God help us, there are so, so many Lenovo Yoga laptops out there now. There's the Yoga 9i, the Yoga Pro 9i, the Yoga Book 9i, and now this new arrival'the Yoga Slim 9i. So much Yoga. So much 9i. If you can't keep them all straight, take comfort in the fact that I can't either. The need-to-know on the Slim 9i is that it's intended as the premiere offering in this lineup, including a hip design, Copilot+ PC features, and a feature that hides the webcam behind the LCD using what's called camera-under-display (CUD) technology. (This isn't the first time we've seen this'ZTE notably had a phone several years ago with a similarly hidden selfie camera.) Before I dig deeper into that camera trick, let's talk about the rest of the package. Though it's crafted mostly from aluminum, the cover of the 14-inch laptop is made from highly reflective shimmering glass in a hue of 'Tidal Teal.' It's eye-catching but may be too flashy for some, which is probably why glass lids went out of fashion a few years back....

When it comes to choosing a yoga mat, there's more to it than meets your third eye chakra. Sourcing a stylish design might look good in a yoga class, but a mat that feels easy to move on and offers essential grip is key to perfecting your poses. From dynamic moves such as dolphin plank or crow pose to a restorative savasana at the end of your practice, using a supportive and comfortable yoga mat can make all the difference. 'Grip is important to me when deciding which mat to use so that I won't slip when the yoga session gets sweaty,' says celebrity personal trainer Peter Maciver of PMac Fitness. 'Material that feels good underhand is also crucial as I want to be able to lie down and feel relaxed and balanced. Choosing a mat with durable materials that don't easily damage after frequent use and can be easily wiped clean will also help prolong the life of the mat.' Flexibility is also something to bear in mind when deciding which yoga mat to buy. A mat that travels well and isn't too heavy to carry to class might be an important factor in your decisionmaking. Or perhaps you're after a design that you can use for Pilates, body balance, and a body pump class too' If so, look out for a versatile mat that is built to cater to all forms of exercise, not just pigeon pose....

Lenovo calls the Yoga 9i a 'tried and true' laptop, and since its 2020 launch, it has indeed been a dependable go-to for users who want a computer that can fold in half and turn into a tablet on demand. Last year in his review, WIRED reviewer Scott Gilbertson called the 2023 edition of the machine 'everything a flagship laptop should be,' and while it's got plenty of competition on that front these days, its latest incarnation is still an all-around winner. Most of this laptop's specs haven't changed much, if at all. The 14-inch OLED touchscreen packs a solid 2,880 x 1,800 pixels of resolution, and the device carries 16 GB of RAM and a 1-TB solid state drive. (Upgrades are available to screen resolution and RAM.) Intel's Arc integrated chipset is your only option for graphics, but the CPU provides the laptop with its most notable enhancement'the AI-infused Intel Core Ultra 7 155H. Port selection hasn't changed: Two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, one USB-C 3.2 port, and one USB-A port are all side-mounted. Even the awkward, side-positioned power button has yet to be relocated. I spent more time than I'd care to admit pressing the various custom keys to the right of the keyboard'including controls for eye care mode, power profile, audio profile, and even a customizable 'favorite app' button'trying to figure out which one turned the machine on before I located the slim on/off control on the side. (Again, none of these are new, and some remain more useful than others. All of them are easy to hit by accident.)...

When I became a dedicated reader of the 16th-century French writer Montaigne, in 2005, I was new to writing and relatively new to motherhood, with a 3-year-old and a newborn, and about to publish my first book. I had purchased copies of Montaigne's essays from secondhand bookstores before, but I decided to jump into the deep end right away with the 900-page volume of The Complete Essays of Montaigne, translated by Donald M. Frame. For the next 10 years or so, I would read Montaigne every day, sometimes for only 10 minutes, and later, when my children were older, for 30 minutes to an hour in the afternoon, before I picked them up from school. I might not have understood the significance of this routine at the time, other than that Montaigne's work provided a brief reprieve from a life overcrowded with the responsibilities of being a mother, a wife, a writer, and a professor. The volume of The Complete Essays was in no need to be finished in one sitting, or within a specific time frame. What could be better for any author than for his lifework to become a reader's lifework, too'...