With the holidays upon us it seems like each trip out to the mailbox reveals a new pile of cards. Society is making the Hallmark company rich.
Maybe the alternative to the wave of paper and postage is an e-card.
The same quippy, clever messages that adorn the cards we place on the mantle or hang on the kitchen doorframe can be sent like an e-mail message. They are received in the inbox of an e-mail account, the receiver opens the message and a greeting card is displayed, some with a personal message.
The multimedia ability of the Internet also gives users the ability to send animated shorts - little clips of video that can also contain audio messages. For those with enough technical savvy, these can be made on a home PC.
For the rest of us, there are sites on the Web that have tons of cards that are fun and easy to send. Just click on the card you like (to preview how it works) and enter a destination.
There is no shortage of cards that send a Christmas or Hanukkah - or even Kwanzaa - message. Here are a few of the many sites that offer this free service:
www.fun-e-cards.com: There are several hundred clever cards to choose from on this site.
For Christmas there is the "Frosty's Revenge" card that features a snow man being constructed and then molding a snowball and throwing it back at his creator.
The "Disco Chickens" is advertised as one of the site's most popular picks with chickens dancing to the Village People, YMCA. And you thought disco was dead.
www.cardsavvy.com: Great cartoon greeting cards adorn this Australian Web page. There are also brilliant photographs and the site is easy to use, easy for customized messages. Anybody will appreciate receiving a digital message he or she can turn into a cool desktop background.
www.1lovestreet.com/cards.html: For hopeless romantics, this is the site.
Animated cards show Cupid and angels and all of the other characters that many guys run and hide from. Some play romantic songs and others show a bouquet of (free!) flowers.
www.ogphoto.com/ecards_index.html: Nature lovers can send these e-cards and feel confident that they have not breached their relationship with nature by using such an impersonal form of communication as e-mail.
The cards feature scenes from nature, animals and even butterflies. Great photography adorns this site, making it fun just to look at, even if you are not interested in sending an e-card.
www.bluemountain.com: Blue Mountain, an Excite-sponsored site, has hundreds of e-cards to choose from and they are easy to find. If there is a card that you have received via e-mail and are hoping to find again some day, chances are Blue Mountain has it.
Scroll through a menu of offerings by subject, like "anniversary" or "birthday" and a list appears. Click on the card and follow the instructions.
For Christmas this site is probably one of the most plentiful on the Web.
www.regards.com: This site was the first that I saw that has the "dancing baby" card that was so widely circulated in e-mail transmissions last year. There are also seasonal cards, horoscopes and pets for animal lovers.
Some other sites worth checking into for e-cards:
- www.cyber-cards.com
- www.sendmecards.com
- www.cybergrace.com/html/cards.html
- www.sita.cat.or.th/thai/jegcard/jegcard.html
- www.ecards4free.com
Questions?Ideas? E-mail at jimscripps@Tahoe.com
