Technologies

Facebook is reportedly using News Feed to improve its image

The social network’s reputation has been battered by numerous scandals.

Facebook is reportedly trying to repair its battered image by showing users positive stories about the company within its News Feed.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that the social network was taking a more aggressive approach as part of Project Amplify, an effort brought up internally in January. The effort comes as the the world’s largest social network responds to a series of scandals that have plagued the company.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg signed off on the project last month, The Times reported.

Facebook spokesman Joe Osborne told The Times that the social network hadn’t changed its strategy and denied a January meeting happened. Osborne also tweeted he told the news outlet that there was «zero change» to Facebook’s News Feed ranking.

«This is a test for an informational unit clearly marked as coming from Facebook,» Osborne tweeted. «It’s not the first of its kind, and is similar to corporate responsibility initiatives people see in other technology and consumer products.» In an image shared on Twitter, Osborne showed blog posts from the company that Facebook showcased as part of the experiment.

Facebook has faced heightened scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators since the 2018 Cambridge Analytica data scandal, which raised concerns about whether the company was doing enough to protect the personal data of its users. The social network has also been under fire for not doing enough to curb the spread of misinformation about elections, the coronavirus and other issues.

Facebook’s image took another beating last week when The Wall Street Journal published a series of stories about the social network’s internal research, including findings that Instagram was toxic for teen girls. The social network pushed back against the reports in a lengthy blog post, stating that the stories «contained deliberate mischaracterizations» of the company’s motives.

Technologies

Apple to Build the Mac Mini in the United States for the First Time

Apple will begin manufacturing the wee desktop computer in Houston later this year.

Houston, we have some production. Apple announced Tuesday that it will be making its Mac Mini desktop computer in the US for the first time, shifting some manufacturing from its Asian plants, and will also increase AI server production at its existing Houston facility.

The California-based tech giant also said it will open the Advanced Manufacturing Center, a 20,000-square-foot facility where students, supplier employees and businesses will receive hands-on training in making Apple products, in the same city.

In its statement, Apple said the new Mac Mini production and increased AI server production will create thousands of jobs.

The Mac Mini will be manufactured at a 220,000-square-foot facility in North Houston. The other main building at that site is where Apple makes AI servers. The new Advanced Manufacturing Center will also be built at that location. The buildings are owned by Foxconn, the Chinese manufacturing giant that Apple initially partnered with in 2000 to produce the iMac.

Sabih Khan, Apple’s chief operating officer, said there will still be Mac Mini production in Asia after the Houston plant is up and running, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

By beginning Mac Mini production in the US, Apple is furthering its pledge to invest $600 billion in the US over four years. That promise, made last August, was in response to pressure from President Donald Trump’s administration to increase manufacturing in the US and to avoid Trump-imposed tariffs.

Apple also said it is sourcing more than 20 billion chips from 24 US factories, and that, by the end of 2026, every new iPhone and Apple Watch will have cover glass made at Corning’s facility in Harrodsburg, Kentucky.

CEO Tim Cook said his company is «deeply committed to the future of American manufacturing,» with production of the Mac Mini marking one step toward that commitment.

The Mac Mini, which initially went on sale in 2005 — CNET was there from the beginning — is the cheapest of the Apple desktops ($599 at the Apple store). It’s known as a BYODKM, an acronym coined by the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs that stands for «Bring Your Own Display, Keyboard, Mouse.» In other words, the Mac Mini — only 5 inches long and 5 inches wide — comes without those peripherals, making it cheaper for those who already have them.

«The Mini can fit in your hand and be everything from an everyday home office computer to a full-on professional content-creation machine,» CNET’s Joshua Goldman wrote in his review of the latest model in 2024.

Goldman also said the Mac Mini is a «perfect pairing» with Apple Intelligence, the company’s AI system that is integrated with iPhones, iPads and Macs.

Market research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners estimates that the Mini accounts for less than 5% of its global Mac sales, according to the WSJ report.

Apple will also ramp up production of its AI servers. The company said manufacturing is ahead of schedule, months after beginning production in October. The servers are used in Apple data centers around the US.

Technologies

Waymo’s Autonomous Ride Service Expands to 4 New Cities

The company has doubled its operating area for robotaxi services over the past several months.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Feb. 25, #990

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Feb. 25 #990.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is kind of tough. That purple category, once again, expects you to spot hidden words that are related to each other within four of the grid words. It’s fun once you see the answer, but tough to figure out on your own. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: What a parent should do for a child.

Green group hint: «____ my dear Watson.»

Blue group hint: Some go by Jim.

Purple group hint: Look for hidden words.