Updated 26 March 2007 Queensland, Australia Time
  
Hello and welcome to Mac's Picks of the Week. If you are interested in why this site exists, how it operates, and a little about Mac, then click on the Why and How Info link and see what is there. When you have finished please return to this Home page and see what sites I have chosen this week to receive a Mac's Picks of the Week award. Thank you for visiting and please share this site with friends, family, and colleagues who you feel will enjoy it.
This page is updated on a weekly basis, each Monday Australian (Queensland) time (GMT + 10 hours according to the world clock). Please come back and visit often.
Something of note: Windows Vista comes with the latest version of Internet Explorer (ver 7) attached. One major change is that if you also use the Google desktop, your web browser now keeps "Bookmarks" instead of "Favorites". Your Favorites are still there (hidden under the tools/toolbars/favorites button) but so far I have been unable to add a Favorite to that list. Bookmarks are dependent on your signing in to your Gmail account, but are then available to you on any computer you visit on the planet with a net connection as they are kept online. Advantage or disadvantage? I think the latter, however, you decide.
I recently had a friend ask me what a particular Australian slang term meant which I explained, but then thought that there must be someone online who has a dictionary of Australian slang to see. I actually found a few, one titled JoyZine - Australia Decoded: A Dictionary of Australian English: A-1 and another called Australian Slang - A; The Aussie Slang Dictionary of Australian slang words and Australian phrases. and even a third called Australian slang dictionary. I was surprised to learn that not all Australian phrases are in all of them, and indeed, the one I explained, the term "a julie" which, at least here on the Gold Coast means much the same as "a shiela", wasn't there in any of them. At least the second one had "a jillaroo" which means much the same thing. Just shows you can't always trust what you read on the net I guess.
Many would have us believe that the enjoyment of reading books seems to have gone to another era. Indeed that's not the case at all, as evidenced by new libraries being built to help fulfil the needs of those who enjoy research or simply reading a good novel. If you are one who loves certain books, have a look a the Shelfari - Welcome to Shelfari! Read, Share, Explore! site and consider joining it too. Here you list the books you love, and share your knowledge and discussion about them with others. A nice community based way of ranking books, that you may well enjoy participating in.
When using your computer to do projects occasionally everyone will want to use some form of clipart. Though a fair amount comes packed with most word processing programs, there is also the Public Domain Clipart optimized for word processors site for you to look over and download all you would like to have. You just might find what you need for that next project here.
You will have heard of or seen some sites that show you URLs or web addresses that seem short and concise rather than a long string of things to try and type into your browser. A new one on the scene that does that for you is the urlTea - smooth sips of decanted web addresses site. Simply enter a web address (URL) here and it will produce a shorter one for you to use. That also might be a better way to share a URL with your friends via email as well. Have a look.
If you read last week's page you will know the problems I faced (and still do to some extent) with Vista on a new computer, the finding of new drivers that are compatible with Microsoft's new interface Vista being one of the main problems. One of the frequent contributors of sites sent me the Free Vista Drivers - RadarSync site and you can bet I'll bookmark this one for use. It may well be useful to you as well. Thank you John.
At least one browser beside Internet Explorer now has a Vista capable version, and that is Firefox - Rediscover the Web. This is apparently an entirely new version, which is supposed to be more Vista friendly. So if you now run Vista and are a fan of Firefox, this should help.
Speaking of software, what software do you have on your computer that may have security problems you are unaware of? The Software Inspector - Secunia site will scan your system for free and point out any possible problems you have lurking there. Worth doing the free scan on any system I feel.
When in University I can well remember living hand to mouth and trying to find ways to make meals simple and ways to stretch that food dollar at the same time. Thus it makes sense that the Cooking and Recipes site is hosted at MIT (the Massachusetts Institute of Technology). If you're looking for ways to broaden your own consumption of food, give this a try.
You know the Google search facility, and probably Yahoo and MSN as well, but are you aware of Dogpile Web Search Home Page? It's been around for a long time and is indeed a search engine worthy of note. Add this to your list of search engines to use. You won't be disappointed.
Another older website worthy of being bookmarked is Free Software Downloads and Software Reviews - Download.com. This site houses shareware, freeware, and some commercial products as well for you to try and/or buy. I have used Download.com extensively in the past and recommend it when you are looking for a particular piece of software to do a specific job. Nice site.
More and more women use the net to not only communicate with other women but also to find suitable employment as well. Thus the Career Women.com - Leading Career Site by and for Women. Job Bank, Resume Bank, Post Jobs. site may well come in handy if you find yourself in need of employment or better employment. Have a look. As it says, it's by women for women.
Some folk have hobbies that are, well, to many of the rest of us, just a little bit "out there" in nature. Thus, when I stumbled on Dr. Toast's Amazing World of Toast I just had to have a look, and now that I have I wish to share it with you. Is this something you should try at home? Um... your choice.
 Rebecca Game of "Digital Women - Women with their modems
running...", is my web designer and a graphic designer who is superb to say the least. 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. ;-)
Search my site to see if I have given a "Pick of the Week"' to any family friendly term you wish here. If I have you will be shown the page(s) it was listed on.
You can choose to search The Net or My Site via Google based on the "Family Friendly" content found on my site from here. The balloons show sites close to the content of my site.
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