Mac's Picks is a collection of family friendly interesting and useful sites, updated weekly. These sites may be search engines, medical resources, household hints, educational resources, recipe sites, sites I call "head scratchers", and/or new sites dealing with all kinds of things of use to the general internet community. To find the criteria I use, simply click on the "Why and How Info" link on the right side of this page.

This page is updated on a weekly basis, each Tuesday evening Australian (Queensland) time (GMT + 9 hours according to the world clock). Please come back and visit us often.

Important Note: If you are returning to my page, welcome back! Please click your "Refresh" or "Reload" button on the top of your Internet browser to ensure you are seeing the current week's page of my "Picks of the Week". Also, I would love for you to make my site your home page. Simply click on Tools - Options in Explorer, or Edit - Preferences in Netscape, and click Use Current and it's done.

Tired of that "Ding!" sound your computer makes when you close a program or empty your recycle bin? Then hop over to the Fun wavs.com - Movie Quotes, Movie Sounds, Movie Wavs, Wav Files site, pick the sound you would like to hear in its place, download it, and choose that one as your replacement. After all, it is your computer isn't it? Why not have fun with it as well, and really make it your own?

You've no doubt seen various acronyms used on the net, such as AAR (Adobe Acrobat Reader) or JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) and wondered what it meant? Well, there are literally thousands of them, both on the net and in real life, and the AcronymGenie 4.0 › Download program, once downloaded and installed on your system, will explain what each one is. This little freeware program is well worth the time taken to download and install. Enjoy.

You've seen optical illusions, those things that when looked at, make your head see things that either aren't there, or make you dizzy by watching them. Well, the net is no different and it has a site, called Akiyoshi's illusion pages which has some pretty strange optical illusions of its own. Just be sure to read the warning at the top of the page. I don't want anyone out there to get affected negatively, but if you can handle it, this is worth having a look at.

Many of us work a busy schedule and may end up eating on the run so to speak. We may not take the time needed to really plan out or schedule of food consumption and therefore tend to rely on fast food to keep us going. The Meals For You - Thousands Of Delicious Recipes And Meals has literally thousands of delicious recipes and meals that you can find, and many of them are quick to prepare and nutritious as well as filling. Have a look. It could help to improve your life and lifestyle.

If you are a frequent visitor you'll know that I tend to point you in the direction of blogs that are informative, interesting, or simply fun to read. This week I came across the Redhead Blogs.. We Blog With Attitude! A Webring for Redheads.. Flaming Tresses & Red Hot Tempers! blog, and though I admit it may not be to everyone's taste, it certainly was an interesting read and one to be complimented on its forthrightness. Well done blog, and yet another example of the use of blogs on the net.

Thinking of buying some computer equipment online? Or almost anything for that matter can be bought online as you know. In many cases, when you are at the virtual checkout counter, there is a place to enter your coupon code number. Remember seeing that? And also remember wondering what it was, and how you could get a coupon that gave you x percent off of your purchase price? Well, now you can and it is perfectly legal. Hop over to the Coupon-Codes.Net - Coupons, Values, Merchandise, and Rebates Online ! site and have a browse around. You just might find one that could save you heaps of money and who doesn't want to do that? Enjoy.

Do you get the occasional pop up ad on your system? Sometimes, even when you're not online? That is most likely because you have a program which is installed with your version of Windows called Messenger Service. The program, as part of some Windows version, has a security hole that allows outside spammers to attack your system when ever they want. It was originally used to allow instant messaging capability on networks, which is good, but the security hole allows spammers to capture and leave messages (advertising) on your system and run at predetermined times. So, the answer to get rid of this problem? A lovely little freeware program called Shoot The Messenger. It works by disabling your messenger (doesn't affect any instant messaging service you use online). So hop over, download it to your desktop, run it, then put it away and you're clear of that bug.

Are you one of those who is fortunate enough to walk around with your own iPod in your pocket? If so, you will absolutely love the iPodlounge All Things iPod site. It has, as it says, all kinds of things for your iPOD, but I'll bet you knew that. Enjoy.

Have you ever tried karaoke? You know, the system that plays the background and shows you the lyrics to a song so that you can sing/perform that song yourself? Well, that is exactly what the Mama Rocks site does, and does well I might add. It is karaoke with all the words, for old rockers like me. So hop over, grab the mike, and sing away to your heart's content.

Have you ever been working on a document of some kind and wished you owned a copy of the full Adobe Acrobat program so you could make your own PDF files? Well, now you don't have to pay to own that. Instead, simply download the CutePDF - Create PDF for free, Save PDF Forms, Edit PDF easily file. Run it, and when you wish to save a document to pdf format, just click on print and select that PDF file format, and it's saved in that format. You'lll also need GNU Ghostscript to run it properly but you can also download that program for free as well. Great way to learn about pdf files.

Looking for some good clean family oriented sites to have some family fun with? Then have a look at the Eakle's family entertainment site offering clean fun for all ages. Pretty much says it all in the title don't you think? Enjjoy.

There are some weird pages out here on the Internet, but there are equally as many good and interesting ones as well. The Weird Science (Bill Beaty's Homepages) site shows different and innovative ways to learn about scientific principles, but manages to make it exciting as well. Give it a try. I think you'll find it interesting, enjoyable, and fun to work through the various problems presented there. Nice site.

Rebecca Game of "Digital Women - Women with their modems running...", is a graphic designer who is superb to say the least. Rebecca designed this "new look" web site specifically for me, and I can't praise her work enough. Her site, dedicated to women on the net, is worth seeing and bookmarking for future reference. If you are looking for links of interest to women, please visit her site. And if you need the best graphic designer on the planet, I seriously can't recommend her more highly. Oh yes, and when you visit her site, tell her Mac sent you. Thank you Rebecca. I am eternally grateful for your assistance and expertise. ;-)