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 Monday 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.

Most folk use a favorite search engine and never think to try their search in another one as well. I give talks to interest groups about that very subject, not only the fact that using other search capabilities increases your chance of finding what you want, but also how to use those search capabilities. Thus, when I found the Beaucoup! 2,000+ Search Engines, Indices and Directories site and checked it out, I had to show it to you. One thing I specifically like about this site is listed in its FAQ or Frequently Asked Questions, in response to the question "why is there no adult category on your site?" The answer simply is that "Beaucoup is used and linked to by thousands of people all over the world -- including schools, children, families. That is probably enough to answer that question." Most folk who know me and my site will find that type of thinking familiar *smile*. Enjoy and bookmark this one for future use.

One of the things I find most people have a problem with is finding a blog that interests them. The folk at Google must have felt the same way, and therefore the Google Blog Search site came into being. How do you use it? Like most search engines, don't just throw in a term and hope for the best. Go to Blog Search Home. Advanced Blog Search (look on the right side of the main question box) · Preferences, fill in the info they ask for and it will help you find blogs on your favorite topics. Now that has to be a good thing.

If you, like me, have the younger generation around you, there are times of the year (like birthdays for instance) when you would like to give them something that is not only fun (well, you think it is anyway) but that they might actually use for longer than the afternoon. The FamilyFun - top 10 toys as voted for by kids in 2005 site is a great one, where they test toys on children and then watched to see which ones they continued to go back to and play with. Now you will know what just the right thing is for your younger family members next occasion. I know I'm bookmarking this one for my grandsons.

Like many, I'm a sport lover. I don't mean I get into is as much as a friend of mine does but I love watching various sports, and have, in the past, played Baseball, Gridiron Football, and Golf. I stumbled across a site the other day that really took my interest because it isn't just another sport site (there are hundreds online) but rather it deals with the science involved in a lot of games. It's called the Exploratorium Sport Science site and I think if you have a look you might enjoy it as much as I did. For instance, did you know that "surfing the net" can help you to "surf the waves" more proficiently? And if your interests lie in the sport of American Baseball, what is the science behind what makes a curve ball curve? Go here and find out the answers to those and many other sport related questions. Enjoy.

If you use Microsoft Excel as your spreadsheet you'll know that it is one giant of a program. It does so many things that most of us will never even scratch the surface of its capabilities. Everyone from banks to folks keeping track of their finances use it, in business and at home. However, there are ways of using it that can make the experience much less tedious, and indeed, can unlock many of the tricks that it can dish up for you. Usually people like you and I would never get to learn these tricks, but a fellow who calls himself Mister Excel, and has written a large wonderful book about Excel, and he not only has a website called Ask Mr. Excel - Tips and Solutions for Excel, but if you can't afford his book, he even provides it a chapter per week online, emailed to you in a zip file, for FREE. *nods* That's right. He sells his wonderful book in major bookstores worldwide, but you can get it for free if you have the patience to wait for a new chapter each week. Now you can't beat that for a price can you? And trust me; this man knows more about Excel than most of us will ever even wish to know. Have a look.

If you need a sound for that presentation you're making, or indeed, would like to institute different sounds and attach to various opening and closing dialogs in Windows, finding the right sound for you may have posed problems in the past. That shouldn't be a problem any more, at least not if you try the FindSounds - Search the Web for Sounds free website. Try to name as closely as possible what that sound might be called and you'll soon have your computer talking to you (or at least making you chuckle).

Unfortunately in today's society all of us are aware of international crime and corruption. There is now a website called home - Transparency International which states that its main purpose is "monitoring corruption on an international scale". That should be of interest to us all. Have a look and you'll see what I mean.

One thing Australia is known for is seafood. After all, Australians long ago coined the phrase "throw another prawn on the barbie". Well, not only prawns but all manner of fish and how to make them deliciously delectable are found on the Seafood Recipe Australian Seafood Recipes site. Time to fire up that barbecue again?

If you have never studied how the Internet got here you may be unaware that a) no one owns it, b) all who work on the protocols used on it are volunteers, and c) you can join that society yourself, for free. The Internet Society (ISOC) is the governing body who decide how the protocols work on the net. They don't control content, no one does, but they do control how it works and are the folk who try out new and interesting ways to make it all work better, faster, etc. You, as a net user, can join it yourself, and to be frank that's not a bad idea. You don't have to be a computer genius but simply have an interest in making it work better. Do consider becoming involved.

I have a friend who battles with junk food occasionally. Indeed, in some way I suppose all of us do at one time or another. There is an interesting site online that, according to their take on the food situation, show you the Ten Foods You Should NEVER Eat!. Now that may be a little strong for some, but having said that, knowing why they consider these the ten worst is good knowledge to have. This is simply a site calling itself Nutrition Action in the USA though some of the foods they talk about are available worldwide. Have a look. It could change your eating habits too.

Ever been online typing something and you wish you had a spell checker handy? Well, the SpellCheck.net - Free Online Spell Checker site may be just what you're looking for. Have a look. It could come in handy.

I enjoy comedy that's good and well done. I'm also an old frustrated musician. So, I found the Singing Horses site a lot of fun. Turn up your speakers and then click on the horses involved. They have their own things to sing, and when put together can make for some interesting, even rhythmic sound bites. 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. ;-)