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.

Most folk like to be kept aware of new search facilities on the net. The BrainBoost - Question Answering Search Engine looks like it could be a winner. It's not entirely unlike Ask Jeeves but it does offer different perspectives on things. Hop over and have a look.

Every kid needs some time to play. We often forget that an integral part of growing up is playing, and thus making our minds work in different ways. One site that helps to take a look at this essential part of growing up is the Coloring.com site. It has free online interactive colouring pages and colouring books as well. Now that has to be fun on a cold wet day. Enjoy.

I know that I can, or rather my editor can be, a stickler for grammar, but the Don't Be A Shamed blog site had me really going for a while. That is until I found out that it is known as "Methadone For Media Junkies". It is a blog written by news people from around the globe and gives a different perspective to the news media industry, and also tells some stories that your local news network may never run. Interesting place to spend a Saturday morning over coffee.

We all know there are various "unsolved crimes" that still baffle police efforts to track down the culprits. But did you know that folk simply disappear, never to be heard from again? The oenetwork.org site has missing persons files on many who simply disappeared without trace. Might you know something that might help? Have a look You just never know.

Many folk need to talk to someone. I do that a lot online, but there are also online communities of friends that are interesting to look at. The Friendster site allows you to make your own community of friends online, and meet others of like mind and invite them to join your online community as well. One of the benefits of the net is that no one can totally censor it, and thus, unless a country decides to rip out every phone line under its jurisdiction, we can talk to anyone who wishes to talk with us. Isn't the world shrinking though? I think that is for our mutual benefit. Have a look and form your own opinion on the matter.

Many folk are allergic to one type of food or another. I know for a fact that I am, and that other members of my family are as well. If you are allergic to something, hop over to the Free recipes for people with a food allergy or food allergies site and stock up on recipes that taste wonderful and to which you may not react. Now that has to be a good idea.

Have you eve been in that situation where you see someone embarking on a project and think to yourself "I could help there. I know what to do.". If that is the case then hop over to the HTBY (How To: By You site and see if you can give a helping hand to someone. You never know. Your knowledge may be just what someone needs.

If you are an amateur photographer you might benefit from the hints about retouching your photos found at Greg's Digital Portfolio site. It is full of help on all the things you need to know about retouching those photos you hold so dear. Enjoy.

Many companies go along happily thinking they are doing just fine. Unfortunately most don't know or realise the terrible problems their clients have when trying to contact them. How long is the longest you've waited on the phone to speak to a human at a company for instance? The Good Experience This Is Broken site is a new project to make business aware of customer experience, and thereby take measures to correct the problem. Too many companies are built totally on accounting principles and tend to leave out the personal or human touch. Remember, accounts cannot predict the future. At best, they are historians. So have a look here and see if your company could use the information these folk have found.

If you are studying law, or practice law, or indeed simply are a fan of law cases, you will enjoy the Famous Trials - UMKC School of Law - Prof. Douglas Linder site. Professor Linder certainly has gone to a lot of work to present these famous trials for all to read and discuss. In many cases there is no right and wrong. There is only adherence to the law. Makes you wonder why your laws are written as they are doesn't it?

A friend recently told me to go have a look at the work of a sidewalk artist who works in chalk. I thought "'Yeah, right, another piece of art little better than graffiti" Boy, was I ever wrong. Hop over to Julian Beever's pavement drawings and have a look. I think this artist is one of the best I've ever seen in his medium. See what you think.

And last but not least this week hop over to the GPS Drawing site, click on the 6 spirals and then scroll down. The things you will see are patterns drawn by folk wearing a GPS or Global Positioning System tracking device while travelling around various places in their area. Another art form? Well, maybe, but limited to those who have and use a satellite for navigation. Have a look and see what you think.

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. ;-)