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.

With all the talk of phishing (pronounced fishing) online, and various Internet scams operating you are liable to get some well meaning but false emails warning you about this or that threat. Thus, if you hop over to the Urban Legends Reference Pages site and bookmark it so you can return to it to check out anything sent to you, you'll be ahead of the game. Please remember, don't just forward on things that are dire warnings about some terrible virus etc without checking it out here first.

One way to protect your system from problems is to have the latest Spyware, Adware, Malware Remover Software and this site seems to have links to most of it. At the moment, I use Adaware, Spybot Search and Destroy, and the free Microsoft one called Windows Defender (still in beta). I'd suggest you use the same three. No one of that list will find them all but combined they will find most of the nasties.

If you use the net to search for various things, most of the net community would use Google or Yahoo as their first port of call. What if you could make your very own search engine which contained the search capabilities you wanted it to? Well, the Rollyo Roll Your Own Search Engine site will do just that for you. It's free and it allows you to build your very own personal search capability to fit your needs. Now that has to be something worth looking at. Enjoy.

If you are a frequent visitor you know that I love good food. Here in Australia, indeed, in the city of Sydney, there is a very famous seafood restaurant which now has published many of its recipes online at the site called Doyles Seafood Recipes. This restaurant is arguably the most famous restaurant in Sydney, if not in all of Australia. Have a look. You might enjoy their recipes as well.

With two grandsons, one now four and a half years old, the net is looming as a tool he'll use in school to help him with his studies. He already goes online with me or his Gamma to a site where he has adventures and can color in things. That, however, is one of the problems most folk with young family face, finding a site that is safe for their children to see and use. The GetNetWise Web Sites for Kids site seems to fill that bill admirably. If you have young ones in your midst, you might like to take a look yourself. If it meets the criteria I think it does, bring them along as well and bookmark it for their use.

If you're an old musician or simply love music you may well know about Robert Moog Biography and Much More From Answers.com. If you can't think of who he was, think back to the original Moog Synthesizer and it will start making sense. He recently passed away and his achievements are certainly something to see. Have a look. He's left a lot in his wake.

Speaking of those who have gone to a better place, if you're in North America you will, in particular, know about Benjamin Franklin. He had a lot more going for him than a kite and a key. In fact you can read Benjamin Franklin In His Own Words from the American Treasures of the Library of Congress right here online. It's amazing what they have stored away isn't it?

You know I have a blog, and have recently added another one in hopes of stirring some of you to petition your governmental leaders to help with a case of intense prejudice in Iran, but did you know that if you are an Australian that the WhitePage - Free Aussie Blog site will host your blog for free? In fact it appears to be the first and only totally free Australian blog host. Now that's something to have a look at. Enjoy.

When I was young (just shortly after Benjamin Franklin was around) I grew up in Connecticut in the USA. Occasionally I would venture by train to New York City, that hustling bustling city that never sleeps. One favorite spot in the city was Central Park. If you are thinking of going, have a look at the Central Park The Complete Guide at CentralPark.com site. It's a site that contains good information on what to see, where to go, and with a little judicial thinking, where and when NOT to go as well. Interesting site.

If you're one of those who sports their Ipod daily, listening to the sounds you enjoy, did you know that the site called Free eBooks - Project Gutenberg has just that, free books for you to download and enjoy on your ipod? It has heaps of them in fact, so give it a look and read something for a change.

When I give talks to various groups I try, gently of course (smirks) to dissuade people from using Outlook Express as their email program as I honestly believe it is one of the worst programs ever developed. Sometimes I'm successful in turning people over to Thunderbird or almost any other email program, but sometimes I'm not. Thus, if you use Outlook Express (with all its holes and problems) the How to back up and recover Outlook Express data site is something you should see. Have a look if you still use Express. It could be useful for you.

When folk come to my place and see the ergonomic keyboard I use (and to be frank I'd never ever go back to a straight keyboard) some cringe because their fingers fall in places they normally aren't used to, thus making all kinds of typos. However, the ergonomic keyboard isn't the only one that's a bit strange. Have a look at The Top 10 weirdest keyboards ever - Fosfor Gadgets site and you'll see what I mean. I kind of doubt most of them will ever find their way into my office, though the infra-red one has possibilities, and yes, it is really in the works. Enjoy your typing.

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. ;-)