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Nofouls Puts Your Local Basketball Games on the Map (The Startup Review)August 29th, 2008 at 1:31 pmSource:Mashable! Sarah Palin, the 11th governor of Alaska, has been chosen as Senator John McCain’s running mate for the 2008 presidential election. Who is she? How does she stand on the issues that matter the most to you? Where can you learn more about her? Mrs. Palin was Miss Alaska in 1986, and is now married to Todd Palin, with whom she has had five children. She served two terms on the Wasilla, Alaska City Council in 1992 and 1996. There is a lot more out there you can learn, especially on the hot button issues, and hopefully these websites will help you figure out if she is the vice president for you. You can also check out the resources we compiled for Joe Biden to compare the two side by side. FollowTheMoney.org - A database of contributors to her 2006 run for governor. Governor of Alaska - Mrs. Palin is only the eleventh governor of Alaska, and won the seat in 2006. National Governors Association - Biography on the National Governors Association website. OnTheIssues.org - A quick bullet point list showing you how Palin has voted and stands on some of the key issues. PalinForGovernor.com - A hold over site from when she was running for governor, but gives you an overview of her stances on issues and more. Sarah Palin Politician Facebook Page - A basic Facebook politician page where you can show your support for her. VoteSmart.org - A bullet point list of her career and organizations she has belonged to. —Related Articles at Mashable! - The Social Networking Blog:Sarah Lane Explains It All [podcast]Latest Justin.tv Channel Launched in Bay AreaBusinessWeek’s Sarah Lacy Writes Web 2.0 ExposeParis is No Silicon Valley: Neither is EuropeAnnouncing Girls in Tech femme-POWER RoundUpLive Video is Coming to YouTube in 2008Grand Effect Blog Network Relaunches
Editor’s Note: This post is part of an ongoing series at Mashable - The Startup Review, Sponsored by Sun Microsystems Startup Essentials. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. STARTUP DETAILS: Company Name: Nofouls 20-word Description: Nofouls.com is a communication tool intended to accomplish one thing: Get other ballers to the basketball court when you wanna play. CEO’s Pitch: Showing up to your local public basketball courts, trying to get a pick-up game started is a hit or miss scenario. Because of the difficulties involved in getting a game started, less people show up to the courts and the likelihood of actually gathering enough people to start playing a game is further diminished. This pattern repeats itself, resulting in most basketball courts ending up vacant the vast majority of the time. Nofouls.com was created with the purpose of reversing this cycle. Nofouls.com makes it easy to find basketball courts in your area. Our database currently features over 1000 basketball courts. If a court is missing, it can easily be added using Google Maps satellite view to pinpoint its location. Players can schedule games, communicate, and coordinate with each other, all centered around their basketball court of choice. Mashable’s Take: Based in Philadelphia, PA., Nofouls is, as the descriptions above suggest, a very basic service. It has only one outstanding purpose. To chart and track what is happening, where it is happening. But that I think is what holds an appeal. Nothing excessive about it. All you get is a database of basketball courts, laid upon a Google Map mashup, and a way to organize play in those locations listed. I imagine lots of fans of the game will appreciate the simplicity. NO, there’s nothing super social about it. And given its focus on some 1,000 courts in and around its home city, many a visitor will perhaps find that it holds no relevance to them. But users’ ability to add local spots to the existing supply keeps it interesting. If its creators manage to convince enough people to sign on and contribute, Nofouls’ utility will grow tremendously. Maybe to the point that it becomes a national, if not international resource for people to better network their own communities through. What’s more, it wouldn’t be too big a leap for Nofouls to eventually involve traveling tournaments, perhaps to coincide with March Madness, or even to establish a seasonal or annual calendar all its own. For the time being, the foundation of Nofouls seems a solid one. It’s easy to use, and its visual appeal will serve a very general audience, both of which are important to its success. There’s the matter of a first sale as well as the need to register return visitors. And I sense it is capable of making good on each task. Sponsored By: Sun Startup Essentials
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