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.

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.

Important Warning to ALL Australian Domain Owners: This week I received, from The Australian Domain Name Administrator (auDA) the following warning, which you, like I, should be aware of and protect yourself from. The warning stated "auDA has become aware that Domains Australia Pty Ltd is sending letters and/or faxes to some domain name registrants offering to arrange registration of the net.au equivalent of the registrants com.au domain name for $225.
auDA has received numerous complaints which indicate that; 1. despite the net.au name being paid for, it is NOT being registered and 2. registrants are NOT receiving the .free. MP3 player (offered as an added incentive to pay now).
Domains Australia Pty Ltd is a company controlled by Blair Rafferty, the brother of Chesley Rafferty. It is NOT an auDA accredited registrar nor is it a reseller of an auDA accredited registrar."
What should you do? First of all DISREGARD Any communication from this highly questionable company as you are NOT renewing your existing domain, you are purchasing, at a vastly inflated price, a NEW .au domain name. The auDA has previously succesfully taken this man and other companies owned by him to court under the Trade Practices Act. Be careful, and don't get caught in this latest ethical, if not criminal fraud. Pass this info on to anyone else you know who owns a .au domain for their own safety as well.
Thank you.

If you have been a visitor to my site over the years you will know that I am one of those who champion the rights of women in today's society. Indeed I am not alone in that, and here in Australia, the site titled the Australian Office for Women will let you in on what the Australian government is trying to do as well. I must say that in some ways Australians do try to help, though you still unfortunately still have those who haven't gotten the message about equality yet. I think it's time that equal opportunity for all became a reality, don't you agree?

Having said that, mums, like everyone else, enjoy a good chuckle as well, and thus the NEWTOWN MUMS site should appeal to those who need a break. Have a look and see if it tickles your fancy.

One of the things about learning that good educators never lose sight of is that it should also be fun to do. If it's dull and boring then why would any child want to do it, or continue with their studies? We as adults don't, so we can't really expect the younger members of our society to do so either. Thus, sites like the Funschool - Part of the Kaboose Network site are great tools to assist with the learning process. I feel I'll most likely bookmark it for my own two grandsons to peruse. Why not do the same with yours as well?

Since the 1960s (and most likely before then) there has been a quiet revolution going on. Many folk are finding that the lifestyle they have grown up in simply doesn't suit them and therefore they look for viable alternatives for themselves and their loved ones. Thus, the thisfrenchlife.com - living life the French way site, though classed as a blog, is really to me more a site of ideas. Have a look and see what you think. You might find yourself thinking that you should join them. Who knows? Hop over for a look and make an informed decision.

Here on the Gold Coast of Australia there are many interesting sights to see, not the least of which is the Tropical Fruit World - recipes attraction which is about half an hour's drive south of us. This place tries to grow all manner of different tropical fruit and vegetables to see if they will survive in our climate. The result is a fantastic park that you can visit and learn so much from. For instance, avocados you may be familiar with. But what about Black Sapote or Guava recipes? Maybe some Lemon Myrtle or Mango recipes might tempt you? Mulberry jam might be the ingredient you need for that special flavour, but if not, possibly the Tamarillo recipes might tempt that palette of yours? Have a look. They certainly seem to have tried them all.

Recently a friend pointed out that a new type of "home page" had arisen, called Protofile. This site, which is free to join, leads you through a new way of making your home pages as you want them. Indeed have a look at KiwiNth's Page and see what you think. And yes, I've been known online by the handle of KiwiNth for years and years, so this is my little effort at it. See what you think. I feel it's a great idea and one that will grow.

Though I am primarily now retired I still give public talks to various groups here in Australia. I tend to make a PowerPoint presentation, and while showing it talk to the slides to elaborate on various points of interest. PowerPoint, as you may well know, is a fantastic presentation software by Microsoft and comes in the full version of Microsoft Office. However, though the program itself is good, it gets limited in its backgrounds and templates after a while. Thus, sites like the Download free PowerPoint templates and backgrounds from the lady known as Brainy Betty is a real boon. I've just availed myself of some of the lovely backgrounds and templates she provides and I must say I'm impressed. If you're a PowerPoint user, you will be as well.

In those presentations I also usually put in a screen capture of something I wish to talk about to illustrate a point. The problem really is to find a good reliable screen capture utility, and I've found the Gadwin PrintScreen - Screen capture software, once downloaded and installed and configured as you wish it to be, invaluable. I can now do screen captures with ease, save them in a capture folder, and simply insert them in to PowerPoint presentations I am working on to good effect. You might find it as useful as I have.

When one goes to Google to find out information about a particular subject, one relies on what is being returned to your search as being valid and easily understood information. Unfortunately that's not always the case. Thus the How To Evaluate a Web Source article by Wendy Bowsell, a well known web personality with loads of helpful hints and tutorials on how to get the most out of the net, from About.com, is a wonderful article and lesson to read and learn from. Thanks Wendy - an invaluable resource as always.

If you have a website how well is it picked up by the various search engines? If you haven't done your homework many of them will simply pass you by. Thus the SE- Inspector all the tools to optimize your web site for search engines site contains a nice little program to help you out in this regard. Now is the time to give it a try, and hopefully learn the good news. See if your site passes the test.

You will no doubt be aware of the VOIP technology (Voice Over Internet Protocol) which allows you to use the Internet as your telephone and puts you in contact with those with VOIP around the world at a much reduced cost to you. Thus, the VoIP Protocols and Standards - DVB H.225 H.225 Annex G H.235 H.245 H.450.1 H.450.2 H.450.3 H.450.4 H.450.5 site is invaluable as a tool to bring you up to date with that technology. Fascinating stuff.

When was the last time you and your family had Chinese food, and ended your meal with a fortune cookie? Some of them are funny but some... well, hop over to the Weird Fortune Cookie Collection and see what you think. *shrugs* I guess it constitutes a collection of sorts, and it is most definitely worth the trouble to download. Enjoy.

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. ;-)