rec·ip·ro·cal link, noun
When your link is placed on the websites of the links that are placed on your website.

Huh?

A reciprocal link is a fancy way of saying "I'll show everyone yours if you show everyone mine." Links, that is.

Well, I happen to have a gazillion links on my websites. Do I really want to go and click each one of them just to make sure that they're returning the favor? Isn't there a better way??

Yes. Not as time consuming as the option above, but considerably less tedious.

This is how I do it. I'm open to better ways, but I'd hate for my method to die with me when I go.

1. Download LinkAdage

   - 'Tis free. I wouldn't have it ANY other way! This is a Reciprocal Link Checker. Slick, eh?

2. It's pretty easy to use. Basically where it says "Find links to this website" you type YOUR website (without the http://www/.) - so, "example.com" - that makes it a little more thorough as there are people who drop the www for some reason beyond my grasp.

3. Where it says "Check these sites for links" - that's where you type the names of the sites that should have your link on them. Keyword: should.

I know what you're thinking. "I, too, have a bazillion links to check. I'm supposed to type ALL of them in??"

Well, yes and no. If you have one page with tons of links on it, you can use a Link Extractor. Did you even know there WAS such a thing? Yes indeedy. Here's my favorite:

Just type in the page where links are displayed on YOUR webpage and it'll extract them and will look a little sumpin' like this:

http://www.hbwm.com
http://www.hello.com/
http://www.sassaymoms.com/
http://www.wittychicks.com/
http://www.wittymom.com/

..but your page may be muuuuuch longer. If it's short, just do the old cut & paste. If it's long, then paste all of the URLs into a text file, then use he "Automation" function on LinkAdage to import the list. Easy as Kool-Aid. (Pie is not easy.)

Once you have your list locked &loaded, click "Start". The program will run down the list - it may take awhile so go have a glass of milk or something - maybe some pancakes. With peanut butter & maple syrup....I digress.

In the list you'll see who does and doesn't link back. If you're seeing a whole lotta red text, meaning your link wasn't found, I'd recommend checking those sites manually just to be sure before you send a nastygram. Some link programs are run dynamically and...blah blah blah...spare you the techie jargon...this program can't see them.

That's it. Not super easy, but relatively doable if you have your mind set to it. Yeah? Now, GO CHECK THOSE LINKS!!

We all hate SPAM! No, not the canned meat (which isn't all that bad!) but the unsolicited emails. Junk.

I just wanted to pass this on...if you want to help the fight against SPAM, forward it to the Federal Trade Commission:

spam@uce.gov

PLEASE REMEMBER...the definition of SPAM is an UNSOLICITED email. Don't forward emails that you subscribed to, but are sick of. This could cause the sender much inconvenience. If you remember subscribing to it, and you don't want it anymore, then follow the instructions to unsubscribe. It's the responsible thing to do.

BEWARE...often SPAM will be addressed to "Subscriber" and/or will contain instructions on how to unsubscribe. By following these instructions, you're actually just verifying that your address is valid.

So the moral of the story...don't report emails as SPAM if you subscribed to them, and secondly, don't unsubscribe to SPAM if you know you didn't subscribe in the first place.

As mentioned before, I use an email client called Mozilla Thunderbird. It has a great anti-SPAM feature, it's incredibly accurate at filtering SPAM. So, if you use an email client, but want one with more efficiency, give T-Bird a try (www.Mozilla.org). It's free.

If TuDogs lets me down, I'm off to Download.com, TuCows, SourceForge....then Lady Google, here I come! Keyword will always contain the words free or freeware. Yeah, they'll try and trick you by calling it a free download--then charge you after 30 days of use. But you gotta be savvy about the whole enterprise.

My favorite freebies?

Tech Support - protonic.com
What? Really? FREE tech support? You know it! Over 400 volunteer techs (I'm one of them...though haven't logged on in awhile) and they're all sweet as pie, ready to help you out.

AntiVirus - AVG Antivirus
This company believes that the internet should be virus-free, and that should include offering a free anti-virus program to make it so. Makes sense!

Anti-Keylogger - Amic Tools
It's sad that we'd even NEED something like this but, alas, we do. You MySpacers listen up! Get an anti-keylogger ASAP!

Anti-Spyware - Spybot Search & Destroy
I won't get into what spyware, malware, etc. is, but here's an overview. They're bad. Your antivirus won't catch spyware, this will. And it's free. Did I say that already?

Office Software - OpenOffice
Now, I gotta say I haven't had the best of luck with this one, but I've used it briefly and if you MUST have something compatible with MS Office but can't shell out the gazillion dollars that Mr. Gates apparently thinks its worth, go download OpenOffice. All the bells & whistles of MS without the price tag.

Techie Newsletters - Kim Komando
Komando.com - make sure that if you tell someone about this site verbally, you mention it's spelled with a 'K' and one 'M'. Made that mistake once. My poor, poor friend...scarred for life! Kim Komando, aka The Digital Goddess, is just that. She's a fancy, schmanchy computer whiz, she knows her stuff inside & out. She also has her own radio talk show.

The list goes on and on. Oh....I have SO many more faves, but will save them for another post. In the meantime, if you're looking for a good program to do some "x" project - check for freeware!