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Submission + - Experts Say the DOJ Justification For T-Mobile/Sprint Merger Approval Is a Joke (vice.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Department of Justice has approved T-Mobile’s controversial $26 billion merger with Sprint. And while the agency proposed a number of remedies it says will mitigate the competition and job-eroding impact of the deal, experts say the fixes will do nothing of the sort. From the beginning, the biggest issue with T-Mobile’s planned $26 billion merger with Sprint was the fact that it would reduce the number of major U.S. carriers from four to three. Historically, (say in Canada or Ireland) such consolidation results in two things: much higher prices, and a significant culling of jobs as redundant positions are eliminated. The DOJ says it will impose requirements offsetting the competitive harm of the deal. More specifically, the DOJ says that T-Mobile and Sprint will need to offload Sprint’s Boost Mobile and some spectrum to Dish Network, who’ll then attempt to build a new, viable fourth competitor from these scraps to offset the elimination of Sprint from the market. But experts consulted by Motherboard say the proposal isn’t likely to work, and the end result of the merger will still very likely be higher prices and worse service for all.

Submission + - AMD Makes 2nd Gen Ryzen Official, Availability Starting 4/19 (hothardware.com)

Submitted by MojoKid
MojoKid writes: Today AMD announced official details regarding its new mainstream second generation Ryzen family of processors. Pricing and detailed specs show some compelling new alternatives from AMD and a refined family of chips to give Intel even more competition, especially considering price point. These new AMD CPUs are all based on the 12nm Zen+ architecture and, at least initially, include four SKUs. The Ryzen 7 family features 8 cores and 16 threads along with 20MB of cache. Ryzen 7 2700 (65W) has a base clock of 3.2GHz and a turbo frequency of 4.1GHz. The top-of-the-line Ryzen 7 2700X (105W) ups the stakes with clocks of 3.7GHz and 4.3GHz respectively. The new Ryzen 5 family features six physical cores capable of executing 12 threads and 19MB of cache. The Ryzen 5 2600 (65W) has a base clock of 3.4GHz and a max boost frequency of 3.9GHz. The Ryzen 5 2600X (95W) ups those speeds to 3.6GHz and 4.2GHz respectively. AMD says that the Ryzen 5 2600, Ryzen 5 2600X, Ryzen 7 2700 and Ryzen 2700X will be available starting April 19th, priced at $199, $229, $299 and $329 respectively.

Submission + - Reddit bans subreddits related to selling guns, drugs, sex, and more.

Submitted by cornholed
cornholed writes: Yesterday Reddit updated their Content Policy forbidding transactions for certain goods and services. From the formal announcement on Reddit:

As of today, users may not use Reddit to solicit or facilitate any transaction or gift involving certain goods and services, including:

  • Firearms, ammunition, or explosives;
  • Drugs, including alcohol and tobacco, or any controlled substances (except advertisements placed in accordance with our advertising policy);
  • Paid services involving physical sexual contact;
  • Stolen goods;
  • Personal information;
  • Falsified official documents or currency

Bloomberg has an interesting write-up on how Reddit is wading into the gun control debate. See this post on Reddit for a full-list of all subreddits banned.

Submission + - How can I prove my ISP is slowing certain traffic? 1

Submitted by GerryGilmore
GerryGilmore writes: I live in North Georgia where we have a monopoly ISP provider — Windstream — whose service overall could charitably be described as iffy.
Sometimes, I have noticed that certain services like Netflix and/or HBONow will be ridiculously slow but — when I run an internet speed test from my Linux laptop — the basic throughput is what it's supposed to be for my DSL service. That is, about 3Mbps due to my distance from the nearest CO. Other basic web browsing seems to be fine.
I know that this is laughably slow to most /. readers, but it should still be consistent at least.
So, to my question: as a basically pretty knowledgeable Linux guy totally comfortable with the command line (I've written some pretty nice shell scripts and C fragments, plus a SCO UNIX device driver), but I don't know enough about network tracing to be able to identify where/why such severe slowdowns in certain circumstances are occurring.
PS — my goal in gathering this info is to try to pressure my local reps to put pressure (Hah!) on Windstream.
Any other suggestions, etc. are greatly appreciated. (Aside from moving! I live on a riverside lot that is to die for and I'd sacrifice the internet before I'd ever leave.)

Submission + - DIY Explosives Experimenter Blows Self Up, Contaminates Building. (fdlreporter.com)

Submitted by hey!
hey! writes: Benjamin D. Morrison of Beaver Dam Wisconsin was killed on March 5 while synthesizing explosives in his apartment. The compound in question has not been named in news sources, but the accident has left the apartment building so contaminated that it will be demolished in a controlled burn today (Thursday), and residents are not being allowed in to retrieve any of their belongings.

People who knew Morrison say he was unlikely to be a bomb-maker; given his background as a pre-pharmacy major with a chemistry minor he may well have been experimenting with explosives synthesis.

Submission + - Chrome On Windows Ditches Microsoft's Compiler, Now Uses Clang (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Google's Chrome browser is now built using the Clang compiler on Windows. Previously built using the Microsoft C++ compiler, Google is now using the same compiler for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android, and the switch makes Chrome arguably the first major software project to use Clang on Windows. Chrome on macOS and Linux has long been built using the Clang compiler and the LLVM toolchain. The open-source compiler is the compiler of choice on macOS, making it the natural option there, and it's also a first-class choice for Linux; though the venerable GCC is still the primary compiler choice on Linux, by using Clang instead, Google ensured that it has only one set of compiler quirks and oddities to work with rather than two. But Chrome on Windows has instead used Microsoft's Visual C++ compiler. The Visual C++ compiler is the best-supported, most widely used compiler on Windows and, critically, is the compiler with the best support for Windows' wide range of debugging and diagnostic tools. The Visual Studio debugger is widely loved by the C++ community, and other tools, such as the WinDbg debugger (often used for analyzing crash dumps), are core parts of the Windows developer experience.

Submission + - New LTE Attacks Can Snoop On Messages, Track Locations, Spoof Emergency Alert (zdnet.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A slew of newly discovered vulnerabilities can wreak havoc on 4G LTE network users by eavesdropping on phone calls and text messages, knocking devices offline, and even spoofing emergency alerts. Ten attacks detailed in a new paper by researchers at Purdue University and the University of Iowa expose weaknesses in three critical protocol operations of the cellular network, such as securely attaching a device to the network and maintaining a connection to receive calls and messages. Those flaws can allow authentication relay attacks that can allow an adversary to connect to a 4G LTE network by impersonating an existing user — such as a phone number. Although authentication relay attacks aren't new, this latest research shows that they can be used to intercept message, track a user's location, and stop a phone from connecting to the network. By using common software-defined radio devices and open source 4G LTE protocol software, anyone can build the tool to carry out attacks for as little as $1,300 to $3,900, making the cost low enough for most adversaries. The researchers aren't releasing the proof-of-concept code until the flaws are fixed, however.

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