Installment #60 - Free Ecards (Again!)

From time to time, I like to send free online ecards to my friends.  However, a lot of these sites are connected with various forms of Internet abuse, including spam and advertising cookies, also called third party cookies.  Yes, third party cookies aren't really dangerous (they are easily removed by various utilities) but they are annoying and can cause you to run slow.

In May of 2008, I posted about some ecard sites.  This post is the updated version.  I found 10 sites that are basically harmless.  3 sites are too new to have any information available yet.  The rest are to be avoided!

GOOD:


egreetings.com
rattlebox.com
cardfunk.com
emotionsinprint.com
funtasticecards.com
keepandshare.com
someecards.com
superlaugh.com  (the owner of this site promises no funny business!)
funpunch.com
thegreetingstore.com

NEW:  (use at your own risk)

freeecardsworld.com
seasonofwishes.com
ecardgarden.com

BAD:

123greetings.com
freeonlinegreetings.net
bubbacards.com
carlsencards.com  (this one used to be good but fell to the temptation!)
wondergreetings.com
greeting-cards.com
funny-ecards.com
2000greetings.com
ecarduniverse.com
punchbowl.com
alighthouse.com

Installment #50 - April Fools Day & Online Pranks

In honor of April Fools' Day I had wanted to send out some pranks and/or ecards - NOT! Gee whiz! It's gotten so bad now that you can't even send a free e-card to a friend without potentially causing harm.

I'm getting so sick of all of the invasive so-called advertising and marketing ploys being used. It's not fair and is making surfing the Internet not-so-fun anymore! Get a life, you stupid cyber jerks! Can't you think of any better ways to amuse yourselves without negatively affecting the rest of us?

This blog site is starting to get so depressing! I only checked up on 10 web sites and guess what? Only 5 of them were worth a darn!

Here are my sad results:

BAD:

• freewinks.net
• squidoo.com
• aprilfoolzone.com
• funmunch.com
• girlsentertainmentnetwork.com

GOOD:

• fundmental.com
• urbanprankster.com
• museumofhoaxes.com
• aprilfoolsdayontheweb.com
• thefoolsday.com

What's even worse is that these "good" sites aren't always the best ones. Sadly, the best web sites are the ones that have been "invaded" - the site owners have fallen prey to the evil marketing companies and/or have been targeted by the creepy hackers and criminals because these sites are so popular and have so many visitors.

I don't know the solution - do you?

Installment #33 - Free Insulting E-cards

I was feeling a bit devilish today and wanted to send my best friend a mean little insulting e-card. So, naturally I had to check on a few sites to see what I could come up with. I looked up 15 sites and came up with 7 "okay" sites and one too new to evaluate. So, that's 7 sites that were definite "no-no's"! Here are my results:

BAD:

• 1.ntysbrf.com (Avast blocked some malware trying to download!)
• devilcards.com
• mrfreefree.com
• dogpile.com
• kisseo.com
• superlaugh.com
• nobel4tech.com

NEW:

• bogblocker.com

GOOD:

• bashcards.com
• dworldonline.com
• rattlebox.com
• hotfrog.com.br
• rats2U.com (but don't click on usagreetings.com)
• urlbaron.com (but don't click any links)
• jimpix.co.uk

Do people even send e-cards anymore? The majority of them are dangerous as hell! That's why I quit sending them and I was a big fan - loved sending them, especially for birthdays and holidays - sucks the jerks that make webstes dangerous had to mess up this used-to-be fantastic feature of the Internet. I hope one day we can use them again!

Installment #24 - Electronic greetings - Ecards

I have concluded:

MOST ECARD sites are NOT SAFE!!!!!

When I first started using the Internet a lot, and started making a lot of online friends, I loved to send ecards. I'll bet I sent at least 25 or 30 a week, especially on holidays. Little did I know, they are extremely dangerous. After all, they are free and have to pay the bills somehow!

Needless to say, I very rarely ever send ecards anymore, much less do I like to open them when they are sent to me. It's unfortunate because they were such an effective way of sending emotions across the Web.

• I do have an alternative, however, that, so far, I can recommend with confidence - that is, use your email provider. Some of them offer their own ecards and lots of cute little bells and whistles. Personally, I love Incredimail - I can use smileys, and animations, and sounds and more. I've been using Incredimail for over 4 years, and so far, I have had no problems - knock on wood!
  

As for my research results, they are indeed sad! Out of 30 I checked on, only 10 were okay to use. Two of them, 123greetings.com and lavacards.com are EXTREMELY dangerous - even if you receive one from those sites, DO NOT open it! Delete it immediately and inform the sender, if you know who it was, NOT to use that site anymore and offer one of these "Good" ones as an alternative.

• NOTE: Just because these ecard sites are okay today, does not mean they will be okay tomorrow! A few of the bad greeting web sites listed here were my favorites and now send questionable spam, or pass along/sell your email/sign-up information, or use dangerous invasive third party cookies, or sneak spyware and/or viruses in your computer. Always check with SiteAdvisor, WOT (Firefox), or Sitehound before you use any site! I use all three!
  

Here are the results:
GOOD:

• hallmark.com
• dayspring.com
• fun-greetings-jokes.com
• regards.com
• egreetings.com
• ecarduniverse.com
• fantasyecards.com
• carlsencards.com
• happydaycards.com
• ecardbug.com
  

BAD:

• 2000greetings.com
• talkintoons.com
• 123greetings.com
• bluemountain.com
• greetingsnecards.com
• free-e-cards-online.com
• ecardfunny.com
• care2.com
• 100free-ecards.com
• funny-ecards.com
• hipstercards.com
• wickedmoon.com
• evite.com
• all4love.net
• riversongs.com
• e-cards.com
• greet2k.com
• ecardica.com
• lavacards.com
• ecard4all.com