Sampa.com joins the crowded social scene

Sampa.com is another Seattle Web startup with a sharp idea and some cool social networking features. But it’s entering competition in a crowded category.

It’s mostly a social networking site; it has friends and family lists, photo-sharing, e-mail services and ways to find like-minded people.

But it’s more like an exclusive enclave where each user can build a personal Web page and keep parts of it public and other parts available only to family and trusted friends.

Its best features include easy linking to popular media sites; when you set up a page you can easily import links to your online photos at flickr, or favorite videos at YouTube. In fact, if all you want is a personal Web page on yourself and your wonderful life, Sampa gives it to you for free, and it looks good.

Another feature many users like: a fairly simple genealogical tree page that one creates and then invites family members to share. Not only does it create a visual tree, but the site then allows for written memories, photos, video and anything else to make one’s family story come alive.

Brijit

Brijit.netcalls itself Digg for the thinking person.

What it does is provide a quick set of abstracts or summaries of notable and quality current journalism.

It is free to use. Go there and catch up quick on the best and brightest stories being published in the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Atlantic, and so on. When possible, the short, 100-word summaries of articles send you to a link to read the full deal, if you choose.