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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My grandson had a wonderful project this week in Kindergarten that he was so excited about he had to come and tell me about. They actually cooked things (cookies at this stage - he is only 3 after all) and I thought "what a wonderful idea" *smiles*. Ok, that set me to thinking that there must be others who help children learn how to cook good things without much work, and sure enough, the Easy Recipes for Kids site turned up. Have a look. I would still advise that having an adult present isn't a bad idea, but why not teach the younger girls and boys how to cook? Can you learn things like this too young? I seem to remember Tiger Woods saying that his dad used to sit him in a highchair to watch him hitting golf balls at a driving range. Hmm, think he might have been on to a good idea?

Speaking of food (and no, though I talk about it a lot I'm 6'2" (188cm) tall and weigh 180lbs (80 kg). But, I do love good food, especially Italian food, because I grew up with some wonderful Italian moms who cooked absolutely amazing meals and were kind enough to invite me there occasionally as well. I found that Skip's Italian Food Blog is a great blog for people who share recipes, ideas, etc. about Italian recipes and cooking tips. You might enjoy it as well.

When you go to install software on your computer, or register with some online Internet provider or website, almost all have a place where you can read their "contract" or "End User License Agreement" and you are required to click "Agree" to register or use the service. Everyone has seen that at one time or another. Now, hands up all those who actually read them (looks despairingly around the room for a hand, any hand, ... just one even.. sighs and goes on). Folks, if you don't, you leave yourself wide open to things you are saying OK to what you would NOT say OK to in everyday life. For instance, from memory AOL in the US was one of the first Internet Service Providers (ISP) who finally got caught "selling" their client base to spammers. Well, if that's not bad enough, read this site, called Beware of AOL's fine print - 03-16-05. Are they kidding? Not on your life. They are serious. I may not have been a big fan of AOL in the past, but even I hold up my STOP signs at this one. This has to be thought up by some megalomaniac nerd in their company. Folks, my advice (and remember, it is ONLY advice), don't go near AOL as an ISP, and if you use AIM, dump it immediately and go to Yahoo Messenger or MSN Messenger or even ICQ or Trillian, and if you have AIM now, change as soon as possible. Seriously folks, these ones are good (my personal favorite being yahoo messenger) but as always - beware, and read the end user licensing agreement on ANYTHING before clicking "I agree".

If you're a word buff, then you'll love the Cricklers Web Site as it contains games with words, including crosswords and this new game. It's fun and a great way to improve your English. Enjoy.

You'll note that in one of the sites above I stated my height and weight, in both imperial and metric. How did I do that? Am I really that clever? No, but I know where to find the answer and if you need to convert things maybe you should have a look at the IFP Metric Conversion Tables site as well. Yes, there are other sites around that are good, but this one also does a good job of giving you the ability to convert metric to imperial for length, area, weight, mass, volume and temperature. Not a bad site to have bookmarked I'd say. I do. *smile*

Have you ever heard a story about something and then thought "could this really be true or not"? Well, if you have a read of the Gullible.info site, and check back periodically, you might be able to determine for yourself if that story is true or false. Have a look, and then you decide. ;-)

My wife was born in New York City and I know she will enjoy, as you may, the site called New York City Walk. In effect this fellow walks around the entire city, takes photos, and talks to the local people, and then puts what he finds here. Interesting to say the least. Have a look. Maybe you'll discover why this city is still known as "The Big Apple".

If you are an old radio fan (and when my generation grew up, TV was still new and radio was still a mainstay in almost everyone's lives) then, like me, you might miss some of the old radio shows you used to listen to. Well, the RadioLovers.com - Old Time Radio Shows site has heaps of them for you to listen to and enjoy online. Settle back, relax, and let nostalgia run rampant for a while *chuckles*.

One of the sources of info I keep my finger on is The Register Software News and Views for the world as it seriously talks about new things, good things, and bad things in software and in other subjects as well. It's more of a site for techos but hey, no one can see you so have a look. Who knows? You could become a nerd like me too... *shakes head at the absurdity of that thought - who wants to be a nerd?*.

We all know that there are places on this planet that really need help with economic reform. The World Economic Forum is trying to do something about that, and has introduced the World Economic Forum - Global Competitiveness Programme which is well worth a read. It points out what needs to be done, where, by whom, and who is doing a good job as well. Boring for some maybe, but it is, after all, about our international brothers and sisters. Have a read.

If you use Microsoft Word © then you'll be pleased with the WordTips Online - by Allen Wyatt site. It's full of great tips on how to do various things with word, that you may wish to do but just don't know how. Allen is a guru on Word (and on Excel as well I might add) and his site is well worth a bookmark to return to.

One of the phrases I grew up hearing was "That *whatever* isn't worth a wooden nickel". Well, have you ever seen a wooden nickel? In fact, have any ever actually been made? You bet they have, and, they still are being made. Have a look at the Wooden Nickel Historical Museum - Wooden Nickel Network and you'll see all kinds of them. Then try to price one of the older ones. Still think they aren't worth much? *smiles*

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. ;-)