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.

One of the things I enjoy is innovative sites. There is a blog with a subject that I feel most will find interesting called Optical Illusions Etc... and if you click on that you'll see all kinds of really innovative things that this webmaster/blogger has found. There are strange things, jokes, and amusements of all kinds for you to see. I particularly like the "illusion of peace" photo. This is a really good blog with loads of fun stuff to amuse most of us.

Recently I've had a few sites dealing with the security of your connection to the internet and there are more to follow, so do come back. This week I've awarded the Shields UP! Internet Vulnerability Profiling site an award because of their excellent way of determining how safe you really are, or aren't. Click on the site name, and after the shock of seeing your IP address from simply visiting their site, you will get an idea what this site is all about. Click "proceed" and click on any of the buttons on the next page (File Sharing, Common Ports, All Service ports, etc) and see how secure you really are. This is where the real testing takes place. And for those long time visitors to my little site, yes, this was also mentioned in my April 2004 list of things to do but it's worth mentioning again. Try it out for yourself, and stay safe on the net.

If you've ever wandered around the links on the right side of this site, you're aware that I'm an insulin dependent diabetic, and that I've also had a quadruple bypass heart operation, and that my family lost our youngest daughter to MS about 3 years ago, at the age of 31. The reason for going into all of this is that there are wonderful informative and useful sites on the net to gain information about almost any medical condition you, or a member of your family, have been diagnosed with. One such site is the AllRefer Health site which is a fantastic reference point for almost every condition known. For instance I have recently been confirmed as having a condition known as diabetic neuropathy (and am now enrolled to start therapy in a pain management clinic in Brisbane in May of this year). I went to this site, looked it up, and now understand more about this condition than I did before, despite what doctors etc have told me. So, if you're looking for good information about your health, stop here and bookmark this one for future reference.

We have a wonderful, clever 3 year old grandson as many of you know. He is in preschool and learning all the time about all kinds of things. One thing he does enjoy is coloring in things, and thus, the ColoringSite.com - Online Coloring Books site is one he's going to enjoy. I've bookmarked it for him to see, and as he grows older, to use. Do I want him to be computer literate and internet smart? You bet your little furry booties I do. PomPom (his name for me) is like that. (8-))

If you are a frequent visitor you will know that I enjoy good food. Contrary to popular belief, no, I'm only 81.6 kg (180 lbs), and have been for over 40 years (My wife says "How does he do that?"). Anyway, one type of food that I'm not particularly keen on, but so many folk around the world are, is to be found on the site appropriately named Spicy cooking around the world. Yes, I know I'm in the minority here but if you love spicy food of almost any kind, have a look here and you will start getting hungry immediately. Enjoy.

Having mentioned my grandson, one of the things that is a problem for some parents is Traveling With Children. If you find yourself in that situation, then have a look here. The site is from flylady.net (curious title but good resource) and it does have some good advice and things that have worked for this particular mom. Enjoy.

Often we think of large corporations such as ©Microsoft as being non-caring entities. Well, that's not entirely true as you'll find when you visit the Microsoft Help and Support site. Here you will find online help for Internet Explorer, MS Office, Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows 2000, Windows 98, Windows Media Player, Windows ME, Windows XP, and even more. And, it's free to use. Now that has to be good. I've bookmarked this one for future use as well and I teach this stuff *chuckles*.

One of the hardest things for teachers to do in some parts of the world is to consult with and talk with others in the teaching profession, especially if they are reasonably isolated. Sometimes that situation also applies to those in large communities as well. The Welcome to Teaching.com site is a resource for teachers wanting to increase their ability to teach effectively by talking with others in the profession. My way of thinking is that in groups such as these, you end up giving info to others and helping them, but you also learn so much yourself just from interacting with others in your chosen field. So, if you are a teacher, or know one, have a look and pass this one on to your friends. Let's help all teachers to teach more effectively. Our society in general will benefit from it.

Hands up if you have a scanner attached to your computer ... *waits*. Ok, that may be a little hokey on the net but keep in mind that not everyone has one. If you do happen to own one and have it attached, do you use it much? Indeed, are you really aware of all the things you should know about your scanner, like how to make it work more efficiently, how to scan photos to their best resolutions, how to scan documents effectively so that OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software can actually be used on them effectively? If, like me, you don't really know all the answers, hop over to the The First Fundamental Concept about Printers and Video Screens - Scanning Tips site and have a read. I'll bet that you learn something you didn't know, and keep in mind, if you backtrack a bit on this site you'll also find out more about your printer and your monitor as well. This is a great resource.

How much spam are you getting daily? Has it increased recently? Even though I have (and regularly use) Mailwasher Anti Spam Software The Reliable Spam Blocker free edition (and if you don't have it, download it, install it and configure it to your email account - yesterday *smiles*) I have recently noticed an increase in spam as well. However, I also read about a fantastic site called Spammatters AntiSpam Litigation Support and wanted to share this with you. This is not primarily a site for you and I, but rather a site to assist any legal firm around the world that wants to fight spammers and take then head on in court. My reaction? Read the press release on the right. Then, go get 'em. Join the fight to get rid of junk mail on the net. It slows down the net because it clogs the internet pathways, it often is nothing more than a scam, it should NEVER be clicked on and followed, and you can't, unlike the junk in your letter box, even be used to line the bottom of the birdcage. Have a read and then go do what it says. And, pass this on to your lawyer as well. I'm sure he or she would love to know about it. Oh, and by the way, if my site goes down in the near future from a DOS (Denial Of Service) attack, guess who will be behind it! Let's say spammers don't like criticism. Tough.

If you're stuck with a technical question about your computer, there is a lovely little source for you to try and find an answer on called Intellitech, Custom Power PC's, Have A technical Question CSNNOW Computer Source Network Now!. It's not only an answer finding site but apparently also builds computers for folk on order. Ok, it's commercial, but their freely available question answering capability makes them worthy of an award. Have a look and enjoy.

Ok - This week's "strange" site isn't really strange. It's different, I have to give it that, but, well, you be the judge. It's called the box doodle project and when you go there you will see different doodles people have put on all kinds of things, usually on boxes. Now here is where it gets not only different, but a little strange. You can also pick a box type, be taken to another screen where you are supplied with all kinds of colors and drawing instruments, and allowed to pick said instrument, dip it into the color of choice, draw on the box, save it, then send it in to them to be displayed. Graffiti lovers are going to love this. Doodle to your heart's content, and then let the rest of the world see your ability (or lack of it). ;-) 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. ;-)