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.

One of the things about gardening, especially in a drought area like much of Australia, is trying to figure out how to give your plants water without drowning them on one hand or wasting water on the other. One good idea can be found in the You Grow Girl Make Your Own Pop Bottle Drip Irrigation System site, and though you may have seen or even used a similar system before, did you notice the small holes drilled into the cap? I hadn't until I saw this site, and now it makes much more sense as a way to make that garden grow and keep it lush on a small amount of water. Have a look. It could help you as well.

You will no doubt have found out that there are literally thousands of different file types on your computer and on the net. The problem at times can be, what are they and what do they do. One site that will help you to understand them is the What Is... site which contains almost every file format in the world. This particular page covers the file extensions from A through E, and the rest follow on from there. This would be a good site to bookmark for future use as no doubt, at some point you're going to want to know what a .NTF file really is, especially if you are among those who use lotus notes on your computer system. No, I won't comment further on that program except to say that Lotus Notes is either something you love, or something you hate. I'm afraid I'm of the latter persuasion.

Yet again I've received a file, forwarded on at least three million times before it got to me, about some poor three year old child in outer Bosinguilla land who was found tied to his camel for 30 days beside his dead hamster, but if I only forwarded the email on to everyone I knew then Bill Gates (or Brad Pitt, or Angelina Jolie, or ....) would donate enough money to feed this poor child for the next 75 years...... Get the picture? Suffice it to say I'm not a fan of forwarded pleas of this kind as they a) are almost all untrue and b) will not help in ANY way. If you want to help others in a less fortunate situation than yourself, note the links on the right bottom of this page and visit them. And, before you join the crowd of "chain mail senders" please check out the Urban Legends Reference Pages site and see if you can find the chain letter you just received there. If you can, dump it. Don't clog up the net with useless traffic that helps no one and simply slows down the net because some 7 year old wanted to see if there were enough people who were gullible enough to believe the email they just made up and sent to people they know would make it circle the planet. Needless to say I LOVE this site. Bookmark it please, and do check out any hoaxes and urban legends you receive here first before forwarding them on. The trick is, assume it's a hoax and let this site prove it isn't. *climbs down off his soap box*

One of the things I try to teach folk is how to make up a strong password for the various places they need one. It really isn't all that difficult and you can learn how by visiting the Strong passwords How to create and use them site and spending all of 10 minutes to understand how simple it really is. Actually I've used this example to create them for years and teach folk how to do the exact same thing. Do try it. It works and this site will show you, as you go along, how strong your new passwords are.

If you do any online purchases (and yes, with reputable companies it is safe to do so. I've done it for years) you should always, as you would with the shops in your neighborhood, check pricing against what else is available. Welcome to the Pricewatch ® - The Web's first and best price comparison search engine site which, if any site deserves a bookmark, this one does. They constantly check pricing online for almost anything you can think of. So, come and look here before you part with your hard earned cash. Makes sense to me, and no, they aren't owned by a manufacturer, they are an independent body. Now that has to be good.

As I get older I find that my "forgetter" works better and better. If you find that you simply can't remember all you used to be able to, it's possible that the Memory Improvement Techniques from Mind Tools - Improving Your Memory site might go some way to improving that situation. Have a look. I think it's full of some really good ideas. Maybe you will as well. Now, where did I put those car keys?

One of the things that we all try to do is do things as a family, to help generate that family feeling of oneness. I suggest it's a good idea to also look at sites such as the FamilyFun Great ideas site which has practical advice and some fun stuff to do with your family. Have a look and see if it sparks any good things for your family to try.

If you've been visiting my site for a while you will know that I've shown sites where you can upload very large files to send on to folk rather than clogging their email box with attachments. Another site that does an admirable job of holding files for you, and sending notification to your recipient to come and download it as soon as possible, but in their own time, is the SendThisFile site. Here you can easily transfer large files to those who you wish to have them, and you can take out free accounts to do it with. Now that has to be a help. Try it and see what you think.

Trying to find something different to tempt your family with? Or maybe something to make for yourself that you normally wouldn't think of? Have a browse through the Meals For You site which has thousands of delicious recipes and meals for you to make. And, most don't seem to be that difficult either. Enjoy.

If you are trying to keep up with a few blogs and find it difficult to navigate from one to the other, or maybe simply want to keep track of a site when news breaks, then you'll find that the AmphetaDesk - Syndicated Aggregator - RSS site offers its software free of charge to use on your home computer. It uses the RSS capability (which means "really simple syndication") so if the blog or site you're interested in offers itself in an RSS feeder format then you will find this software a help.

A week ago I showed you a "cheat sheet" for the Google search engine, which should make using Google that much easier for you. Of course the folk at Yahoo have one as well, so if you hop over to the Yahoo Search Shortcuts - Yahoo Cheat Sheet site you'll find a wonderful article written by Wendy Boswell at about.com that will explain what to do to make Yahoo dance for you as well. Enjoy.

When I was a kid I was told, as you probably were as well, that every snowflake is unique and that no two are exactly the same. While that may be true (and I have to still ask, how do you know if you don't look at every snow flake that falls?) you'll enjoy the Make-a-Flake site which is a snowflake maker by Barkley Evergreen & Partners Interactive 10917193. I have no idea what the numbers mean either, but they do appear on their site. Anyway, enjoy and see what you can come up with.

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. ;-)