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.

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This past weekend my wife and I spent an enjoyable time at a festival here called WinterSun. This festival is composed of Rock and Roll bands and dancers (with music from the 1950's and 60's - remember the TV show Happy Days?) and customized cars and hot rods lovingly restored by many of the same folk. We took along our camera and the pages found at WinterSun Festival, Gold Coast, Qld. Australia 2005 and the three pages off that initial page, will show you what it was like. If you enjoy hotrods and customised cars, have a look. You can even download the entire set of photos on the last page (2005d) on the right of the original page, but please, read the copyright notice first and comply. Enjoy.

Feel in need of a break? Maybe something from Download Free Games - Play Over 200 Game Downloads! might occupy your mind for a while over that coffee break. After all, all work and no play ...

With exotic recipes from all over the world available on the net, one could be forgiven for not thinking of the UK first as a source of recipes to tantalize the taste buds. Yet many of the world's best chefs come from there. So the Recipes4us.co.uk International and British recipe collection should really not come as a surprise. Hop over and you might see something to tempt your taste buds there.

All of us have our own favorite sources of news, and some have different sources for different types of news. One I use is the TechWhack News " Tech Food for Geeks blog. Yes, it is another blog but done in a much nicer journalistic style and full of the kind of news I'm interested in. And no, it doesn't get all that "geeky" but you may well find that it has news of interest about the net that you should know about. Great blog.

Keeping young minds active in the search for answers is one of the goals of the Yahooligans! Science Space site. It looks at various things around us in a scientific mode, and helps the younger members of our society try to understand them. Great site to take your own younger family members to.

You've heard a phrase or have an article that is quoted in another language and you would like to know its meaning in English? Or alternatively, need to translate something into another language so that you can send it to someone who speaks that language? Then the AltaVista - Babel Fish Translation site is something you are going to want to bookmark. It's not only quite accurate, it also can be of help when you least expect it. Maybe someone should have pointed it out to President G. W. Bush when he recently complained that "the French didn't even have a word for 'entrepreneur'" .

Need to know how to clean plastic flowers, or remove decals from glass, or clean scale deposits from the inside bottom of a vase? Then run, don't walk, to the Between Friends Hints for the Home site where you will find not only the answer to those but many other common household problems. The site was originally written for moms but dads can look too, so go on and have a look. You might learn something.

If you or your children need pictures of wildlife, then have a look at the WildlifeLands Image Archive site. This is a fantastic archive of animal photos in their native habitats for you to use for personal use. Oh, and as an aside, if you like seeing hotrods and customized cars, come back next week when I'll have almost two hundred photos of the WinterSun festival held here on the Gold Coast of Australia this past weekend for you to use for personal use as well. Enjoy.

Just because we are on the internet is no excuse for not using manners, and yes the Net community has its own set of rules or manners to use. These are called, appropriately enough, Netiquette, or Internet Etiquette. Some of these, if not used correctly, can get you in trouble almost anywhere, like leaving your caps lock key on while you type (the Internet equivalent of SHOUTING AT WHO EVER YOU'RE SPEAKING TO *shakes head*). Not a good thing. To learn about these and other rules you should be using it might pay to hop over to the Netiquette - Using the Internet - Netiquette and browse through these to ensure you don't offend those you speak online with. Enjoy.

I was recently speaking with a friend involved in the library service industry. Naturally she is interested in people and their ability to have access to the written word. This, of course, brings up the question of whether people will tend to shy away from the traditional libraries around the world and stop reading written text, books, novels, etc. There is an interesting article titled Main Articles 'Finding Someplace to Go Reading and the Internet', Ariadne Issue 43, which, if you are interested in this subject, might be of use for you to read. I found it well balanced, and well researched. I hope you do as well.

Some folk love gardening, others, like me, don't (it's a long story from childhood - don't ask *chuckles*). My wife, however, is one of those blessed with the proverbial "green thumb" and she alone has transformed the clay and rock surrounding our home to a garden of immense pleasure. She, and other gardeners, will enjoy the GARDENING FOR PLEASURE site (pauses and reflects on whether this WebPerson has ever done a Netiquette course like the one above - lots of shouting going on here - moves on) which contains all kinds of useful information for the home gardener. If you enjoy your garden, this might be just what you're looking for. Barbara, Jackie - and you of course, enjoy.

You need a new appliance in your home. You wish there were someone you could ask or query about this particular brand. Who can you turn to who will give you an unbiased assessment? You might try the Consumer Reports Ratings and recommendations available at ConsumerReports.org site, and if you are in another part of the world, the consumer organization in your country. These folk usually are self supporting, not tied to any manufacturer of any product, have no ax to grind, and will give you monthly reports of tests on various things, plus advice to help you with that purchase. They normally rely on membership and I suggest it's a great way to keep things honest. Have a look and consider joining them as well.

There are times I'm so much of a net geek I scare even me. I have, for instance, a pen and paper near the TV so that when a site appears and I think "I've got to have a look at that one" I can write down the URL. Well, the Crying, while eating site fell into that category and yes, though very strange, it does warrant a look. Remember the Warhol phrase that everyone has or wants their 15 minutes of glory? This proves it I guess *shrugs*. 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. ;-)