Have you ever received a printed card a day before Christmas or Hanukkah, too late to respond? I have. Electronic greetings to the rescue.

I’ve just been trying out Ashampoo’s new PhotoCard 3, $22 for Windows. To start, choose a design, then click an empty space to upload your photos, or snap a picture from a webcam connected to your computer. Next click “create” to share it on Facebook, by email or by printing it out.

For more elaborate, multi-page cards, I like Punchbowl e-greetings for $45 a year. They allow you to add a short video recorded live as well as a gift card from many stores. Jacquie Lawson cards are also gorgeous and less expensive than Punchbowl. Their one-month membership is $6, just right for the holidays, or you can get a year’s membership for $30.

Shopping Discounts

“On a website, I read that Capitol One Shopping is better than Amazon,” wrote a reader. “Sounds scammy. Is it legitimate? ”

It’s legit all right. Recently, I got $10 off a purchase, though sometimes I receive credits instead of dollars off. Once I used my credits to buy a dress from Nordstrom’s Rack.

After installing the free browser extension or Capitol One app, you’ll see pop-up offers from Capitol One just as you’re about to buy something elsewhere. When I’m on Amazon, I usually ignore the pop-ups. It’s not just Amazon’s free shipping that earns my loyalty. I get five percent back in points toward more purchases by using an Amazon credit card from Chase. But I still like to see the offers that Capitol One shows me. I know at least one person who swears by them.

Buying a Car on Amazon

I was the first in a large apartment building to buy a refrigerator on Amazon, according to my manager. Will I be the first to buy a car from them?

The prices alone may lure me. According to ZDnet, Amazon Autos are $1000 to $2000 below the manufacturer’s suggested retail price and you get all of Amazon’s convenience. For now they only sell Hyundai, however, with more manufacturers and models coming next year.

Unfortunately, I’m not in one of the cities where Amazon Autos are available, though the list includes Boston, Dallas and 46 more. At the site, a message told me that and showed a map. The trick is to use incognito mode. Here’s how. In a browser such as Chrome, Safari or Edge, hold down “Ctrl,” and “Shift” and tap the “N” key. On the Mac, it’s “Cmd,” “Shift” and “N.” Then search for Amazon Autos. When Google pops up to ask if you want to use your precise location, say no.

Once in, I looked at new cars within 75 miles.  Among dozens of others, I could have bought a 2025 Hyundai Elantra SE for around $25,000 including taxes and dealer fees. The site offers a complete price breakdown. For financing info, choose your credit rating and down payment. Also check your eligibility for rebates.

The Best Racing Cockpit

Do a search on “Best Sim Racing Cockpit” to discover the latest ways to race from a chair.

The basic setup starts at $300 on Amazon and goes up to $75,000 for the CXC Motion Pro II. The CXC comes with a large monitor, a racing seat with motion control force feedback, immersive audio, direct-drive steering wheel and a pedal box. You provide the gaming PC or console.

If $75,000 is no problem, you may also want to add flight simulator controls and an ultrawide display or virtual reality headset. Perhaps you can get your money back by turning your house into a video game arcade. A ZDnet reporter says the CXC is the most immersive cockpit he’s ever tried.

Teen Earns $30,000 in a Day

At the website Pump.Fun, Adam Biesk, a California kid in his early teens, made a nearly-instant $50,000.

First he bought $350 worth of the cryptocurrency he’d just created, in the form of 51 million tokens. This was just five percent of the total he’d put on the market. Twelve minutes later, he sold them for $30,000.  Afterwards, he created two more coins, bringing his profits up to $50,000.

If he’d held on to his first coin holding, he would have been worth $3 million. But it’s probably a good thing he didn’t. The customers called all day and night at his parents house, yelling “Scam!”  It’s a legal gray area. Pump.fun now says they don’t allow people to pull the rug out from their customers in this manner. Whatever. In 2026, a new law goes into effect, requiring you to be 18 or more with a license to trade. For more info, look up “Teen creates memecoin, dumps it, earns $50,000.”

Printing Cartilage for your Joints

Anyone with severe osteoarthritis will tell you that their joints hurt too much to play basketball. That could change with a new 3D printing system that prints cartilage.

The new “HITS-Bio” bio-printer from researchers at Penn State, uses a digitally controlled nozzle array to print cell-dense spheroids at ten times the speed of older methods, thus avoiding damage to cells. The system printed a cubic centimeter of cartilage in less than 40 minutes.  Read all about it by looking up “bio-printer” at ZME Science.

Filed under: Amazon, apps, crytpocurrency, games, science