Syria’s Internet appeared to have been restored on Wednesday afternoon after a two-day blackout, residents and state media said. State media blamed the blackout on a technical fault but activists and a watchdog accused the regime of deliberating cutting the connection to shield military operations

syria Devin Coldewey NBC News May 7, 2013 at 6:13 PM ET Google Transparency Report Google’s traffic data shows a total loss of connectivity with Syria beginning just before 3PM Eastern time. War-torn Syria has gone almost completely offline in what appears to be an Internet blackout, according to traffic readouts by Google and global Internet monitoring service Renesys.

NYU professor Nouriel Roubini interviews Google’s Jared Cohen and Eric Schmidt (from left) during an event Monday in New York. (Credit: Shara Tibken/CNET) NEW YORK–Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt on Monday tried to dismiss fears about “Big Brother” knowing too much about everyone. Many companies, including Google, have been developing new technology that users literally wear.