iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 18h

I seem to have a thing for trying out the more difficult recipes - this time making a rainbow colored yule log. But it tasted pretty good with the vanilla cream filling. Learned a few things long way too! 🌈

Photo of a piece of rainbow colored yule log on a plate. It is a rainbow colored and thin cake that has been rolled up, filled with vanilla cream. The cake is sitting on a white plate.

The log is topped with differently colored chocolate candy in the colors of the rainbow. The leftmost candy is red, the next ones are orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and the rightmost ist brown. The rolled up cake itself has similar colors with orange being in the center.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 14/10/2026

Found those two while getting a few things this morning. Lil raptor and a Spinosaurus from Jurassic World. Time to give them a new home :3

Photograph of a grey plastic box with two plush dinosaurs in it. The left one is a Spinosaurus from the Jurassic World franchise. The right one a raptor, also from the same franchise. There's part of another grey plastic box visible on the left. The scene is located in the trunk of a small off-road vehicle.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 12/10/2026

Ye... I think I'm finally making a buy of progress again with my suit :3

Photograph of my Utahraptor fursuit head from the right side. It is on a mannequin head that is standing on a marbled wooden work plate. Its jaw is held open and the teeth are taped off while freshly applied paint on the lips is drying. Various tools are in the background like masking tape, a scissor and a spray bottle.

Photograph of my Utahraptor fursuit head this time from the left side. It is on a mannequin head that is standing on a marbled wooden work plate. Its jaw is held open and the teeth are taped off while freshly applied paint on the lips is drying. More tools are visible: A spray bottle on the left, gloves, a comb, a tube, epoxy modeling compounds or detergent.

Photograph of my Utahraptor fursuit head from the front, looking at the viewer. It is on a mannequin head that is standing on a marbled wooden work plate. Its jaw is held open and the teeth are taped off while freshly applied paint on the lips is drying. Various tools are in the background like masking tape, a scissor, a hot air gun and a comb.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 17/09/2026

In the past people thought that in autumn flies would start to bite and suck blood like mosquitos. Of course that was just mother nature who gave this little critter a sexy straw to poke at living things. Little stable fly I caught and released - looks like a regular fly but it loves your blood (:

Macro photo of a Stable Fly (Stomoxys) caught in an insect catcher. It is rubbing its front legs together.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 06/09/2026

A desert right next to a lush forest? Anything's possible in Unreal Engine! Learning some advanced techniques to create maps in Unreal 5.8 right now.

Screenshot of a scene in Unreal Engine 5. There is a lush forest on the left, right next to a desert on the right. As the landscape transitions, dead grass appears. Mountains are in the background as well as a sky with volumetric clouds.

Screenshot of a scene in Unreal Engine 5. There is a lush forest on the left, right next to a desert on the right. A branch of a conifer is covering the left top part of the screen. As the landscape transitions, dead grass appears. Mountains are in the background as well as a sky with volumetric clouds.

Screenshot of a scene inside Unreal Engine 5. A forest is seen in the background. A desert is in the foreground together with props: A dried out well on the left and a small pavilion on the right. Mountains are in the background together with volumetric clouds.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 05/09/2026

Family seems to enjoy it, half of that tarté is already gone, haha xD

Photo of a tarté Bourdaloue aux pommes, a Parisian apple pie from Bourdaloue street, sitting in a glass pie dish. Half of it is already gone, a cake spatula resting in the glass dish and a long sharp knife of the right side of the pie. The glass dish is on a white and blue dish cloth.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 05/09/2026

According to what I researched, this is a "Tarté Bourdaloue aux Pommes", an apple pie which supposedly originates from Rue Bourdaloue in Paris. 🇫🇷🍎🥧 I learned a few things like what a pâte sucrée is (dough) and how to make a crème d'amande. Could improve some things but it really tastes great!

Picture of a ready baked tarté Bourdaloue aux pommes (French apple pie from Bourdaloue street in Paris) in a glass dish, sitting on a white and blue dish cloth.

Slice of tarté Bourdaloue aux pommes on a white plate. A fork is resting on the left and the piece itself is sitting in the background.

Tarté Bourdaloue aux pommes with a slice removed, sitting in a glass pie dish. A part of a plate can be seen in the lower left corner, both pie and tarté are standing on a white and blue dish cloth.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 01/09/2026

Looking forward to trying out this nice dish I found yesterday! Didn't know Pyrex is a French brand, maybe I should inaugurate it by baking a French apple tarté? 🍎 🇫🇷

The Pyrex glass flan dish without the cardboard inlay, laying on a wooden board used for preparing and kneading dough. The "wavy" rim is visible which gives the finished pie's crust a nice appearance.

Close up of the "wavy" glass rim of the Pyrex flan dish.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 29/08/2026

Gotta tidy up your giant raptor plushie before her hatchday comes - been almost a year since I finished putting her together. First time I ever did something like this and I made a few mistakes - which I'm now taking care of!

Picture of my big raptor plushie Kibou laying on my workbench. Part of the stuffing has been removed and the head turned inside out so seams can be redone.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 28/08/2026

Lemon meringue pie! It was an interesting experience, I've also learned a few things (see next post). There's room for improvement but the pie tasted quite nice. (: I wonder if this would've cheered up Owen? (Probably not because Bongo's shenanigans would have ruined it, hrhr).

Picture of a home made lemon meringue pie. The meringue is evenly browned and shows signs of "weeping" - small beads of caramel which formed on its top.

Slice of home made lemon meringue pie on a white plate. A fork is laying on its right side.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 25/08/2026

Okies... Time for something new: Paleo Pines kind of inspired me to try baking an apple pie! 🍎 🥧 🦕 Never done it, was fun and tastes really great! I'm especially happy the filling did not turn into apple sauce xD

Picture of a ready baked, home made apple pie standing on a red checkered kitchen cloth. It has a dinosaur on it.

Picture of a piece of apple pie on a white plate.

Picture of a cut openhome made apple pie. The filling is visible, it consists of pieces of apple in a thin layer of thick cinnamon brown sugar sauce.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 22/08/2026

Oh... I almost forgot to post this here, meh xD Latest shinies from ChickenWings Dinosaures ( @umbreonoctie.bsky.social and @djigr.bsky.social )!

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 20/08/2026

Guess I've been playing too much Paleo Pines. It seems I got turned into a little Deinonychus - but I couldn't be happier! I wonder what Paleo Pines Sam spotted? :3 Done by @raptorqueen007.bsky.social - thanks a many bunch <3

Digital drawing on me as a Deinonychus from Paleo Pines on a green background.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 20/08/2026

Lil envelope arrived. This can only mean one thing: SKREEEEEE!

Envelope laying unopened on a wooden table. On it are UmbreoNoctie's round pfp sticker and a hand drawn Noctie Sketch.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 12/08/2026

Someone's gnawing on the poor sun...

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 03/08/2026

The colors are actually based on this tulip, the Apeldoorn Darwin Hybrid!

Photo of a group of bright red tulips which feature a black center that has a yellow fringe, the Apeldoorn tulip.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 02/08/2026

Also... have my brand new ref sheet drawn by the really cool artist @warest.bsky.social - thank you so much!!

Reference sheet of Sam Retro-Talon, the Utahraptor. Drawn by Warest! Features an anthro view, a feral view and a portrait with his accessories: Glasses, Goggles and a little necklace raptor and his anklet with the ace flag colors.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 05/07/2026

Just look at that goggle ketchup mustard murder birb showing his pride!! Totally love my new pfp, thank you so much @raptorqueen007.bsky.social ^~^

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 01/07/2026

*puts on Crocodile Dundee hat and clears throat* Aighty, mate! Time for some bloody fine 'mite on the munchies! (But srsly, I love this stuff, it's one hell of a umami bomb <3)

Photo of a jar of original Australian Vegemite yeast extract standing on a wooden shelf.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 19/06/2026

Getting an awesome bunch of super cute stickers from ChickenWingsDino (@umbreonoctie.bsky.social, @djigr.bsky.social) is one thing that makes my day - but when I flipped the envelope to see that Noctie added a little extra onto it... that's flipping awesome!! =D Thank you so much ^~^

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 10/06/2026

... I'll receive some awesome dino stickers. It's already been decided upon. That's right. Awesome stickers very soon!

Screenshot of an order confirmation from Etsy.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 07/06/2026

Soon™️ I had to redo the grey parts two times because I messed it up but how that that's fixed, I can finally carry on with the rest of the head. Never done anything like it before and I'm glad I got some practice using my Andis clipper along the way.

Photo of the front of my fursuit's head, looking at the view. It's a mainly black Utahraptor with red and yellow "feathers" on its head.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 03/06/2026

Just rescued this little beetle from underneath onesie the nets of our raised beds in the garden. It was interesting to see it „come back to life“ after it played dead because it probably thought I was gonna eat it (:

Little beetle laying and playing dead on a black table outside. Its back is shining in a golden green green metallic color which suggests this is a rose chafer.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 27/05/2026

Just arrived at the hotel / apartment after a long day. Looks like Yannick and Vincent made themselves at home already! #DoKomi2026

Photo of my two Dino plushies Yannick the Yutyrannus and Vincent the Velociraptor sitting on the bed of my apartment. A towel is draped over them.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 19/05/2026

I might not be suiting at #Dokomi2026 until next year but I’ll be wearing this really cool badge by UmbreoNoctie again! I kinda wanna get a badge for my big Dino plush Kibou as well, dunno if it’ll be this DoKomi though…

Photo of my Convention badge by UmbreoNoctie featuring my Utahraptor dinosona.

Backside of the badge with Noctie’s Sticker on it.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 12/05/2026

Still in pre-prep for the upcoming #DoKomi2026 - I think it’s been a while since I’ve had a stack of switches like this on the bench x)

Photograph of a stack of networking Ethernet switches with various cables plugged into them. They are from 3com, Juniper Networks and HP and are connected via copper and fiberoptic cables.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 03/05/2026

So this is what "getting help" means in UniFi's terms: You are urged to use an AI and you can ask only 5 questions a day. No wonder so many people are against AI when it's being abused like this. P.S.: Too bad deleting cookies resets the limit. Or using a private window. Genius implementation! =D

UniFi Help Center: You are prompted to ask an "assistant" to help you if you have problems with one of their products, the assistant being an AI agent.

The AI agent has a limit of 5 messages per day. After that, you cannot use the help function until it resets, forcing you to use other means of getting assistance.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 29/04/2026

And here’s the second package from @therbis.bsky.social Yorick the Yutyrannus, also from the Cozy Claws collection! :3 That post card that came with it is really cool, seems like a fluffy murder birb got photographed during their nightly hunting session.

Photo of Yorick the Yutyrannus, a heatable dinosaur plushie from Therbis Studio‘s Cozy Claws collection. It’s sitting on the small cardboard box it came in along with some goodies which were in there too: A postcard showing a drawing of a raptor that was caught hunting during the night, small flyers and some candy.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 26/04/2026

How about some frames and packets to snack on during the night? ^^ Been preparing for the upcoming DoKomi again, this time integrating some Juniper hardware with older 3com gear. We are working hard so you can enjoy the con, no matter whether you’re a visitor or an exhibitor!

Photo of multiple computer networking switches stacked on top of each other on a desktop. Various cables are connected to it, among them copper cables as well as fiberoptic ones.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 23/04/2026

OMG it’s Maddox & Mable from @therbis.bsky.social!! They finally made it after a long trip a they look so cute! I even got the pins since I love collecting them, I can’t wait to introduce those two to their new Dino plushie family ^-^

Photo of the heatable CozyClaws microraptor plushies Maddox and Mable from Therbisstudios. Maddox, the blue Microraptor is laying on the left, Mable, the orange one on the right. On each of their backs are two pins.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 23/04/2026

Just got a package with this logo on it…. I wonder what it could be? :3

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 19/04/2026

Work in Progress =D Still needs a fine shaving and a few other essentials but OH MY GOSH I would have never thought I’d do this lol. One image is blurry because I wasn’t able to properly check my “photo shooting” results until I got the head off again.

Photo of me wearing my Sam Retro-Talon fursuit head. Sadly the image is a bit blurry because I couldn’t really check it while I was wearing the head.

Me standing in front of a mirror, wearing my Sam Retro-Talon fursuit head.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 17/04/2026

Here’s something I wanted to try out for some time: Hard Lemon Soda! Looks like the yeast definitely woke up and is doing its job now :3

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 16/04/2026

What’s better than buying some fresh orange juice? Buying the oranges and making it yourself!

Picture featuring an electric orange juicer on the left and some oranges on the right. Some oranges are still inside a net while 4 have already been sliced in half, ready to be processed. One half orange is already laying in the juicer.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 09/04/2026

Never used one of those before. I need it to repair my bracelet though and the 0.4mm isn’t fine enough.

Close up picture of a small box containing a new 3D printer nozzle (hotend) with a diameterof 0.2mm

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 05/04/2026

Oh also: Happy Easter to those who celebrate it. I’m just going to snack on chocolate bunnies and drinks some of my fav energy juice today I guess… no Easter egg nests to plunder or so (:

Photo of a Lindt golden foil wrapped chocolate Easter bunny sitting on to of a Spezi Energy can. Both are standing in the center of a round Easter egg holder made out of white porcelain while being surrounded by colorful Easter eggs that sit in it.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 05/04/2026

So Telegram added AI stuff to their chat and given how their user experience has been lately I had a feeling this might be same game of “hide premium until people use stuff and like it” yet once more. Well bingo, good thing I didn’t bet my bum on it, else I’d have nothing to sit on now 😂

Screenshot of he mobile Telegram app, asking the user to get Telegram Premium after letting the user interact with new AI features. There is a message that reads:

“Daily limit reached. Get Telegram Premium for 50x more text edits per day.”

And a button with the text “Increase Limit
X50” on it.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 31/03/2026

Wanted to support a 3D printing project on MakerWorld but there’s a problem with the payment processor and the project isn’t receiving any pledges. Me: Let’s contact the creator! Creator: (see pic) Well 10/10… I guess I’ll just spend the money somewhere else then =)

Screenshot of a message shown when trying to contact a creator on MakerWorld. It reads:

Title: Message Disturbance Block

The user has enabled message disturbance block. Only users above Lv7 can send private messages. Please upgrade your level and try again.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 27/03/2026

Ah yes… Michael Crichton’s versions of Velociraptor and Dilophosaurus. Maybe not “scientifically accurate” but I still had to take those two with me while I was doing some grocery shopping today. :3

Photo showing two dinosaur toy figures standing on a table. On the left is a dilophosaurus and on the right a velociraptor. Both are much like in the first Jurassic Park with the dilophosaurus having a frill and the velociraptor being completely scaly and featherless.

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Sam Retro-Talon @sam.raptor-care.center · 25/03/2026

Also got my new Index HMD tether today. Got the system in December 2019 and now the cable is finally failing. Can’t remember what mileage I got out of it but it sure did help preserve my sanity during the tough years of 2020 - 2022.

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