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 Tuesday evening Australian (Queensland) time (GMT + 9 hours according to the world clock). Please come back and visit us 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.

If you are traveling to far distant places, and after all, it is approaching that time of year when people start planning long trips, either for holiday reasons or for vacation purposes here in the southern hemisphere, it is a good idea to look after your health while on that trip. One place on the net that might be of interest is the Travel Health Online site. It has some good common sense things to consider when planning that trip, so have a look and take heed.

When teaching "Computer Concepts" at the Auckland University of Technology, in New Zealand, I used to teach the concept of taking mini-breaks from your computer work. You may not be using your computer full time, but even if you use it to do a project of some kind, it is easy to not realize how much time you spend in any one session. The concept of mini-breaks is to help you prevent things like OOS (Occupational Overuse Syndrome) and RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury) from typing so much and from using your eyes at a set focal length from what ever you are reading. Thus, the Break Reminder - OOS and RSI Prevention Micropause Software site, where you can download and install this "freeware for personal use" software could be a help to you. I downloaded it and found that it is entirely configurable by you, the user, and does act as a good reminder to take those mini-breaks and thus save yourself from a lot of pain. Give this one a try.

You may well use various herbs in your cooking, but how about recipes based on them? Have a look at the INDEX of Recipes from A Modern Herbal at Botanical com website and you might just find things there that would taste so good, you may never need another recipe source. Enjoy.

As you most likely are finding, there are blogs on almost any subject you can think of. Not all are written in the first person, and some are written to help others in the same situation or job to do it better. One such blog is the Library Law Blog which covers issues concerning libraries and the law. This may not be everyone's interest, but it should be for librarians. Have a look and let your local library know about it as well.

Teaching young people is a difficult job. At times, teaching them about science is an even harder task. Thus the Science Monster site may not only be of use to those wanting their children to spend time on the net productively, but also by those involved in teaching this subject. Have a look and see if it fits into your own family or student's needs.

It amazes me how many television stations or networks have their own websites. Not that they shouldn't of course, but to think they have you already looking at their channel on your TV, and then want you to look at them when you aren't watching TV is, well, maybe excessive? However, many of them do provide news while you are at the office, or weather, or a raft of other subjects of interest. One such channel here in Australia is the ABC Television Network. Have a look and you'll see the types of things we see here in Australia. Not a bad website actually, and a good information source as well.

There may be a time when you would like to have some of those strange characters you see in some languages or scripts, but they are not necessarily easy to find. There is a small piece of software (freeware actually) that you can download and use to get access to those characters. Hop over to the Allchars - Introduction site, download it, install it, and if you need those strange looking things, you'll now have access to them. Not everyone will want to do this, but for those who have that need, it is worth the download time.

Ok. I'll admit it. I'm waiting to see the Garfield movie. I love his sarcastic wit (or rather, his creator's wit) and know this will be a fun night. You can, as I just did, also create your own Garfield wallpaper for your computer monitor. How? Just hop over to the Garfield site, and navigate to the place that lets you make your own Garfield wallpaper. And, you can also send a Garfield greeting card from here for free. It's fun, or at least I found it to be. If this doesn't tickle your fancy, as Garfield himself would say, "enjoy rearranging your sock drawer." *smiles*

As you will know by now, if you have any online time at all, Microsoft publishes warnings about certain security problems with its software and then also publishes a fix for it. To Get Notified Right Away of Important Security Updates simply click on that link then sign up for their email notification. I have and it is a great way to keep up with the security needed to run your online connection properly.

Goodness!! How many tropical storms can hit Florida in one year? They must be heading for a record by now, surely. If you hear of another one on the way, one way to keep track of it is to have a look at the Welcome to PalmBeachPost! site and go to their Hurricane Info site off of that. It's well done and up to the minute with information. Let's hope that they have seen the last of them for a while.

When writing a document, how often have you wished you had an interactive Thesaurus handy? If you hop over to the WordWeb Free thesaurus dictionary download site, and download and install it as they say, then you will have that information to use when you need it. Great idea, especially if you compose things (letters, emails, documents, etc) on a regular basis.

If you are a frequent visitor you will remember that recently my wife and I bought a new car. However, there is one thing we had disabled. Yes, not something new added, but something taken off. What was it? It was that useless, noisy, irritating car alarm. When was the last time you were bothered hearing one go off and wishing you could shoot the owner who left it on? Or, when was the last time you saw ANYONE run to the car to see if it had been broken into? *nods* - Me, neither. Ok, then how about considering joining the Silent Majority organization and seeing if you can help do away with these things? And, if there isn't one in your neighborhood, maybe you should start one of these where you live. I might do the same here. Don't get me wrong. Car immobilizers - fine. But something that drives me and anyone else in earshot nuts, *shakes head* - gone. See what 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. ;-)