 | October 5th, 2008 - by Marcelo Calbucci |
On Monday, October 6, 2008 at 12:30 PM PDT we will be upgrading our services and your website and Sampa.com will be unavailable for about 1 hour.
| September 12th, 2008 - by Dave Sampson |
OK, this doesn't really have a lot to do with Sampa, with our whiz-bang technology, or our plot to take over the universe. But it does touch a subject that lots of our users care about, and it's an excuse to post a great pic.
This entry is the first in what may turn out to be a recurring series of posts about how to shoot great pictures of your kids. The kind that are light on photographic expertise but heavy on the "adorable factor." The kind that call out to be shared with loved ones... on maybe, umm... Sampa?
Today's entry is:The spin-kid-around-while-holding-camera-shot
Advantages:You're guaranteed to capture a genuine look of delight.
You won't need to use any candy bribes to get your kid to hold still and smile.
It's physically impossible for them to pick their nose while the shutter snaps.
Disadvantages:You need to use two arms.
One of those arms needs to be very strong.
Parents can get dizzy quickly.
Other kids nearby will nag you mercilessly until they get a ride too.
Good luck trying this with a teenager.
The Camera Setup:If you have a snazzy camera with manual settings (like last month's
contest winner), you can simply set the exposure setting to around 1/60th of a second, to get just the right amount of background blur. If you have a simpler point-and-shoot camera, you'll probably get the best results by just setting it to "portrait" mode and avoiding very bright sunlight (to give your camera a chance to use a slower exposure time).
The Technique:For small children, hold both their wrists together so that you can swing them around with one hand. For bigger kids, hold one forearm and have the child hold onto your forearm tightly with both hands. Swing around fast enough that both feet (your kid's feet, not yours) leave the ground. Snap a picture in mid-spin with your other hand.
Sound fun? The little guy above thought so. We hope you get some great shots using this technique, and invite you to share them with your friends & family on Sampa. And if you have ideas for other simple, iconic ways to compose and shoot great kid pictures, we'd love to hear about it. Just send an email to
support@sampa.com and we'll credit you in a future article.
| August 23rd, 2008 - by Marcelo Calbucci |
Congratulations to Tera P. and her family for building the 100,000th Sampa site. She won a great prize package that included a Canon Pro Series digital camera, a picnic set, and tickets to her local zoo. So if you happen to see Tera and her family at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, please say "hi" for us!
| July 17th, 2008 - by Dave Sampson |
Have you ever watched your car's odometer click over to 100,000 miles? Remember that growing feeling of excitement? That's what we're like over here at Sampa, where we're expecting to add our 100,00th website any day now. We can't take our eyes off the little spinning dials.
Now picture the old TV gag where someone is the lucky 100,000th customer at a supermarket, and suddenly horns blare unexpectedly, and confetti falls from the ceiling. We're going to do that too -- only in a much more geeky way, with Amazon gift certificates and FedEx trucks and everything.
So if you woke up this morning feeling lucky, we invite you to create that Sampa site you've been thinking about starting anyway. If yours is the 100,000th site, we have a fabulous prize package with goodies like a Canon Pro Series digital camera, a deluxe picnic set for four, a sandcastle playset, and other great items for kids or grownups who act like kids.
Plus, if you're already a Sampa site owner, and you refer the 100,000th site to us, we'll send a prize package to the winner and a second one to you! To ensure that you get credit for the referral, the winner can click the "built with Sampa" link at the top of your website, or click the "create your own free website" link in an email sent from your site.
You can find full contest details and exciting legalese on our new contest page at
www.sampa.com/contest.
| June 11th, 2008 - by Paul Gross |
Read on see our Sampa's top 10 picks for blogs about family life from a mom's point of view.
1) ManicMommies
Can you relate to the expression “You can never have too many shoes or too many babysitters?” Then you will love this blog written by two thoroughly modern working mothers Erin and Kristin. This blog is set apart by its savvy technological reviews and canny knowledge of current events (the recent Sex and the City movie, not the war in Iraq). If you want to read a mommy blog that’s less about baby spit-up and more about Mac’s Bento program or an all-mother cruise to the Bahamas, this is the blog for you. Manic Mommies is great proof that just because you are a mom doesn’t mean you can’t be hip and in-the-know (and if you aren’t, you can cheat and pretend you are by clicking here.)
www.manicmommies.com
2) Antique Mommy
The Anti-Helicopter Mom, Antique Mommy subscribes to the self-proclaimed “Whatever Dude” parenting philosophy. Such laidback childrearing leaves her time to write truly lovely prose, anecdotes, and photo essays about life with her elegant Aunt Jean and four-year-old son/fledgling iconoclast Sean. Learn how to become so flippin’ cool here.
www.antiquemommy.com.
3) Rocksinmydryer
The name says it all! How an Oklahoma mother of four finds time to watch the LOST season finale with her very own DHARMA boxed wine is beyond us, but we are certainly going to try to get in on her secret! From sweetly spun stories that reflect her Southern heritage to savvy resources like her chore pdf, fun websites for kids, and avant garde approach to kids’ allowances (online banking, oh my!) this blog is full of surprises and an all-around great read. Bonus points for grammar so pristine you could eat off it!
http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/
4) CrazyBlogginCanuck
This refreshing blog is written by a travel writer-turned-mother, and her adventurous approach to life is apparent in every word. From battling to conquer her fancy cable remote, to overcoming Boot Camp blahs, to the thrill of meeting the love of her life online, the author manages to be relatable and inspiring at the same time-and isn’t that what we are all really looking for in a blog? The episodic nature of this blog feels almost like a novel, and you’ll be drawn into the chaotic story of the Canuck clan-now living in Colorado- in no time. Check it out here. http://crazybloggincanuck.blogspot.com/
5) Mrs. Fussypants’ Guide to Life
From precious baby pictures to a good-humored Frump Fighting Manifesto (i.e.how to be a mom without wearing mom jeans), and rousing “Caption It!’ contests, Mrs. Fussypants hosts one of the most interactive mommy blogs on the web, and it’s a blast to visit. Check out the little blog with big personality here. http://fussypants.typepad.com/
6) Karen Sugarpants
From timeless classics like healthy lunches for busy moms to uber-cool trends like hosting a blogging baby shower, this blog is a little mix of everything. And thanks to her graphic design background, it’s neat-looking too! To find about her hot date nights with a “porous yellow fella” read here:
http://karensugarpants.com.
7) MommyPie
Mommy Pie is a blogger’s blog, to be sure. Functioning more as the online equivalent of a Starbuck’s Mommy Meetup than a one-dimensional confessional (although there is a sidebar for that if it’s your bag), Mommy Pie is all about getting mommies mixing and mingling, from asking thought-provoking parenting questions to linking incisively relevant articles and conducting hilarious polls. To find out what word she contributed to the urban dictionary, click here. http://mommypie.wordpress.com
8) Mrs. Mogul
If this isn’t the chicest little blog on the internet, we don’t know what is. Indeed, Mrs. Mogul reads like Sex and the City for post-caesarean set. Read here for fashion, celebrity gossip, and the author’s disappointment that the sonogram machine actually couldn’t play Youtube videos. This glitzy chronicle is all about the author’s struggles to make it big in the entertainment industry, all while raising her very own Toddler Mogul. Check it out here.
http://www.mrsmogul.blogspot.com/
9) NinjaPoodles.
For one thing, we have to give this blog props for achieving notoriety among parents without using a “mommy” moniker. For another, you simply have to see the heart-shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwich created by Ninja Poodles’ daughter. It is the most adorable thing on the web since LolCats. Not as adorable, but equally interesting, is the footage of the mommy-daughter arson as blogger and daughter burn her daughter’s school uniform on the last day of school. It’s the “School’s Out” ritual we all wished we had, so live vicariously here. http://www.ninjapoodles.blogspot.com/
10) MissZoot
Why visit this blog? We know these are fighting words-but Miss Z has the cutest kids in the blogosphere-literally! The little Z’s are so full of precocious exuberance, they actually have photogenic personalities. Couple this with the fact that Miss Zoot is a warm, witty writer who can perfectly draw the situational humor out of everyday life, and you’ve got our number 10 blog. Check it out here. http://www.misszoot.com/