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"This post is part of Mashable's Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.  The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.\nName: Goby\nQuick Pitch: Goby is a search engine focused on exploring new things to do with your free time, from taking a unique vacation to creating this weekend\u2019s adventure.\nGenius Idea: Goby is a dead-simple way to find activities in your city (or a city you are visiting) now or in the future. Just select the type of activity you are interested in, enter in your city, and select a time and Goby comes back with your options.Goby's simplicity is what separates it from other event calendar services. Plus, because it searches multiple event databases (including Eventful and Yahoo!'s Upcoming), you get lots of different results.\nFor things like music or performing arts, you can choose sub-categories, like music genre or dance. You can also define the radius of your results by entering in a custom address or zip code.  Goby's events come up in an easy to read manner and specific event information and provide links to the specific listing.\n\nGoby also searches things like hotels, hostels, and vacation homes, which make it a nice option for either the would-be-traveler on a budget or anyone looking to spend time in a particular location.\nThe only criticism I can place on Goby is that because it scrapes lots of different services, sometimes duplicate events are listed \u2014 having those events either combined or listed only once would make navigating results even easier.  Still, Goby is a dead-simple way to find options for your weekend.\nSpark of Genius Series Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark\nBizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.\nEntrepreneurs can take advantage of the Azure Services platform for their website hosting and storage needs. Microsoft recently announced the \"new CloudApp()\" contest - use the Azure Services Platform for hosting your .NET or PHP app, and you could be the lucky winner of a USD 5000* (please see website for official rules and guidelines).\u201D"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2009/10/12/goby/>