Blue Press Journal

Tag: business

  • Cloudflare Outage Briefly Disrupts ChatGPT, Gaming, and Transit Systems

    Blue Press Journal

    SAN FRANCISCO – Cloudflare, the widely used San Francisco-based internet infrastructure company, confirmed early Tuesday morning that it had resolved a technical issue that caused widespread service disruptions, temporarily impacting users of major platforms spanning artificial intelligence, entertainment, and public transit.

    The outage highlighted the critical, yet often unseen, role that companies providing internet backbone services play in maintaining global connectivity and commerce.

    Cloudflare, which specializes in protecting websites from malicious online threats (such as DDoS attacks) and speeding up content delivery, reported the issue beginning early Tuesday. The service disruptions immediately triggered access problems and lag for a diverse range of clients globally.

    Among the highest-profile services affected was OpenAI’s ChatGPT, with users reporting error messages during the outage. Simultaneously, millions of “League of Legends” players faced login and connectivity issues.

    The disruption was not limited to entertainment and technology sectors. Infrastructure failures at Cloudflare also had knock-on effects for essential public utilities, including access difficulties reported by users trying to utilize digital services provided by the New Jersey Transit system.

    Cloudflare acknowledged the event via its official status page and social media channels. The company initially noted that it was investigating a system fault, leading to delayed or dropped connections across its network.

    By Tuesday morning, the company provided an update confirming that the technical issue had been identified and resolved, stating that service reliability had been restored for all clients. Cloudflare did not immediately release detailed information regarding the specific root cause of the system failure.

  • Tariff Uncertainty Proves Fatal for New York North Country Chocolate Company

    Blue Press Journal – Apothecary Chocolates, a specialty chocolate company based in Colton, NY, has closed its doors due to the uncertainty surrounding tariffs and their impact on the global cocoa market. The company’s owner, Shelby Connelly, cited the fear of impending tariffs as a major factor in her decision to shutter the business.

    Connelly founded Apothecary Chocolates in 2017, using European chocolate product Callebaut to create unique chocolate bars and truffles. However, the cost of Callebaut skyrocketed from $90 per 22-pound bag in 2017 to $250 per bag this spring, following President Trump’s announcement of tariffs on cocoa-bean producing countries. Despite efforts to find alternative suppliers, Connelly was unable to mitigate the price increases, which ultimately made it impossible for the business to operate.

    The price hikes were not only caused by tariffs, but also by market uncertainty and fear. Suppliers hesitated to produce and distribute cocoa beans, leading to shortages and price increases, which were too much for the small business to overcome.

    Connelly is quick to acknowledge that other factors, such as COVID-19-related price hikes and increasing packaging costs, also contributed to the company’s demise. However, the tariff-induced panic was the final nail in the coffin. The fact that the issue was not related to cocoa bean production, but rather a global trade situation, made it particularly difficult for Connelly to accept.

    The closure of Apothecary Chocolates has not only affected Connelly but also her three full-time chocolatiers, who have lost their jobs. Connelly, who also works as an acupuncturist, is particularly concerned about the impact on her former employees, who relied on the company as their sole source of income.