Mac's Picks is a collection of family friendly interesting and useful sites, updated weekly. These sites are family friendly, and cover subjects dealing with a focus on the family as a whole, search, internet, internet radio, news, health, medical resources, household hints, education, educational resources, recipes, food, strange, different, help pages, homework, kids, diy, 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 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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In Memoriam: This past week saw a tragic end to the life of a wonderful husband, father, son, friend, and "real Aussie bloke" who was dedicated to preserving creatures in the wild and helping us to understand the animal kingdom that surrounds us all, Steve Irwin. Steve was always "larger than life" but that was simply his way and showed his excitement when dealing with the animal kingdom he so loved. He always had time to say "Gidday" to anyone he met, no matter where. Steve and his wife Terri, pictured here in a photo from the CBBC Steve, Terri, and friend had set up a trust called the Wildlife Warriors, where people are taught how to protect animals and themselves in the wild, and also taught the importance of conservation of many of the near extinct animal species on the planet. The Australia Zoo - Home of the Crocodile Hunter and the Wildlife Warriors trust will still carry on Steve's work, and could use your generosity in their work as well. Steve will be sorely missed by all Australians. May his work stand as a testament to a wonderful human being and may his family take comfort in the knowledge that he is and will be missed by us all. Our heartfelt condolences go to Steve's dad, his wife Terri and their children, Bindy Sue and Bob. Steve, Good on 'ya Mate. Crikey we'll miss you.

This week Australia also saw the tragic and untimely death of one of its most famous and best loved Auto Racing Drivers, Peter Brock, in a tragic accident while participating in the Targa Rally in Western Australia. Peter Perfect, as he was known, was a legend among race drivers and racing fans in Australia and around the world. Born in a little Victorian country town named Hurstbridge on th 26th of February, 1945, Peter first built a race car of his own, which was his famous Austin a30b with a Holden (Australian Chevrolet) engine.
Peter won the famous Australian touring car race held at Mt. Panorama, known as the Bathurst Enduro 9 times, also was the Australian Touring Car Champion 3 times, the winner of the Sandown Enduro 9 times, and won the Repco Round Australia Trial in 1979 as well. Peter's car number, 05, was adopted and used by Peter to highlight the Victorian Government's 05 blood alcohol limit to the public. Peter also held the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) record for the most "pole positions" (57) and the most ATTC wins (37). He always was public spirited and his fans and family will miss his presence dearly. Peter Brock - tragically lost to us on Friday, September 8th, 2006. Our condolences go out to his partner and children. You'll be always remembered Peter - an inspirational driver to the end.

Today, 11 September 2006, also marks our 41st wedding anniversary and I wish to express my gratitude to my wife, Barbara, for sticking with me for 41 years. We've had our share of good and bad times, but we still are best friends and it takes a resiliant woman to stick with me for that long. I would never have had the courage to face some of lifes trials were it not for her love and strength. Thank you for your help over the years Barbara. The best is yet to come.

I enjoy sites that have an impact of people and their lives, especially if that impact is a positive and productive one. I recently came across the Institute For Women and Technology Home site and thought "now there's an interesting idea". They state that they have two goals with their site, namely "to increase the impact of women on all aspects of technology, and to increase the positive impact of technology on the world's women". Now that makes a whole lot of sense to me. Have a look and see if it does to you as well.

You know that I'm interested in blogs and blogging in general, and it should be noted that computer and Internet Geeks also need blogs to communicate their take on current things. Thus the Scobleizer - Microsoft Geek Blogger blog, penned by one of the Microsoft geeks, is interesting reading. Have a look and keep abreast of the things being worked on at Microsoft for your future use.

If you're a frequent visitor you'll know that I'm an old jazz nut. I simply love good small combo smooth jazz, always have. I recently came across an innovative site that will not only play the kind of music you enjoy, but allows you to generate your own "online radio station" of sorts, populated by music of the type you enjoy. You join (for free) then tell them the types of music or the artist or the band or whatever and they will not only find songs by that person or group, but also others by people you may or may not know, but who play the same type of music. The site is called Pandora Internet Radio - Find New Music, Listen to Free Web Radio and if you enjoy listening to music as I do, I suggest that this is one wonderful way of doing that while you're online. Have a look. I think you'll enjoy it.

You may remember a while back that I had a poll running on the bottom of my site, asking what you would like to see more of. The overwhelming majority said they would like to see more women oriented sites, and to that end, the Women's Issues site is a good place to start. In reality it is a collection of links to all manner of useful sites for women to see. In fact, it has pages of them. Have a look and then bookmark the site for future reference. Happy browsing.

All younger kids need a place to play that's safe and interesting and that hopefully they can learn from as well. The K-8 Kids' Place seems to fit that bill nicely. Why not take your younger family members with you when you check it out and see what they think as well?

If you are travelling back to university this upcoming semester, and you know you're going to need that math you took in high school and just got through by the skin of your teeth, a visit now to the EMR - Exercises in Math Readiness site which contains "exercises of varying difficulty that will take users through such topics as geometry, trigonometry, algebra, and exponential functions". Personally my head hurts already, but if you know you're going to need it, now is the time to check this site out and review it. You won't have time to do that when semester starts again.

I love seeing innovation on the net, especially when it comes to things that we, the average person online, can use to help our daily existence be that little bit better. For instance, the Mietta's Australian Food, Wine & Recipes site is actually composed of three different recipe collections, with a search facility attached to each one. Have a look and try it out for yourself. Just click on one of the collections then use the search facility to find what you're looking for. Yum.

I'm sure that no matter where you are on the planet, you have a local hardware store that has all kinds of helpful and useful tools and products that will help you in that DIY project you've been putting off. Here in Australia we have two large retail outfits, The one with the largest stores is known as Bunnings. When you need to know how to do some particular task, have a look at the Bunnings Group Limited How to Brochures site and download the brochure to help you do a good job. And, it's all free to use.

Many folk use the wonderful free edition of the firewall called Zone Alarm - Free Download and indeed it does a good job of protecting your computer from most outside attacks while connected to the net. It can, at times, be a little difficult to understand how to get the maximum benefit from it however, and the Disclaimer and Title page - Zone Alarm help and setup page should go some way to help solve any problems you might be having. If you use this firewall and need help, this is the place to look first.

When I was a young man I remember that my dad owned an original Edison Cylinder Recording player and a box full of cylinder recordings. Unfortunately I was too stupid to buy it and keep it for myself and it was ultimately sold to someone else. The reason for bringing this up is that I recently came across the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project which is set up to preserve such relics. Indeed, you not only get to see these wonderful players, but you also get to hear some of the original recordings of that era. This is a great piece of real history to see, especially for those interested in the sound industry.

I'm a car nut. I admit it. I'm possibly not as into it as many of those I know (Jigger and Paul - take note) but I do love cars and what has been done to make them more pleasing to the eye and more enjoyable to drive. If you have a favourite that you can remember, hop over to the Cars - A - wallpaper for your desktop, search through their alphabetical listing by manufacturer, and you'll most likely find a photo of one for your own desktop. And yes, I found my own dream car there as well (Mercedes Benz 300SL Gull Wing). Ah, the stuff of dreams.

I'm one of those who enjoys things like museums. I know, boring to some but of real interest if you find the right one. For instance, have you ever browsed around the Museum of Yo-Yo History? It has more info, photos, and articles on this popular children's toy (and adult pastime apparently) than I've ever seen in one place. Have a look. Do you see the one you used to spend hours with? I see mine.

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. ;-)