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What is an E-Card? An E-Card is simply an electronically generated webpage that has been created with a computer program such Flash. They range from the very basic picture card which you may or may not be able to personalise to incredibly complex animated confections which allow you to insert your own message and signature.
In order to send and receive E-Cards both parties must have both an internet connection and an Email address. Just like any other email it is possible to send your E-card to one or many recipients which makes it an excellent solution for sending greetings to work colleagues and acquaintances.
A particularly popular provider is Care2 which describes itself as ‘the world largest online community for healthy and green living’ as part of their mission is to reduce landfill and paper use they offer a free E-card service which can be found at http://www.care2.com/ecards/. Care2 has some of the most original and interesting free E-cards available and as they have many contributors a very varied range of styles and moods are on offer. Once registered at Care2, you can look at the cards on offer by searching the online galleries. Once you have selected the E- card you would like to use, it is a good idea to follow the step by step instructions and send the first one to yourself as a dry run as even if you look at a preview it is best to see the E-card as your recipients will.
One word of warning, you do not need to download any software to your computer in order to use E-card services, if a site asks you to download anything at all, do not use it, as they may put unwanted programmes such as adware or malware which can compromise your security. However there are plenty of safe sites offering free E-cards so as long as you make this a golden rule you should be fine. E- cards are a cheap and fun way to send your holiday greetings for free.
As I said at the top sorry if everyone knows about E-cards but you never know, might save someone a few bob
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