Dino-Byte!

Just a little update

2012-01-26T21:29:00.000Z

Woohoo, so I guess I'm vlogging now! I'm new at this >.<

Please vote for me on King of the Web! You can vote 10 times a day!

Dino-out!

-Louibyte<3

Lazy Food: the 1 Minute Chocolate Cake

2011-11-23T16:45:00.000Z

A cake that is easy enough even for the laziest of people. Also a great quick snack to make in-between gaming ^.~

Here is what you will need:

2 Tablespoons
2Teaspoons
1 Coffee Mug
Plain Flour
Sugar
Cocao Powder (or Nesquik)
Baking Powder
Salt
Instant Coffee Crystals like Nescafe
Milk
Vegetable Oil/ Cooking Oil
Cooking Spray (Optional)
Vanilla Extract (Optional)

Just follow the steps in this video and let me know how it turned out!

Dino-nomnom<3

-Louibyte

An Intro To Pocky

2011-10-27T01:47:00.000+01:00

New video on what you need to know about Pocky. Just though I'd get this video done as I will be talking a lot about Pocky, so it would be good if you guys know what it is. ^.^

Hope you like it! Subscribe, comment and thumbs up, and you will be rewarded with eternal love and hugs <3

Dino-ciao ^.~

-Louibyte

London MCM Expo

2011-10-27T01:07:00.001+01:00

As some of you may or may not know, this weekend will be the MCM Expo here in London.

The MCM is a convention of all great things nerdy! The main focus of the convention is anime, manga and cosplay. However there is a section for comics (mostly smaller publishers), video games, D&D, and an artists corner. It is definitely a great place to go and shop for hard to find merchandise, such as anime dolls, action figures, cosplay costumes (though store bought ones are never as good as self made ones) and of course Pocky and other Japanese goodies. It is also a great place to meet new people as you will rarely find a friendlier group of people, almost all of whom are giving out free hugs.

I myself have been to the MCM twice and have found it a great place to walk around, hang out, meet new people and generally stalk other cosplayers. I definitely have to say my main reason for going there is the cosplay, not only to see others, but also to cosplay myself! There are many events centered around cosplay including a masquerade and some workshops on how to make different things such as armors and weapons. They even have a cosplay emergency corner with everything you need in case your costume should fail you. Also, don't be shy when you are there. If you see an awesome cosplayer go over and tell them or ask for a picture! I promise you, you will be making their day ^.^

Merchandise is also one of my main reasons to go to the MCM. There are so many stands all over that sell everything a nerd could want. Just to name a few: hard to get candy and snacks, anime and manga of all kinds, awesome t-shirts, plushies, figures, toys, weapons.. and that's not even all of it O.o I do however need to heed a word of caution: Not all merchandise is authentic and official. I know many of the plushies are made by super talented artists who go to the MCM to sell their creations, and then there are many sellers who have fake Hello Kitty dolls or Pokemon figures. Personally I don't care much about brand names as long as the items look good, and not like a knock off. I have bought some of my favorite posters and plushies at the MCM and the prices are really cheap compared to what you find online. Speaking of cheap, don't be afraid to haggle with sellers, especially if you are buying multiple items. I have gotten some incredible deals, especially on the last day of the convention as everyone wants to get rid of their merchandise.

Another thing I always stock up on when I go to conventions is candy and snacks. There are many different stands that sell things like Pocky, so it's important to find which ones are selling them at the most competitive price. I usually buy a small pack of Pocky (standard flavours such as chocolate, strawberry, milk, etc) for about 80p. You can often find offers that let you buy 4 for the price of 3 or similar, so if you are planning on buying a lot, take that into consideration. I would also definitely suggest that you try something new when buying foods at the MCM. Pocky is not the only thing out there, there are other candies and cookies that taste amazing and are just waiting for you to discover them ^.^

So here are my top tips for going to the MCM Expo:

Try to be open minded, and willing to try new things!
Bring a backpack or bag if you are planing to buy stuff.
Bring lots of cash. Most places don't accept cards.
Don't be shy! Conventions like this are a great place to meet like-minded people, and everyone is usually very friendly.
Don't forget your camera! You will be seeing some amazing people and things! A picture with Darth Vadar is definitely a keeper.
Either arrive a bit early or a bit late so that you can avoid lines for picking up tickets.
Check out the events schedule and plan ahead. Some shows require you to book a seat as there are limited spaces.
Lastly, don't go too crazy with the shopping. While some things are really cheap, others can be rip offs, so don't let the excitement of seeing it all make you buy something you will regret.

I hope this little guide to the MCM will help you prepare for future trips to the expo! Remember, if you can't make it this weekend there is an MCM Expo in London every year in May and October. Not to mention their Expos in other cities such as Manchester and Midlands. You can check out all the info on dates and tickets here, and hopefully I will see you guys there one day!

Dino-Bye ^.~

-Louibyte

Harry Potter Park!!

2011-10-23T23:05:00.000+01:00

Check out my video from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

Also here are some pictures from my trip. Hope you enjoy, and don't forget to comment!

Dino-Later ^.~

-Louibyte

TokyoPop Flop

2011-10-02T20:37:00.005+01:00

So this is actually pretty old news, but it seems that a lot of people are unaware of it, so I wanted to put it out there. TokyoPop, a major manga publisher (they gave us manga such as Fruit Baskets, Sailor Moon, Chobits, etc.), has closed it's American and UK publishing offices as of April/May 2011. Essentially this means that all manga published by TokyoPop, will no longer be published in English... This will include manga such as Alice in the Country of Hearts (one of my favorites v_v, ), Trinity Blood, Hetalia Axis Powers, Maid-Sama! and many more. The good news is, some of these manga will be sold to new publishers and should start coming out again in English. I am very relieved that Blizzard has already sold the rights to their manga to Cryptozoic Entertainment, however it is a bit unclear whether paper copies of the manga will continue to be released, or if they will only be available digitally. Not all series are lucky enough to have such a huge audience however, so this may not be the case for every series. This means Alice in the Country of Hearts might never hit our book shelves again. While we wait to see what the future holds, there are quite a few websites that provide fan translated scans of untranslated manga. If you, like me, pre-ordered Alice volume 6 from Amazon, but never got to read the conclusion of the series, here is a link to a decent translation. The great thing about sites like this, is that often you will get to read your favorite manga in English before they even come out! HOWEVER, I do want to say that if you enjoy reading a particular manga, please go out and buy the paper version when it gets released. If you don't then what has happened to TokyoPop is going to keep happening to other publishers and authors. They need to know people are reading their manga.

One last thing. Unfortunately, Amazon has yet to take down their newest ToykoPop books. This means that you can buy them on "pre-order" and they will be dispatched when available. But, they are not set to be available any time soon, unless a new publisher picks up the series, so you might be waiting for a very long time... In other words, now would be a good time to cancel that order.

Hopefully, all of TokyoPop's major (and minor) manga will get picked up soon for the English speaking market *fingers crossed*. In the meantime please do go out there and support your favorite manga series by buying their books. Lately it seems the English manga market has taken a turn for the worse, and it would be a shame to see similar things happening to other publishers.. If that is the case, I guess this would be a good time to start practicing reading Japanese ^.~

Dino-out!
-Louibyte

NOM CANDY!

2011-09-28T00:05:00.001+01:00

Just wanted to give you guys a taste of what's to come (Don't lick your screen!!!.. or do ^.~) Lot's of yummy Japanese snacks and candy, and the best places to get them. Testing candy is a hard job.. but someone's got to do it right?

Dino-Bye<3

- Louibyte

First Post!

2011-09-27T19:40:00.004+01:00

Hey guys and welcome to my blog! ^.~

I just wanted to give you all a heads up on what's to come here at Dino-Byte. Basically, I have been known to have quite a few "nerdy" interests, and well, I figured I would share all of them with you. I know there are a lot of people out there with AWESOME interests like me, and hopefully you can use this blog to find like-minded people, read up on nerdy news or find new fun things to try out.

Mostly I am going to be writing about Anime/Mange, Cosplay, candy, sci-fi and fantasy books, tv shows and movies, fun tech toys, drawing, coverage of any expo or events I attend + lots more. You may also have noticed a tab called "Lazy food" where I will post tips, and fun&fast recipes for food ANYONE can make at home. "Lazy food" can be anything from the "5 minute cake", to snacks which are perfect for eating while gaming.

Speaking of gaming, I have dedicated an entire separate blog to gaming called Dino-byte Games So please do check that out as well.

You have lots to look forward to, including posts, pictures and videos from my Youtube Channel, so don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss any of it!

^.^ Dino-byebye!

-Louibyte