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.

There are so many blogs out there that one could take up all of their time in reading and keeping up with them all. For instance, if you are a fan of MP3 files (music and even film in some cases) then the MP3 Blogs Aggregator site is a must see. Check it out and see if there is anything there you should know about.

There is a lot of health information on the net, and one place to find good info you may need to know is the Virtual Hospital A digital library of health information site. It is what it says it is, and is a wonderful place to keep as a bookmark or favorite for future use as well.

If you're a frequent visitor you'll know that I love good innovative food. The SYAH Recipes site (SYAH = Stay Young At Heart - eating the heart healthy way) is not only replete with info on how to eat healthy food, but how to make it delicious as well. Have a look and see if you can find things here to spice up your appetite with.

You may have heard that the search portal Google has recently launched a desktop version of their search capability. It can search your entire computer for files that you are looking for and maybe have misplaced. The Google Desktop Search Launched site is an article about the launch of this software, by the folk at Search Engine Watch. If you are considering downloading and trying the application, read this article first. Are you really sure you need that much search capability on your own computer? Remember, Windows Explorer (look in your Windows folder for explorer.exe - double click that and you have it) has the capability of searching your hard drive, floppy drives, cds, and just about anything else you might have as well. *shrugs* Might be useful but isn't it reinventing the wheel? You decide.

There are many young folk who need help that we, as parents or family members, are either unable to give or appear that way to the young folk among us. The Reach Out! site is trying to, by their own description of "inspiring young people to help themselves" do just that for those who feel they need some guidance to achieve self-help in their lives. Have a look. It may help to direct others you know here as well.

A very large percentage of the population of our little green orb have links to, or reside in, or come from, China. The history of this vast landscape is full of magnificent things. Thus, the Ancient China site, maintained by The British Museum, is well worth a look and a read.

Legal opinions and judgments have a fascination for many, and in some cases I admit, they do for me as well. Keeping in mind that the judges among us can only uphold and apply the law as it stands (they do not make law themselves, governments do that) their job, at times, is an onerous one. A very dear and close friend of ours is herself, a Judge and we have had many interesting discussions on the application of law in many cases (in a broad sense naturally, not in any specific case sense). Thus, the Brennan Center for Justice site, which allows you to read some of these legal opinions is an interesting read and a way to have your eyes opened. I find it interesting stuff and hope you do as well.

I recently purchased a good quality digital camera and have rekindled an interest in photography that was dormant for many years. I found the file magazine - a collection of unexpected photography site to be most enjoyable, and, at some point, may submit some of my own for their perusal. Have a look and see what folk like you and I can achieve if they put their cameras to work.

Like many, I have a mobile phone. The answering service, if it is shut off, is the standard (and I must say, boring) answering machine message taker and player. However, the Free Voicemail & Answer Machine Messages site now has me installing some cute (and yes, silly) answer phone messages for those who try to contact me when the phone is unavailable. Have a look, download those that you enjoy, and then add them to your own message taker. Loads of fun and some good laughs here for the most part. At the moment, I'm using "The Robber" one *smiles*.

When on a recent trip to Stradbrooke Island off the coast of Australia, my family (this time I decided I needed a rest instead of another walk) saw turtles in the sea (and dolphins and manta rays as well). The Gulf of Maine Aquarium All About Turtles site provides some good information about these lovely animals that we normally know little about. Have a read and see what I mean.

Bringing up children is not an easy task for any parent. Some seem better able to handle this task than others. However, all can learn how to do this better with information like that provided by The Whole Child For parents, early care and education providers site. It is virtually the A-B-Cs of child development and that is good for any parent or guardian or education provider to know. This is worth a bookmark even for those times when you might "babysit" a young person. Enjoy.

It absolutely amazes me at times what folk collect as a hobby. For instance, a browse through Becky's Banana Sticker Collection site, which contains no less than 4500 different banana stickers, plus 93 broccoli labels and 157 asparagus bands is something to behold. I must admit that I'm better at collecting dust than anything else, but if you are fascinated as Becky obviously is, then you'll enjoy this site. :-)

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. ;-)