I lose things. A lot. I have elaborate rituals to help me keep up with my employee ID, my keys, and the fact that I've held onto my most recent pair of glasses for 4 months is a major victory. Most mornings, the only way I can find my cell phone is by getting one of my kids to call it. I couldn't tell you how often I've wished I could find the rest of my stuff by calling my cell phone. Or better yet, using GPS to locate it. But they don't make stuff like that yet...

...or so I thought. We've just started carrying a new tracking device that combines GPS and cell phone technology, called the Zoombak GPS Locator. This small, lightweight device (about half the size and weight of a pack of cards) communicates with Zoombak's GPS tracking system using an emitter much like the ones used in cell phones, so you can track and locate things that are important to you.

Naturally, I volunteered to check it out.

It comes with one of three kits--one to put in your car, one that allows you to attach it to your dog's collar, and a universal one with a keychain clip, which was the first thing I checked out. As a keychain bobble, it's a little clunky, but it does slip nicely into the coin pocket of a purse or backpack.

I'm really excited about getting to play with this locator. It's such a cool idea, and I'm sure it's just going to get cooler over time. Did I mention you can set up your cell to text you with automatic alerts, or to run immediate searches and text the results to you? I can't wait.

They've put some limitations on the tracking to safeguard against the Zoombak being used inappropriately, but kept it flexible enough that you could track a lost dog. Although you can run searches any time day or night, it's not really designed to do the kind of 24/7, minute-by-minute, super-spy surveillance that we see in movies or on TV (I'm sure the technology is out there, but I'm also pretty sure you'd need a permit to use it). Even so, I've got this Zoombak GPS Locator for the next few days, and my husband's volunteered to carry it around for me one of those days, so... I'll let you know what I discover.