by Chong Poh Kit
The Internet is a world of its own ... and like the real material heavily-polluted world we live on, there is so much to explore but no time to cover them all, especially when you�re looking for quality websites but all that gets onto your browser are things that aren�t fit for public viewing. So to save your time and resources this column tells you where to go and what�s good to see on the cyberworld of the Internet!
I�M SURE MOST, IF NOT ALL, of you have received an e-card before. It�s a simple but beautiful method of conveying your best wishes, feelings and love to the person receiving the card. Also it�s environmentally friendly because there�s no need to cut down trees to produce e-cards. I had the opportunity to surf around the net and I found a few interesting e-card sites which I would like to share with everyone.
THE FIRST IS Kota Kemuning Electronic Village (http://www.kkev.net/ecards/). It�s a Malaysian based e-card site. It�s features simple but nice animated graphics. The layout is user friendly as it�s easy to navigate around the site. Another thing about this site is that it�s very fast. The only thing which I found lacking in was the selection of cards as there were only a limited selection of categories and cards in each category.
ANOTHER E-CARD SITE IS Wacky Postcards (http://www.wackypost.com/) . It�s based in our southern neighbours, Singapore. It has more features and choices than the first site but the best thing about this site is the capability to upload pictures from your PC to the site and put it into the e-card. Wouldn�t it be wonderful to open an e-card and see the picture of your loved ones inside? That would really make anyone�s day.
THE NEXT SITE IS Wicked Moon (http://wickedmoon.co.uk/cards/). This is not your usual e-card site as the cards here are not listed in the usual categories like birthdays, Father�s Day, Mother�s Day etc. The cards here are listed according to the pictures in the cards like dragons, unicorns, friendship, love and more. You can then choose from a list of headings to put in your cards. There�s even a heading with a few phrases of Bahasa Malaysia. You could also choose to add music or a poem or both to your card. A good place to visit if you are looking for more unusual e-cards to send to your friends.
FOR THOSE NATURE LOVERS who would like their friends to be more conscious of the natural world you could look out for cards at http://www.e-cards.com/. It�s a site supported by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Nature Conservancy. Most of the cards here are wildlife and flora inspired cards with facts about them in the card. It�s a great way to send greetings to friends while letting them know more about the endangered species of the world.
For those who would like to send out virtual flowers to your loved ones you could check out Virtual Flowers (http://www.virtualflowers.com/) or Kachina Rose (http://www.kachinarose.com/). Both sites offer beautiful pictures of flowers for selection with the only difference being Kachina Rose�s flowers are painted while those at Virtual Flowers are pictures of real flowers.
BUT FOR CHOICES AND CATEGORIES nothing beats Blue Mountain Arts (http://www1.bluemountain.com), which is the original creator of the virtual cards. It has the widest selection of cards and also lists out many of the world�s festivals and holidays. So even if you are not interested in using their cards, you could go and check out all the coming festivals and holidays at their site.
Happy surfing!
