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.

The 7th of March was the one year anniversary of my heart attack and quadruple bypass operation. If I can make it, you can too. *smile*. Enjoy your life. I'm going to now live life every day as if it were my last. Who knows? *smile*

I've just returned from a trip to New Zealand and am ready to tackle life on the net again *smile*. If you are considering travelling around the globe for a while, and are a bit short on cash, you might like to have a look at the CouchSurfing - The world is smaller than you think! site. It's composed of people, like you, who may have a backyard free for you to pitch your tent in, or even a spare couch to crash on for a few days on your journey. Thus, the name "CouchSurfing". Have a look. It might be just what you need to make that trip a reality.

Australia is noted for having a few animals that can be pretty vicious, (crocs and alligators come to mind) but it is also the home of the Australian Stingless Native Bees. Now if having your own honey is a priority in your life, you might like to have a look at these. You must admit, not being afraid of a sting is worth looking into :-).

Speaking of bees, here is one of a different sort. The CyberBee site has, as its purpose, teaching how to do research on the net. If you are doing some it will help, and if you have members of the family who are still in school, they will be helped as well as they are the primary audience. But, just because you're a bit older, don't shy away. The tricks learned here are non-generational. *smile*

If you're a frequent visitor, or have visited my "Diabetic Recipes" site, you'll know that I am an insulin dependant diabetic as well. A good BLOG that says a lot of what most of us feel, is the Living with Diabetes blog. It's written by another sufferer of this crazy disease and shows that you aren't alone.

Note: As a personal note on my Diabetes, MS Diet Pages, or Heart links sites, please understand that I am NOT a medical professional and cannot answer all your questions about any of these diseases. That is the job of your medical professional. If you don't trust yours, change doctors - it's as simple as that. I provide links to other sites that can help. In the case of the MS Diet site I also publish recipes that others have sent me. I have NO control over what is in them, but publish them as a community service ONLY. Having said that, please use them to their full potential and share with me any additional sites or recipes you think I should add to make the plight of others afflicted with these conditions easier to handle. *smile*

Though I don't personally enjoy food that is too hot, I know that many do. Therefore if hot food is your thing, you may well enjoy a look at the International Chili Society site. It's full of all kinds of info and recipes for the use of these small fire starters *smile*. Enjoy while I go and grab the hose.

Many know that I run an Internet Consultancy and Training business. However there are times when you could use some help just understanding what the terms mean. The Computertim Technologies site provides free computer training, tips, and support and that has to be a good thing. Now don't expect to call them and have them appear at your door, but the help they provide is good sound computer assistance. And remember, it's free !!

We all use idioms in our speech, you know, those little sayings that creep into everyone's vocabulary. But, you might be surprised to see the origin and real meaning behind them. To that end, the Idiomsite.com - Idioms and Sayings site shows you why you say what you say and what it means. Enjoy.

Every once in a while we hear of product recalls of one sort or another. The US Government maintains a site of them that affect their country (and possibly yours as well) that you might find useful to browse through occasionally. It's called Recalls.gov and is composed of US Government recall lists. Have a look, then start taking inventory on what you have that might be in these lists.

Have you ever been asked to make a speech? Though it doesn't bother old trainers like me to do that, it does bother many. To help, in case you get asked to do it again, hop over to the Speech - Article So You're Going to Make a Speech site and have a read. Some pretty sound advice to be had here, and a tip from the Old Trainer? The old " never look anyone in the eye, and picture all your audience in their swim suits" adage works. *smile*

"Psssst. Did you know they are bugging your phone lines now in the fight against terrorism? And, did you know they have made a gun that resembles a cell or mobile phone?" Now don't panic, but when was the last time you were told a rumour that may or may not be true? Then next time you are told one, hop over to the Truth Or Fiction site and see if it's true or not. You can even get an email notification sent to you with the latest ones. So, don't panic. Look it up here. Oh, and the two I mentioned above? The first one is partially true, and the second one IS true. *shakes head* you gotta wonder huh?

Ever thought of selling your home and therefore wondered what it was worth on the market? One site that may be able to help is the whatpricemyhouse.com Free Comparable Home Reports site. They base their research on homes that have sold in your neighbourhood in the past few years so it should be reasonably close. Have a look, but remember, you'll most likely spend what you obtain in the sale of your home on a new one.

There are, apparently, all kinds of strange phenomena around us all. It's been going on for centuries too. Remember the frogs falling from the sky in the Biblical Old Testament? There is a magazine, which has a website called strangemag.com - Investigating Strange Phenomena that investigates many of these strange happenings. Enjoy.

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. ;-)