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.

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As you no doubt know there are two major religions that celebrate various remembrances this month. Both the Hebrew and Christian religions celebrate major holidays during the month of December this year, namely Hanukah and Christmas. Thus, I thought it might make sense to award some sites that deal with both celebrations in a good and friendly manner. If you wish to find out what Hanukah (or Chanukah) is all about hop over to the About Hannukkah site and have a read. You might also like to check out the Chanukah - Hanukkah Chabad.org Holidays site, or indeed the Welcome to OU.ORG's Chanukah Celebration site for some good information about this holiday. If, on the other hand, you celebrate Christmas, you might like to go to the Write & Email Santa Claus a Christmas Letter and get that letter written, then maybe have a look at the SANTA CLAUS AT CLAUS.COM site. and it might also be a good idea to visit the massive CVC Christmas Page Christmas History International Christmas site. And, don't forget to return next week to see even more links to these important holidays on the net.

Food is often an important part of any celebration and the two celebrations held in December are no exception. Thus the Chanukah Recipes site and the Koala's Australian Christmas Recipes. sites both might give you a new outlook on things that you could make for your family to enjoy. Happy eating.

As you know I love different blogs and this week's pick is no exception. Indeed it looks more like a website than a blog but a blog it is. Aptly called Strange New Products this is a blog with a difference. And who knows? You might just pick up an idea for that gift for the 'person who has everything' in your life here. Enjoy.

When thinking of the younger folk one tends to neglect the teens and their special needs. Thus, the BBC - Teens - Home site seems to have a lot going for it. Hosted by the BBC in the UK it may be geared toward their lifestyle but on the other hand, those teens face the same challenges other teens from around the world face. Have a look and see if you think it is worth bringing to the attention of that teen you know. I think it is.

I enjoy seeing sites that display something a little different, maybe something innovative and enjoyable. Thus, the Animated Virtual Harmonograph site is something you should see. Now first be warned that it needs java installed on your system (and you may already have that), but it does seem to be necessary to view it with Internet Explorer rather than one of the other browsers. Have a look and play with the buttons on the right side of the display. It's amazing what patterns you can produce in a short space of time.

If you've ever spent time looking for images online, to use in that report or that presentation, you'll know about the Google image search capability, but you may not know about the one at Ditto.com and it is definitely worth a look. It allows you to see the web images (and some not found on the Google one), and it is an image search engine that has the approval of Net Nanny and other content filters. That moves it up one notch in my book. Have a look.

If you use Yahoo Messenger as your chat client to keep in touch with friends and family, you will no doubt have noticed that you can also put emoticons (aka smilies) of all kinds in your messages. However, some are hidden - but if you go to the Emoticons - Yahoo! Messenger with Voice - 2 site you'll not only see them, but the keyboard characters used to create them as well. Enjoy.

Some folk have disabilities, permanent or temporary, that prevent them holding down two keys at once on their keyboard to do various different chores. For instance, ctrl-c copies anything you have already highlighted, ctrl-x cuts it (rather than copies it), and ctrl-v pastes it where ever you wish it to go. And this, and many more, is true in virtually all windows programs you'll ever use. If you find yourself unable to hold down two keys at once, you might want to have a look at StickyKeys as it provides that facility for you. Have a look. It's freeware, and really only useful if you use keyboard shortcuts, but when you need it, it does a great job.

Are you a reader? I'm talking about those of us who still enjoy reading books for pleasure (or business or study for that matter). Most folk end up building some kind of library if they are avid readers and thus, trying to find that particular book you know you own so you can find the quote or subject matter you need can be a daunting task, especially if your books are scattered in a mess somewhere. Enter the LibraryThing website. It will, in the free version, allow you to sign up and then catalog up to 200 of your books online for future reference. If you wish to pay the US$25.00 for a lifetime membership there is no limit whatsoever to the categories you can use, or the amount of books you can catalog online. I think that's a great idea, and may even be a useful holiday gift for someone in your life. I know I'd like one *smiles*.

Oh, the 'shopping online horror stories' are surfacing again, and *sighs* yes, some of them are true. However, if you Protect Yourself from Internet Scams - Subscribe to Internet ScamBusters you will at least have a basic understanding of online commerce and how to avoid most scams. I have to say that so far *touches his old wooden head* I've escaped unscathed from any rip-offs and yes, I do a reasonable amount of commerce over the web. So please, do read this site and do subscribe to their newsletter (free) and they will keep you up to date on what to watch out for. This is a great service to the Internet community and I personally thank them for their efforts and commend them to your view.

When one thinks of presents, one can't help but think of some of the world's true treasures and what it would be like to give one to a loved one. Well, not being able to purchase the Mona Lisa, or a Faberge Egg, or the Hope Diamond, I still would like to view these things. Thus the Treasures of the World Home Page will take you on a tour of most of them, and I must say, I'm impressed. Hope you are as well.

Some folk have hobbies, some collect things, and some put Herculean effort into building things that are simply amazing. Thus the V8-Engine Paper Model site is something you really should see. It simply is magnificent, and, if you look closely you'll also see that he has others as well. Building a working model of a V8 engine is no mean trick, but he's done it - and all out of folded paper. Well done, and certainly worth a look.

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. ;-)