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Syria Reportedly Back On the Internet

Posted by timothy on from the back-to-your-scheduled-programming dept.

angry tapir writes "The Internet in Syria was back on Saturday, a day after it was reported that two-thirds of Syrian networks had been cut off from the rest of the world in the wake of civil unrest in the country."

21 of 47 comments (clear)

  1. Ahhhh... so Slashdot is hosted in Syria by thomasdz · · Score: 5, Funny

    That explains all the:

    Error 503 Service Unavailable
    Service Unavailable
    Guru Meditation:
    XID: 258631157
    Varnish cache server
    over the past couple of days.

    This explains everything!

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    1. Re:Ahhhh... so Slashdot is hosted in Syria by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

      OT, I know. But because we haven't heard an official statement from Slashdot on this matter, can someone please tell me why we're having so many of these Varnish cache server errors? What is it, some problem with the cluster environment? Regardless, this all seems to have started with the new format roll-out.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    2. Re:Ahhhh... so Slashdot is hosted in Syria by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

      OT, I know. But because we haven't heard an official statement from Slashdot on this matter, can someone please tell me why we're having so many of these Varnish cache server errors? What is it, some problem with the cluster environment? Regardless, this all seems to have started with the new format roll-out.

      I'm surprised by all this Varnish stuff. That's old technology. I'd think that Slashdot could at least spring for some cheap polyurethane coatings.

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    3. Re:Ahhhh... so Slashdot is hosted in Syria by mangu · · Score: 1

      I'm surprised by all this Varnish stuff. That's old technology. I'd think that Slashdot could at least spring for some cheap polyurethane coatings.

      The code in Slashdot is so primitive it's still in the linseed oil stage.

    4. Re:Ahhhh... so Slashdot is hosted in Syria by wulfmans · · Score: 1

      Yesterday I posted a story about the 503 error to slashdot. I knew they would not post it. censorship is alive here.

    5. Re:Ahhhh... so Slashdot is hosted in Syria by Sulphur · · Score: 1

      OT, I know. But because we haven't heard an official statement from Slashdot on this matter, can someone please tell me why we're having so many of these Varnish cache server errors? What is it, some problem with the cluster environment? Regardless, this all seems to have started with the new format roll-out.

      I'm surprised by all this Varnish stuff. That's old technology. I'd think that Slashdot could at least spring for some cheap polyurethane coatings.

      Maybe its unvarnished. Then again, maybe it needs a second coat.

  2. Re:Syria Reportedly Back On the Internet... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    What is their country code? .sy? I wonder if gettingbu.sy is taken..

  3. Re:Syria Reportedly Back On the Internet... by Fluffeh · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Syria left the internet, and nothing of value went with it.

    Syria came back, and pretty much nothing of value came back with it

    Think not of what you do for the internet, but what the internet does for you.

    Sure, there might not be smash hit websites hosted in Syria, but considering that many people in Syria use the internet no differently to Europeans or Americans (or Canadians like yourself) and it is part of their daily lives, you should be happy for them that it is back. Rather than trying to work out the value that a person puts into the internet, why don't you try to see what value the internet makes to their lives, their freedoms and their quality of life.

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  4. What's the excuse? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    C'mon, we all know that the true interesting story is how they explain the outage. Since it cannot be censorship, what was wrong with the internet in Syria?

    Betting pool anyone? I call "atlantic cable".

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:What's the excuse? by grantek · · Score: 1

      Betting pool anyone? I call "atlantic cable".

      I'll bet "there was no outage"

    2. Re:What's the excuse? by the+entropy · · Score: 1

      I'm in Syria, and they said 'security reasons', actually, they were quite forthcoming with this. People know what's happening and they're not dumb, the government knows this too and it doesn't try to fool them on these issues. Instead, they're betting on people being too scared of the crackdown and/or being too scared of the country turning into Iraq or Egypt so they'll not ask for change.

      So far, this approach is working in Aleppo(which is where I am) which is mainly why this city has remained calm. Aleppo's economy is mainly one of trading and industry(As it's close to the border of Turkey). It is also home to the Sunni elites who are allied with the government. The recent events have hurt its economy really badly as trade routes are closed off and people and companies have cut back spending on almost everything while things unfold. Thus, people here are scared of change and instability so, so far, they haven't joined into the protests.

  5. It does appear to be... by SomePgmr · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...and the videos coming out are pretty awful.
    http://mashable.com/2011/06/04/syrian-internet-restored/
    You've been warned.

  6. Re:Syria Reportedly Back On the Internet... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The only thing more ignorant than his post is your post assuming that he is American.

  7. better info by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 2, Informative

    renesys: info about network
    saturday's news: Syrian forces kill 6: protesters - Government eases internet stranglehold
    current news: Syrian forces kill 35 in fresh crackdown: report

    'Be patient Syria, the victory is written by the blood,'

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
  8. Re:Syria Reportedly Back On the Internet... by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

    Syria left the internet, and nothing of value went with it.

    Syria came back, and pretty much nothing of value came back with it

    That is very much a matter of perspective.

    For example, for an average Chinese, if all US servers were to implode tomorrow, nothing of value would be lost, either.

  9. Re:Syria Reportedly Back On the Internet... by Rakshasa+Taisab · · Score: 2

    Applying the same logic to the OP, let's disconnect him from the internets as he brings no value to it.

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    - These characters were randomly selected.
  10. Re:I find it interesting that... by burris · · Score: 1

    June 5 is the anniversary of the six day war, a.k.a. "Naksa Day." The protest had been planned for weeks/months and it isn't the least bit surprising that the day was chosen for protest.

    People who aren't allowed to return to their homes have been expelled. If their home is in Israel, how could it be anyone's fault but Israel's that they can't return? Humans have a right to return to their homes and not be expelled so their homes/land can be given/leased to different ethnic group. Do you consider non-jews to be human?

  11. outsourced to ... by sourcerror · · Score: 2

    With so many meditating gurus, I thought it was outsourced to India.

  12. Re:And this is why we have the 2nd amendment by tehcyder · · Score: 2

    I'd suppose that the important thing is that these situations can rarely be viewed in black and white.

    Armed people killing unarmed people in cold blood are always the bad guys.

    --
    To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  13. Re:And this is why we have the 2nd amendment by Yvanhoe · · Score: 1

    These sources (which may also not be reliable) have claimed that the vast majority of the population (~90%) supports the current government and a natural flow of reform.

    Heh, that's why you want elections and democracy. If he had just resigned and made a nationwide election, he could have been elected with a nice score apparently.

    The fact he didn't probably means that the current leadership do not believe these numbers.

    --
    The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
  14. Why did they disconnect? Why did they reconnect? by lpress · · Score: 1

    Syria was off the Net for 28 hours. Did they disconnect because of world wide revulsion at the YouTube video showing the tortured and mutilated body of 13-year old Hamza Ali al-Khateeb? Did they reconnect because they realized that it was a futile effort? Was it the cost to the economy, the "dictator's dilemma?" See http://cis471.blogspot.com/2011/06/net-is-back-up-in-syria-why-did-they.html for discussion.