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.

How many different search facilities do you use when looking for something on the net? I'll take a wild guess and say one - maybe, in a pinch, two. And, I'll take yet another wild guess and speculate that those are either Google or Yahoo or Ask Jeeves. Good guesses? Ok, why not have a look at the AllSearchEngines.com - search engine index, search engine directory site and see how many others there are, and, how many different kinds of search facilities there are as well. It's a search project in itself, just to pick the ones you need to use. Remember, no matter how good any one search engine is, not one of them covers the entire net. Go have a look and give some others a try. Happy searching.

As you know if you visit frequently, I love good food. And, living in Australia, it was pleasing to find the Chow Down...Down Under Real home cooked Aussie food site. It is written by a chef who was overseas but had a longing for some of the foods she grew up with. Now that she is back here in Australia she still is keeping the tradition going of providing recipes to "Good Aussie Tucker". Have a look and give it a try. :-)

Everybody seems to have caught the blogging craze, which I personally think is wonderful. It gives us a chance to get to know how people in different places and different professions or beliefs think. We may not like all of it, but at least we can become aware that other thought patterns exist. Note: you'll see my own blog on the upper right side of this page, written mainly for those who don't have the time to plough through all I have so say about a subject, but want a quick, simple way of finding out what I have awarded a Pick of the Week this week. Now, back to the blog for the week. This week's Pick is the bookofjoe blog, written by a self confessed "blogging anesthesiologist". Keep in mind that in reality, if you have surgery of any kind involving an anesthesiologist, that person, not your surgeon, actually controls the operation. If they say 'Close this patient up - they can't take any more', it's done. They (Anesthesiologists) rule the operating theatre, and always have. No, the blog is not technical and yes, it is interesting. Have a look and see what you think.

If you have younger members of your family who use the Internet, you might like to take them to, and bookmark, the Front Page V1.08 - from OneKey.com Kid Safe Search Engine site, which is partnered with Google. I've recently submitted my site to their list because, as you know, my site is completely family friendly (see the Why and How Info page on the right for the criteria I use). This looks like a useful collection of sites (scroll down their page) for younger members of your family to see and use. Nicely done site.

The folk at Microsoft have just acquired the GIANT software company, and will use that technology to help their windows users in future. To begin with they have released the Beta version (in other words, it is still in the testing phase) of their anti-spyware product at no cost to you to download and try. I went to the Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware (Beta) Home site, downloaded it, installed it, and I must say, I'm impressed. It's good, it's unobtrusive, and it does seem to protect my computer against spyware. Now that's something all of us could use. Give it a try. You certainly can't beat the price. ;-)

With the recent tragedy in South East Asia, my thoughts again turned to the subject of Global warming, and the reason is that ultimately, some of those islands will be simply flooded away if the sea rises appreciably. And yes, that is predicted to happen if we don't collectively do something about emissions, the ozone layer, etc. Hop over and have a read of this site to gain an understanding of how fragile our little green orb really is. It could, and ultimately will, affect us all.

With the massive damage caused in the Tsunami areas, the Global Forums Department (which is part of the OECD Knowledge Economy-Governance-Sustainable Development project) has one heck of a big job ahead of it, helping failing economies come to grips with sustainable redevelopment. Have a look at what this group does, and keep up to date with how it works.

If you are relatively new to the net, you may wonder what the little :-) or ;-) signs mean. They are known as smilies, and if you lay your head on your left shoulder and look at them you will see that the first one is simply smiling at you (eyes, nose, mouth) and the second one is winking at you. These are normally use on the net to denote that the writer or sender is smiling, and/or laughing and to not take them too seriously. There is a massive list of these simple keyboard characters that we all use at one time or another, which can be found at the Internet Smilies.... ^_^ site, including some you don't have to lean your head over to see (in their sites name). So, have a look, learn some new ones, and enjoy. ;-)

When thinking of your computer and your security on the net, you really should have a look at the Microsoft TechNet 10 Immutable Laws of Security site and do as it says. If you do you'll be pretty well protected. If you do nothing, it's like leaving your front and back door open while you go away for the weekend. Not a good idea. So have a look and ensure that your computer (and your computer users) are aware of these simple rules.

And to help you to keep up to date with the latest problems that Microsoft know about themselves, hop over and sign up for the Microsoft TechNet Security - Product Security Notification service. It's free, and you just might be able to protect your system before the next big problem arrives.

Online there are literally hundreds and hundreds of sites devoted to the upcoming Bride, but, from what I can see, only one dedicated to the Groom, and that's The Groom Guide - The Essential Guide for the Modern Groom site. You must admit that most grooms don't have a clue as to what to expect, what to do, and how to make it the best day of their lives. It's time someone put the effort here, and these folk seem to have done just that. Well done site.

Most likely you have your own personal favorite cartoon character. You may have even had a go at drawing it yourself. But how many have actually tried to draw the skeletal system of their cartoon favorite? Not many I'll bet. But Michael Paulus Skeletal Systems has, and though it looks a bit strange in places, you must admit that it also probably is pretty close to the truth (if truth in cartoon drawing existed of course). Have a look. You never know - it might be handy if your favorite toon needs hospital attention. (Now where is Wylie E. Coyote?) ;-)

Friends, the terrible natural disaster that happened in the South East Asian part of our little green orb still needs your contributions and support. I know you may have given already in one for or another to help our brothers and sisters who lost so many of their family and so much of their lives, but please consider continuing your donations to the following good relief organizations. Remember, do NOT do it via direct deposit to some bank account (yes, amoral individuals around the globe are even stealing money that is meant to help these poor folk) but do it at these agencies listed below. There is the Direct Relief International organizations site, the Oxfam International United for a more equitable world site which is doing so much good, The Official Save the Children Site which needs so much help to assist the literally thousands of new orphans as a result of this disaster, and UNICEF - UNICEF Home who continue to fight the good fight for people everywhere. Thank you for helping in whatever way you can in the relief and rebuilding of lives wrecked by this terrible tragedy. I am proud to see that Australia has pledged One Billion dollars in aid from our government, backed by all political parties in this country. We've led the way. Let your heart open and your wallet as well to help us help the victims. Thank you.

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. ;-)