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 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.

Special Note: I have added a new page on the right side of this page called Mac's Internet Security. The reason for adding this page is that I still run across folk who simply are not aware what danger they put their computer systems in when they do not pay particular attention to security issues when connected to the Internet. Please, take the time to read this page, pass it on to friends and family, and ensure that you are well protected. And thank you again for visiting my site.

You'll no doubt know that there are not only a lot of search engines on the net, but also some specialized ones as well. For instance, if you hop over to Jayde.com you'll see that it is a search engine that calls itself "The Business to Business Search Engine". It is designed so that businesses can find other businesses that can be of help to their own business. Not a bad idea actually. have a look.

Blogs are so interesting. Yes, you do have to wonder why some are written at all, but you could say the same about net sites in general. Some really do wonderfully well at helping others as well as expressing their own opinions on various topics. For instance, have a look at the Cognitive Daily blog. It states that it publishes "A new cognitive psychology article nearly every day" . That has to be a wonderful service to those who have an interest in psychology as well as, in some ways, the general public. Nice site with some interesting articles.

Our grandson and us play a game whenever we go out for a ride in the car. He is a great fan of Shrek, especially the last one, and he has great joy in asking, from his seat in the back of the car, "Are we there yet?" to which we reply "Not yet donkey". If you are tired of that age old question emanating from your younger travel members, you might like to have a browse around the Car Games for Kids and Adults, Big Things Australia site before setting off on your next adventure. It could help. *smile*

I recently spoke with a group of folk I had never met, and some had already become weekly visitors to my site (which is always pleasing to hear). However think I need to put people's fears to rest on one issue. Because I put up a different site each week dealing with food, such as Recipes.com, which shows you new and interesting recipes, cooking, cookbooks, and more, I honestly don't weigh 300 kg. I simply like, and know you like, good, interesting, well prepared, tasty food. So do have a look each week for new recipe sites here, enjoy your food, watch your weight, and if you feel you enjoy visiting my site each week, pass it on to your friends, colleagues, and family to see as well.

Each government in every country publishes various documents, not only for its own internal workings, but also for the citizens of that country to have access to. The Canadian government publish the Canada Gazette online for us all to see. This is indeed the official site of the publications of the Canadian government and well worth a browse around. Have a look. If your government hasn't yet joined the digital age like this in some way, maybe it's time they did.

Internationally women have, historically, had a much harder time on the road to ensuring their voice is heard in government and the decision making process than men have had. The MS. Foundation - Change the Way the World Works site goes a long way toward changing perceptions and thus changing that reality in future. Have a look. This earth has a partnership between men and women and I feel it is way beyond time that that partnership is enhanced by more involvement of more women in the political arena. Don't you?

I have various friends around the globe who I communicate with via the net. Some folk simply communicate with colleagues at various world locations. Keeping track of the time in far flung areas can be a problem for some. Thus, the WorldTime6 Beta - The Ultimate Virtual Timepiece and World Clock site and software may solve that problem. I know it has for me. I now have various times in various places showing on my desktop. If you need a facility to keep track of the time where your contacts and family are, I suggest you have a look at this software.

It amazes me that some on the planet still think in terms of isolation. Some still haven't caught on to the idea, or prejudicially reject the idea, that we all are related in one way or another if you go back far enough in the history of this planet's population. There are some who are getting closer to figuring out scientifically that what I just said is true and one such group can be seen at The Genographic Project - Human Migration, Population Genetics, Maps, DNA site. Note - that is Genographic, not Geographic. Maybe, if we all honestly believed and knew that we were related, wars and destruction wouldn't happen so readily between various factions of humanity. I think so, and I'm certainly going to ensure that my grandson does as well. The future of our planet depends on it. "This earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens". (Baha'u'llah)

If someone mentions "The White House Tapes" one naturally immediately thinks of the former US President Richard Nixon, mainly because he got caught trying to mislead the public and almost got impeached for it. However, did you know that even such US Presidents as Kennedy, Johnson, Roosevelt, Truman, and even Eisenhower did as well? They did, and if you hop over to the WhiteHouse Tapes.org site, you can listen to the over 5,000 hours worth held there. *shakes head* Looks like I could be busy for a while *chuckles*.

Did you hear last week that automobile manufacturing giants such as Ford and General Motors had their stock recommendations pulled down a notch by some financial advisers? I wonder what that is going to do to their future development. Just out of curiosity, those with a V8 version of their favorite car, raise your hand (notices his son in law and many others raise theirs). Well, that may make the www.v8owners.com.au site more interesting, because if you do own one of these vehicles, or wish you did, this site may reinstall that lost confidence in the stock, or at least in the vehicles. Have a look. Virtually all V8 owners are going to love this site.

Do you enjoy watching waves breaking on a beach? The study of Fluid Mechanics, the way flows of things happen, from water to smoke to traffic flows, can be a beautiful thing to watch. Thus, the Gallery of Fluid Mechanics - from Cambridge University Press site is replete with photos of all kinds of fluid mechanics, including shock waves and wind tunnel images from various sources. Have a look.

Did you know that all tall, bald, 63 year old males are considered to be the handsomest men on the planet? You didn't? Then you definitely need a trip to the Gullible. info site to brush up on your own gullibility. If you don't, you could be caught up in traffic and lose that parking space, or, your goldfish could start to rust. See? It's happening already. *chuckles*

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. ;-)