Author: Donster

Conversation with Dick Cole: So Far, So Good

L1/Japan, Tokyo Raid/1942/pho 12Dick Cole, the man who copiloted the lead B-25 on the famous 1942 Doolittle Raid

By Michael Dolan @ HistoryNet.com

After he spent those 30 seconds over Tokyo that made him world famous, Richard Cole—Colonel Jimmy Doolittle’s copilot on the innovative April 18, 1942, raid against the Japanese capital—parachuted into China. With help he reached India where, for the better part of a year, he flew transport planes carrying cargo over the Himalayan “Hump” between New Delhi, India, and Kunming, China, and back, then transported glider-borne troops in an invasion of Burma.

Between those assignments Cole met, wooed, and wed fellow aviator Lucia Marta Harrell. Retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 1966, the former B-25 pilot took up orange growing in Comfort, Texas. His neighbor Warren Reed—who once had been a P-38 pilot—was growing grapefruit. For 14 years, the two former airmen delivered produce to a circuit of customers. Now, at age 100, Dick Cole travels to aviation-related events, has closed down more than one hotel bar, and at home enjoys rummaging in his barns. He recently sat for a phone interview facilitated by daughter Cindy Cole Chal.

Read on…

(Originally published in the July/August 2016 issue of World War II magazine. Subscribe here.)

Military History | Donster | |
Rainbow Six: Siege Starter Edition Now Available

rainbowsix-siege-logoStarter Edition priced at $15/£12. Available only until June 19.

By Andy Chalk @ PCGamer

If you think Rainbow Six: Siege looks cool—and if you don’t, Shaun’s excellent “Why I Love” column on the sweet stress of waiting may change your mind—but don’t want to drop $50 just to give it a try, the new, PC-exclusive Rainbow Six: Siege Starter Edition might be just what you’re after. It’s available now on Steam for $15/£12, and includes all of the maps, modes, weapons, and other features from the standard edition, with no restrictions or time limits.

The only difference between the Starter and Standard Editions is in how the Operators are unlocked. The Starter Edition will include just two Operators instead of the usual 20, randomly chosen from a pool of six of the game’s most “intuitive” for newcomers: Rook, Sledge, Ash, Fuze, Mute, and Smoke. Additional Operators can be unlocked for 12,500 renown each (a much higher rate than the Standard Edition) or purchased outright with a $35 R6 Credits bundle.

The Starter Edition also comes with 600 R6 Credits that can be used to unlock two more Operators of your choice (from the pool of six) or on other stuff if you prefer, and it works with the Rainbow Six: Siege season pass, which gives access to eight post-release Operators that will be added over the course of the year.

So it’s Rainbow Six: Siege with fewer guys and more grinding, then, although if you’d like a more specific breakdown of what’s what, a Starter Edition FAQ is available here. There is one other point to be aware of, however: Even though this seems like a pretty good idea to me, the Starter Edition will only be on sale from today until June 19.

First-Person Shooters Rainbow Six: Siege | Donster | |
Call of Duty: Black Ops III The Giant Bonus Map Now Available

call-of-duty-black-ops-3-logoThe Giant, a remake of Der Riese, one of the all-time fan favorite Treyarch Zombies maps, is now available for a la carte purchase for Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 players on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. The Giant was previously only available as a bonus, included with the Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 Juggernog Edition, Hardened Edition and Digital Deluxe Editions, as well as part of the Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 Season Pass. Now, however, the map is available as a stand-alone offering for eager Zombies fans.

The Giant takes players back to a secret research facility of Treyarch’s classic Der Riese Zombies map, picking up the Zombies story with classic characters Dempsey, Nikolai, Richtofen and Takeo.

Additionally, The Giant is now available for individual purchase on PlayStation 3, with availability on other last gen platforms to follow.

For more information, and to view the “The Giant” Zombies Bonus Map Trailer visit the Activision Games Blog.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 First-Person Shooters | Donster | |
Just Cause 3: MECH LAND ASSAULT Available Now

just-cause-3-logoNEW GAMEPLAY TRAILER AVAILABLE NOW

Just Cause 3: MECH LAND ASSAULT, the second content pack from the Air, Land and Sea Expansion Pass is out now for Expansion Pass Holders, and will go on sale as a separate add-on for everyone else on June 10th. To celebrate the release, the first new gameplay trailer has been made available today showing Rico causing chaotic destruction in brand new, gravity-defying ways.

MECH LAND ASSAULT takes Rico Rodriguez to the new island of Lacrima, home to an abandoned eDEN research base and a prison camp run by the mysterious Black Hand. Defended by huge powerful Mechs, Rico will need the new Bavarium Power Core rifle to disable their shields and hijack them. Once inside, Rico can use their powerful cannons and the GRIP Gravity Guns to hurl and smash the enemy into pieces.

Features:

  • Pilot two types of powerful Mech and drive them anywhere in Medici.
  • Unleash the Mech’s Gravitational Remote Influence Projector or “GRIP” to attract and hurl objects at your enemies.
  • Jump and smash helicopters from the sky or ground pound tanks with the GRIPS’s “Force Pulse” attack.
  • Prove your skills and earn upgrades in Mech arena challenges.
  • Call in a Rebel Mech buddy for extra firepower when the going gets tough.
  • Includes a powerful new energy weapon, the Bavarium Power Core rifle.

The MECH LAND ASSAULT pack is priced at $11.99 / €11.99 / £9.49 whilst the AIR, LAND & SEA Expansion Pass is available for $24.99 / €24.99 / £19.99. The final content pack – BAVARIUM SEA HEIST – will be released by the end of summer 2016, released one week early to Expansion Pass holders.

Watch the Launch Trailer on YouTube here.

More game information available at the official Just Cause 3 website.

First-Person Shooters Just Cause 3 | Donster | |
D-Day Sale! Discount on all Western Front Games!

d-day-logoOn June 6 1944 the Allied forces under the supreme command of Eisenhower launched the largest amphibious invasion in history. The goal was to land in France and finally liberate mainland Europe after so many years of Nazi occupation. Many men died on that day and performed the ultimate sacrifice in the name of freedom. One year later, fascism had been defeated and peace had been restored to the world.

We at Slitherine will always remember. We just make games, but in our own small way we can help other people keep the memory of such heroic and tragic times alive, in the hope they will never be repeated.

Over the years we have released a number of games set on the western front of World War II. We are giving a 30% discount on them, starting from today, until the 6th of June! The discount is valid only in our stores (Matrix Games, Slitherine & AGEod). For those games which are available on Steam you’ll also be given a free Steam key. All you have to do is write “D-Day30” in the coupon code field when you’re buying the games from our stores.

Click here for the complete list games on sale!

 

Strategy and Wargaming | Donster | |
Thermaltake Toughpower DPS G 1200W PSU Review

thermaltake-toughpower-dps-1200wBy Aris Mpitziopoulos @ Tom’s Hardware

Thermaltake introduced the Toughpower DPS G Platinum line that consists of three new, semi-digital and fully modular PSUs made by Enhance Electronics. The highest-capacity 1200W model is our test subject in today’s review.

Read The Review Here

Hardware Power Supplies | Donster | |
Just Announced Hardware for 3 June 2016

newhardware-iconCheck out these latest hardware announcements for today from around the web. Also included are some hardware news bits, and on some days, a few rumors tossed in for good measure. Click on the links below to read the official press release, visit the products web page, or to an independent news source.

Hardware | Donster | |
Combat Air Patrol 2 Price Announcement

combat-air-patrol-2-logoSim155 Ltd. has announced today the pricing of its exciting new air combat simulator, Combat Air Patrol 2 (CAP2). Combat Air Patrol 2 (CAP2) is a flight and naval combat simulator game for PC (Steam/Windows) where you pilot the AV8B Harrier II.

As launch is fast approaching we thought we had better let you know how much CAP2 will cost. The Early Access price will be $29.99. Its worth noting that Steam converts the price for different regions based on factors other than exchange rate – so for example the UK price will be £22.99 and the Euro price €27.99, both are slightly more than the current exchange rate. Some regions will be less.

Remember – the last competition before launch is closing today, just head over to the hub and hit follow for your chance to win a free copy.

You can follow the development of Combat Air Patrol 2 on Facebook. Find out more about Combat Air Patrol 2 at the games official website.

Combat Air Patrol 2 Combat Flight Sim | Donster | |
The Intel Broadwell-E Review: Core i7-6950X, i7-6900K, i7-6850K and i7-6800K Tested

intel-broadwell-e-cpuBy Ian Cutress @ AnandTech

What would you do with more CPU cores? This is a question I see posted from an Intel employee on a yearly basis, and it actually is a difficult question to answer depending on your computing background. A gamer might not need more than four or six, and a number of workstation use cases are now GPU accelerated. Anyone never in a pure compute situation might not need more than four or six cores.

But what about virtual machines, complex encoding, or non-linear functional compute? How many cores are too many? Intel has recently released the Broadwell-EP based Xeon E5-2600 v4 processors, running up to 22 cores, and the smaller silicon die used for the 10-core parts has today filtered down to the prosumer and high-end desktop (HEDT) markets in four different parts, making up the Core i7 6800 and 6900 series. For today’s review we’ll be taking a look at all four.

Read The Review Here

Hardware Processors | Donster | |
Just Announced Hardware for 2 June 2016

Computex-2016Check out these latest hardware announcements for today from around the web. Also included are some hardware news bits, and on some days, a few rumors tossed in for good measure. Click on the links below to read the official press release, visit the products web page, or to an independent news source.

Hardware | Donster | |