be sure the light flashes green before beginning your journey. Data is viewed through Trackstick Manager, a fairly user-friendly software that can be downloaded from the vendor website. You can export the data in a number of formats including CSV (used in an Excel file). It can also associate images taken on a digital camera with GPS locations by matching time and date stamps on the gadgets. One excellent use stems from its integration with Google Earth (GE). Once you've downloaded a journey, you can export it as a GE flyover file. Doing so will open the GE window, allowing you to view the entire journey (marked out in red), and zoom in on exact locations. This tool will prove particularly useful to business people who need to record or approve business travel accurately, or those overseeing the use of company vehicles, among others.