I’ve skipped a few weeks of recaps, unfortunately, and that’s a combination of pure laziness as well as being limited to what I am wanting to share with the public on the open web.

I think I will stop making these recaps on a perfect weekly basis and instead make recaps when that week has had significant, fun things that are worth reading about, and that are not too private.

I still keep a daily journal on my new Apple, and I like to reflect on all my thoughts on a weekly basis, but I will curate what I wish to share publicly at the end of each week, and if there is enough to share, I will formulate it into a post like this one.

Anyway, this last week was a week of new tech, wildlife-filled outings with the family, and a football finale!

New Tech

New Gear, New Groove

I know that recently I had been sprucing up privacy and having installed on my phone and making it a minimal, essentially, brick.

What I found over time, though, is that I was heavily inconveniencing myself and using a threat model that was much too high for my specific needs. I’m no whistleblower, no journalist, or anyone that really has a reason to be monitored by bigger actors, but I still want to keep myself private from the larger data brokers where possible without inconveniencing myself and slowing myself down in today’s fast-paced environment.

16 years ago, I was an user until I moved over to and didn’t look back. But after doing a lot of reading and research, I have come to learn that the Apple is incomparable to anyone else out there. And they do appear to be privacy-focused themselves as a company. While they may obtain data on its own user base, it is a company that I feel has earned the trust of millions. In comparison to and .

So, what did I do then?

I went and purchased myself the latest , and not just the 17, but in bright orange! I also went and got myself a and replaced my desktop computer by giving my desktop to my younger brother for him to enjoy for gaming.

You see, the desktop computer I had built was a beast, but it was specific to gaming and streaming. It used a lot of power to keep on and was more than I actually needed for myself. The Macs, however (and I got myself a MacBook instead of a MacStudio) uses a lot less power, yet is more than powerful enough for those of us who consider ourselves more as creatives. Using these systems for creative work, such as photography, video editing, and the likes, is their real intended use. The unified memory architecture they have built, where GPU memory and RAM are unified and “shared” and able to be used throughout apps that have specifically been programmed to take advantage of this technology, really strives.

I didn’t go down this path, but if I had gotten a fully specced system with 512 gig of RAM like the MacStudio M3 Ultra, all that memory is available to use on ’s to run local Large Language Models and run complex algorithms. Of course, you don’t need that much of a specced-out system for most uses, and a system like mine with 36 gigs of RAM is also more than capable of running quite decent LLMs, even more so than my powerful beast of a gaming desktop PC I had (because that 36 gig is available as VRAM)!

And now I need to learn!

And now, I need to learn another new OS. Going from Windows into Linux for quite some time was one thing, learning the terminal window and so forth. But now going to macOS is another. Even the keyboard shortcuts are different. I’m going from CTRL-C and CTRL-V, for example, on one work desktop to COMMAND-C and COMMAND-V on the Macs. On paper, it looks essentially the same, but in reality, the COMMAND key is actually where my ALT key is supposed to be, so the hand and finger positioning is different.

But that’s the joy of learning and not a complaint in any way. I actually am enjoying it all so far.

Can’t wait to take this thing out to cafés to write these, and can’t wait to take it out on the field while out doing photography and using it to cull my picks from the memory card on the camera and taking more snaps.

The colours on the laptop screen are really good!

The Zoos

We have membership with Zoos Victoria. And one thing we love doing as a family is going to the local zoos on a regular basis. So last week, we went and did just that!

Werribee Open Range Zoo

On Friday, we went to the Werribee Open Range Zoo with the family and some close friends of ours and their kids. I brought my 600mm lens with me and took some nice snaps of birds and animals.

We had a long day at the zoo and allowed the kids to just have fun and play at all the playgrounds.

The new elephant enclosure is great too. It’s a nice walk around and pretty big. It’s much bigger than what the elephants used to have back in Melbourne Zoo.

We didn’t end up going on the Safari tour this time round, as by the time we decided we might have wanted to line up, the queue had an approximate 40 to 60 minute wait — there’s no way the kids would have been patient enough!

When I got home to check out the snaps I took, I realised that I take a lot less photos now and that the majority of them are spot on in terms of focus and composition. With the exposure just right for post-processing without blowing out the whites or blacks.

Here’s a photo of a New Holland Honey Eater I finally got to capture in nice detail on the day. This little guy was pretty curious while trying to figure out what I was doing just standing there with some big object with glass pointing towards it. They really are fascinating birds.

Featured Image
New Holland Honeyeater perched on pale reeds at Werribee Open Range Zoo, Melbourne; black‑and‑white bird with bright yellow wing patch and white eye, facing left against a soft, beige, blurred background.

Melbourne Zoo

On Sunday, out of the blue, we also went to visit the Melbourne Zoo with the kids, and this time while I still enjoyed taking some close-up snaps of butterflies in the butterfly house, I decided to focus my attention on taking photos of the kids as they went about their day!

I want to get comfortable just taking photos out in public and eventually also go out and practice street photography out in the city, snapping people going about their days and capturing intricate patterns in city buildings and architecture.

Anyway, Melbourne Zoo was also a blast of a day out. It’s always fun to get out there.

Even if the kids don’t want to go actual hiking, getting the blood flowing by walking around the zoo for the day is better than nothing at all!

And guess what? While we were there, there happened to be an event themed around How to Train Your Dragon. We got to snap photos with characters from the movie and the kids got to do a treasure hunt while exploring some of the zoo. Great fun!

AFL Grand Final

To top off the week, we had the opportunity to get Grand Final tickets to the AFL. Between Brisbane Lions and Geelong Cats!

Pre-game, was there rapping to the crowd! Was great to see him live. I wonder if he stayed back after the performance to actually watch the full game.

Oh, and was there too!

My brother-in-law is a Brisbane supporter. And every time he comes down to Victoria, we tend to go watch his team play AFL.

I’ve never really been one for sports. I like playing sports, but don’t really follow AFL or know much about any of the teams or have a big interest in it.

However, after having been to a few games to watch and seeing their skill and abilities, I’ve come to enjoy watching the game live.

The atmosphere is great fun to be around.

The first three quarters of the Grand Final were so fun and stressful at the same time to watch! The score was neck and neck, until closer to the end of the 3rd quarter, Brisbane started to take the lead and break out of the grasp of Geelong.

By the 4th quarter, Brisbane had broken well free and Geelong was a broken team. Goal after goal was being kicked and the lead at one stage almost tripled the score of the Cats.

If the game had been like that from the beginning, it would have been a bore to watch for a Grand Final. This game really put both teams to the test, tit for tat and gave me a greater appreciation for the game.

I may just end up becoming a fan and a supporter of Brisbane Lions to boot.

Conclusion

Whilst this week I didn’t get to share with you any fungi photography like I usually do. Mushroom season is over this year and I am focusing on(pun intended) my skills with and other animals. As mentioned earlier as well, I will be getting into some street photography. Or, at least, I would like to give it all a try and see how I feel about it and see if it’s something for me.

If you enjoyed reading, be sure to leave me a comment in the discussion, as I love hearing from those of you who take the time to follow!