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.

Almost 5 years ago our beloved daughter, Deidre Lee McLellan, 26 Oct 1969 - 30 April 2001 New Zealand Time passed away. I ask you to visit her dedication page and to consider visiting all those you know who are ill. They often are deprived of the daily contact with friends we all take for granted and thus they would love to see you. They may seem to find it embarrassing (being ill) but your visit and your kindness means a lot to them as it did to our daughter. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

We are getting close again to that time when many remember those who served in various military capacities on this little green planet of ours. The ones usually thought of are men but we tend to forget to also remember the women who also served in the past, and still do. Thus, the American Women in Uniform, Veterans Too! site can be a real eye-opener for those who think in male terms in instances like this. Have a look. You might find someone you know.

If you visit my little site regularly you'll know that I am fascinated by space and by the discoveries found there. Thus it should come as no shock to know that the Massive Big Baby Galaxy Found in Distant Quadrant of Space site, supplied by National Geographic, shows some really interesting news that sets many of the big bang theories adrift in scientific circles. Have a look. We have new neighbors.

One of the things that a lot of the web based email services lack is a spell checker. I know I've looked at ways to try and correct my own terrible spelling and grammar, which usually means copying and pasting into a word document, running the spell checker there, then copying and pasting back into the email I was sending in G-Mail. However, fortunately the ieSpell - Spell Checker add-on for Internet Explorer is free for personal use and might be just what you need as well. Have a look. I think it has possibilities.

We all should have more vegetables and fruit in our diets. Even die hard meat eaters would agree with that. The problem is that most vegetables (to the average carnivore like me) are a) boring or b) not palatable in their own right. The folk at the VegWeb Recipe Directory site have heaps of recipes that use ONLY vegetables but I have to admit, many of their recipes sound reasonably yummy. Even I might try a few. Have a look. It could help you as well.

When I was working in marketing many aeons ago, I absolutely hated the "sport coat and tie" thing. I personally think neckties are the silliest things that any designer with a piece of spare cloth left over from another project can inflict on the male population. Rising in the morning and tying a noose around your neck seems to me to be a strange way to start the day. However, if ties are your regular form of dress you might be interested in having a look at the Ties Hut - Silk Neck Tie Man Tie Shop Windsor Knots Help zone site. It shows you how to tie at least four different knots which, if you're going to wear one, you need to look good. Bookmark this one and give them all a try.

There are many sites that are DIY sites online. However I found one at the Household Hints site which I think you should have a look at. Simply click where it says "click here" (alongside the house) then pick a topic to have a look. Loads and loads of DIY things around the home here and a nice site to provide it as well. This one deserves a bookmark.

You will know that I love blogging and indeed some blogs deserve particular mention to as many folk as you can find. The Lawrence Lessig Blog is one of those. The author of this blog is one of the founders of the Creative Commons idea. To get an understanding of that hop over to the Welcome Creative Commons site and have a look around. Lawrence Lessig is a Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and founder of the school's Center for Internet and Society and was named one of Scientific American's Top 50 Visionaries, for arguing "against interpretations of copyright that could stifle innovation and discourse online". With all the talk about intellectual property online maybe this is closer to what we should be looking at and working toward. What do you think?

A friend recently said he hadn't read a good book in ages. When asked why, his response was that he spent too much time online, which prompted me to tell him about The Modern Library Reading Group Guides site. Here you can download books and read them in your leisure time, and not even have to worry about getting it back to the library on time. Great site. Have a look.

Speaking of reading I was pleased to see that one of my personal favorite authors has a website of his own. If you are a science fiction fan you'll know the name Ray Bradbury as he is the author of such classics as The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, Fahrenheit 451, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and The Electric Grandmother (still my favorite). I would also suggest having a look at the memoriam site to Ray's wife and partner Marguerite, without whom none of his works would have come to light. A link to her memoriam is on the lower part of his site. This truly is a fantastic author. Have a look.

One of the things about the National Public Radio network is that they play live concerts of many musicians for you to hear. Their web site, titled the NPR Live Concert Series - National Public Radio also hosts their programs and even stores some so that you can download and listen to the concert yourself. Listen to concerts in their entirety by such notables as Sinead O'Connor to The Godfather of Soul, James Brown, here. NPR - gotta' love it.

You may know that I'm a fan of anything that tries to bring this old world and its peoples a little closer together. I feel there are too many things that try to separate us all, when in reality we all live on this little green marble in the middle of nowhere and should all strive to get along more. Thus, the ethics of cultures can be protected by such institutions as the Institute for Global Ethics Home Page and their site, and purpose, is simply drawing the world closer together. I think that's a laudable idea, don't you? Have a look.

I usually put something just a little off-beat here and this week is no exception. I may be a bit odd, but I find the Casket Furniture from Casketfurniture.com site, though real, just a little strange. Maybe it's just me, but purchasing your own casket in the shape of display cabinets, coffee tables, or even a bed is just a little out there as far as I'm concerned. Maybe I'm just getting old after all. What do you think?

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. ;-)