I still retain a Windows install for games, and eventually things stop working easily. I kept running Windows 7 up until around when I built my current PC (2020) and that upgrade was due to some compatibility issue - I can't remember whether it was hardware compatibility with the new setup or a game/launcher requiring Windows 10 before I upgraded. I expect that I will eventually get something that wants 11 to work.

Mind you I spend a lot less time on games these days and I will probably get a few more years out of that computer - it might be a good while before compatibility/security becomes an issue and I'm required to consider moving on.

The main reason I didn't move to Windows 11 when it was new was it being picky and refusing to install on a processor that was only released two years before the OS (my setup itself being only a year old at the time). Since most things I've read about it since then act as a deterrent to upgrading instead of an incentive I now have no real inclination to try and update from 10 until I'm forced to by software requirements.

Looks to be shallow enough to (at least mostly) avoid getting wet feet and the bottom looks firm, I'd give it a go without worrying too much. Could be awkward with the skinny tyres of a road bike but I'm assuming from the lead in and out being dirt that this is a track where one has at least brought a gravel bike.

Kangaroos are the clear winner in my experience, but we've also got possums and various parrots (e.g. sulphur crested cockatoos). Wombats too but they're less common to see.

Canberra actually - it's an old dairy building that's part of Duntroon (one of the original homesteads of the region but more well known for being where RMC/ADFA is). It pre dates Canberra by a good bit though since development of the city only really began to gain traction in the 1920s.

The oldest extant building is circa 1832, so ~192 years old - not much compared to some places but doing well for an Australian building.

Unfortunately yes. They do put some models on sale occasionally so if you want one it can be worth waiting - I got mine at close on half RRP which made the cost somewhat more palatable.

I ended up getting a Fenix 6s about a year and a half ago and I think it's about as close to a Pebble successor as things get these days. I get a comfortable week out of the battery, and a responsive e-ink screen with the basics covered plus a few more fitness related things (and a party trick of topo maps) the Pebble didn't have. I don't feel like it has quite the community support that Pebble had in terms of software (or the enabling thereof from Garmin), so it's not 100% the same but it's been working well for me so far.

Fossil didn't particularly impress me with their smartwatches, so a sales decrease doesn't surprise me. I had a Skagen Falster 2 (a Fossil by another name) for a bit and it was annoyingly slow with not enough battery to leave the screen on, and eventually did the Fossil thing of the time where the back falls off the watch. I replaced that with a Fossil hybrid HR as I was chasing something more like the Pebble Time Round I liked before its battery lost usable capacity. I liked the concept and battery life of the hybrid but it had a horribly slow interface (galling to me since Pebble had shown you could do much better with e-ink), the e-ink screen ended up fading, it kept getting moisture inside the face, and as a last straw Fossil decided to be a dick and remove the left handed button mode.

And they all perfectly understand why those strict controls are necessary.

Coming from a country where no ID is required but everything still goes smoothly, I'm not sure strict ID controls actually are necessary.