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Ticky box won by a landslide again? Sure Jan... So considering there's a three-way tie and the majority have no strong opinion, we're doing a runoff poll featuring the two January options with the most Mods available and a skip option. This time around ticky box will be celebrating its victory and is not available, meaning you can choose only one.

Poll #34054 Round 157 Runoff

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 18

View Respondents

No but actually, when should we have the next Round?

View Answers

9-11 Jan
7 (38.9%)

16-18 Jan
10 (55.6%)

neither, ask again in February
1 (5.6%)

I literally could not care less
0 (0.0%)

torachan

1. Apparently today is Three Kings Day as someone brought in a king cake to work, but it was actually a really good king cake! I've only had King Cake once before and found both the style of cake and frosting to be not my jam, but this is a Mexican style king cake, which is not actually cake, but rather just very sweet bread, and instead of royal icing on top, it has bits of like quince paste or something. It is still ring shaped and has a plastic baby Jesus in it, though. It was from the in-store bakery of a Mexican supermarket chain and there's one not that far from work so if I remember about it next year I might actually consider buying a whole one myself.

2. Cutie guy.

adafrog

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rocky41_7 posting in

booknook

Title: The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden
Author: Catherynne M. Valente
Illustrator: Michael Kaluta
Genre: Fantasy, fairy tale

First book of 2026! This was The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden by Catherynne M. Valente with illustrations by Michael Kaluta. I have no recollection of how this ended up on my TBR and I was a little skeptical checking it out in the library, but I'm glad I stuck with it because it ended up being a lot of fun and I will definitely check out the second volume.

You might be a little confused in the beginning, as In the Night Garden is a series of nested stories within stories and the style takes a minute to get used to, but it's worth it. Valente unfolds a veritable matryoshka of tales into neat blooms whose petals all fit together. Retroactive reveals and recontextualiations are delightful here.

Valente's vivid prose brings together her fantastical tales with such clarity; she attends frequently to all five senses, so that the reader knows what the characters are not only seeing, but hearing, smelling, tasting, and feeling as well. There's obviously a lot of fairy tale inspiration here, but Valente definitely brings her own flavor. Women are almost always the hero of Valente's tales (though they play the villains too!) and there are such a great variety of them. Monsters abound too, but they get their chance to tell a tale too. (There's also some gentle ribbing at the Arthurian legends, with one witch lamenting about "all that questing" princes get up to.)

I was so engrossed in the work I didn't realize until quite late in the book how little romance factors into it. In a fairy tale inspired book like this, I would have expected a great many characters motivated by romance, but I can only think of two here who are primarily motivated by a love interest, and this delights me too. I'm arospec myself and while I enjoy a good tale of romance, I also weary of how frequently and totally it is centered in stories, so I was really enthused by how little that's the case here.

Friendship and family relationships do make frequent appearances though, and the friendship between the orphan teller of tales and the young boy hanging onto her words is the framing story. Love between mother and daughter, between brother and sister, even between strangers is a common thread.

She also avoids a pitfall I see in various modern fantasy stories which are so keen to explain the magic of their world they strip it of all mystery. Valente's world remains largely unexplained and asks the reader to simply take it as it is, which I found fun and appropriately mysterious.

The style of the book allows Valente to pull in a great many diverse characters and voices, which she does it well. Most impressive though is her ability to pull a cohesive tapestry out of all the various threads she's juggling.

A really fun and unusual story which I enjoyed a lot--a great start to a new year of reading!

mistressofmuses

I am very pleased with how well I did in terms of reading last year. 68 books is more than I’ve probably read in the last five years combined, at least. (I would say last ten years, but maybe that’s an exaggeration. Or maybe it’s not. 2024 I was pretty ecstatic when I barely managed 20 books, and the years before that I feel like were closer to 10 each year. Maybe fewer than that.) Regardless, 68 is definitely a high point.

So now it’s time to sort out the reading goals for this year.

I’ve already talked about some of them (maybe too much!)

I’ve also talked a lot about the constant source of dismay that is my TBR list. That… has only grown, haha. (Both the list and the sense of dismay!) Now that I’ve been reading, I suddenly keep hearing more about other books; I see recommendations based on things I’ve read, or find more books by authors I like, or I give in to the desire to browse a bit and find a dozen things… I’ve also started actually adding things to my TBR list when my friends mention something they like, instead of just saying it sounds good and then pretending that my brain will retain that information, haha.

Figuring out how to read ebooks has certainly been a double-edged sword. I used to easily be able to completely ignore ebook sales! Now when something comes up for $1.99 or $2.99 and I know it’s something I’ve heard good things about, or thought about maybe wanting to read someday, it’s really difficult to resist grabbing it for later! (I often do not resist.) So that has certainly added pretty exponentially to the list. Like, really exponentially. I’ve gotta rein it in, because a couple bucks each still adds up to $$$ eventually.

My list last year was, I think, around 200 or so, once I factored in some most-of-a-bibliography bundles I had. Now that I’ve read 68 books, that list has shrunk down to… 321. :|
(To be fair, that includes some things that are on my wishlist or that aren’t out yet, so that I do not currently have available to me, but even so; those are things I plan to someday read. It does also include some rereads.)

Buuuut, because I figured I should have an accurate picture of things, I decided to also finally count up the indie and other miscellaneous ebooks that I have saved. (Lots of romance/erotica stuff from “stuff your kindle” events and such, some indie books that I bought to support an author I’d talked to/liked reading posts from/etc., the free “first reads” book per month that Amazon lets you pick, etc. ) I have resisted counting those up for years, now. Once I factor in all of those… the total list is at 509 books, and I want to cry a little bit.

Even at last year’s pace that I am very proud of, this is between five and ten years of reading, and I KNOW I will keep adding to the TBR at a pace that outstrips the actual reading that I’m capable of.

Welp. The only way out is through, and all that.

I remind myself again of what I settled on last year: it is a wonderful thing to have so many books that I want to read ahead of me. It is fine for it to be a list I may never reach the end of, because I would certainly never want to run out of things to read. How lucky to have these things available to me!

So what are my reading goals for 2026?

My goals!

The top-level one: read at least 50 books.

(Obviously, I’d like to read more than that, but 68 was a big stretch for me, while 50 is close to a book per week, which feels doable, but still an effort.)

Secondary goal: read more of the genre classics, specifically starting with Tolkien, Le Guin, and Pratchett.

This is one that I’ve talked about before, when I was talking about avoidance and feelings of shame. There are several classics of the fantasy and sci-fi genres that I haven’t read, or didn’t read when I was in a place to appreciate them. The biggest one is Tolkien. Two of the other authors on that list (who I happen to have humble bundles of books by), are Ursula K Le Guin, and Terry Pratchett. They’re authors I want to read, but because I’ve gone so long without doing so, I feel guilty, and then continue to avoid them because I feel bad. Which is, objectively, stupid haha. So this year, I want to at least start reading some of their work.

Additional secondary goal: reread The Murderbot Diaries in preparation for the new one coming out this year.

I love The Murderbot Diaries, and have wanted to reread them anyway. I’m excited we get another book this year, and so want to reread the series.

Less related to the reading itself, but a parallel goal: make sure I’m being consistent with how I rate books. (I’m planning on using that chart I posted a while back as a starting point, weighing the good parts against the less-good parts.) It feels a little wrong that most of what I read gets a 4, when theoretically 3s should be the most common rating. But I do try to curate my list based on what I expect to enjoy, so perhaps it’s not that surprising that I like more than I don’t. But I also should get over feeling like a 3 is “mean” or a bad rating. It’s just in the middle!

Also setting a few extra “stretch goals”:

- Read the 2025 Pride storybundle of ebooks (14 queer-themed ebooks)
- Read 75 books for the year
- Start incorporating some anthologies of short stories into my reading rotation

Some broader goals, which may or may not fully happen this year:

- Read a little more widely in terms of genre/subgenre/within my genres. I’m not sure I’ll branch out super far; I like my fantasy/sci-fi/horror/romance fiction, and I am perfectly fine sticking primarily to my genres of choice. However, a lot of my TBR is pretty strongly curated; it’s by authors I already know I like, or works that I feel fairly confident that I will enjoy. Yet one of the things I was happiest about with my 2025 reads was reading that horror bundle, including books I probably wouldn’t have picked up on their own. While I didn’t love everything in there, it let me discover some books I really did love and some authors I hope to read more of. So… especially when I give in to those $1.99 ebook sales, or when I get to pick a freebie at the beginning of the month, I want to pick some things that might be a bit to the side of what I’d usually read.

- Sort of related: some of the books now on the list are ones that I’ve heard very mixed things about, but that were pretty buzzy. I don’t want to hate-read, or buy books I know I’m not likely to enjoy, ~~fucking Fourth Wing, or fucking pull-to-publish HP fic~~, but there are some that have had surges of popularity and acclaim, and then backlash to the popularity, and that I’ve just never read. A few have come up in the aforementioned cheap sales, and so I’ve gone ahead and added them to my list, even though I don’t know if I’ll enjoy them. This could make for pleasant surprises, or perhaps they’ll balance out all those 4+ star ratings, haha.

(Unfortunate side note to the above: because I just keep adding my new acquisitions to the end of the list, those buzzy reads and such are really… not likely to be terribly relevant anymore by the time I reach them. I may have to figure out a way to rebalance the list a bit, so I can read things when they’re still being talked about, rather than five+ years after the fact. (Not that books become IRRELEVANT after release, and thinking they do is terrible! A good book can matter forever!) But in terms of like… discussion around a book, or seeing how people feel about it, sometimes it’s nice to not be years late to the party, y’know?)

- Allow myself to be a DNFer. I DNFed one book in 2025, and still feel very vaguely guilty about it. But with creeping-up-near-500 books waiting for me, I really don’t want to spend time on things I’m not enjoying or getting anything out of. I don’t intend to DNF just anything that I’m not loving (though maybe I should, considering the length of the list.) I can see value in reading things I don’t like, too. Sometimes it helps me figure out what specifically I don’t care for, which can help me identify why I enjoy the things I do. Sometimes it helps me clarify things for my own writing that I may want to keep in mind. So… I’m okay with reading things I don’t like, but if I’m having to force myself to keep reading, or it feels like it’s turning into a chore, then I’d rather DNF than kill my momentum for reading entirely.

So what is my plan for tackling the list in 2026?

My plans!

My plan for the year is similar to what I did in 2025. I plan to alternate between different “types” of book. I want to alternate between some of those classics I’m planning to read, those pride ebooks, and other books from the TBR list. (And the TBR list is a set list, that I have already picked an order for. This saves me from decision paralysis, haha. It also means that hopefully nothing just gets pushed perpetually to the bottom of the list.)

As before, I plan to have ebook side-reads. Now that I’ve actually counted them up, hoo boy, there are a bunch. (Though I actually have almost as many of miscellaneous genres as I do the romance/erotica ones that I thought dominated the list. Those do have the highest numbers, but not by the margin I expected.) Rather than picking quite at random, I’m also planning to alternate these; random genre ones alternating with the romance or erotica ones alternating with short story anthologies.

Another thing I’m doing for myself as a sort of incentive: when I do reach the end of a “group” of things I have as a goal (so… when I finish Lord of the Rings, or finish UKLG’s Earthsea books, or finish the Murderbot reread, etc.), then I get to pick something from anywhere on the TBR list. That way I can pick something I’m excited for, or that might be a newer acquisition, without throwing off the whole plan, haha.

I do also have seven 2026 releases (all continuations of existing series) that I’m looking forward to, and that will have permission to jump the line as soon as they come out:
Through Gates of Garnet and Gold by Seanan McGuire; the next Wayward Children book - January 06 This came out today!
Butterfly Effects by Seanan McGuire; the next Incryptid book - March 10
Platform Decay by Martha Wells; the next Murderbot book - May 05
Inkpot Gods by Seanan McGuire; the next Alchemical Journeys book - June 09
A Divided Duty by Seanan McGuire; the next October Daye book - September 29
Dead Beat by Leigh Bardugo; the next Alex Stern book - September
Abdication by Jeff VanderMeer; the next Southern Reach book - October (rumored)

The initial tentative TBR:
- ~~finish Manhunt (the final Nightfire humble bundle horror ebook)~~ Done!
- Through Gates of Garnet and Gold (released today, and jumping the line!)
- Ninth House (has been on the TBR basically since it came out, keeps getting pushed back)
- What Feasts at Night (Christmas gift; sequel to What Moves the Dead)
- We’re Here: Queer Speculative Fiction Anthology 2023 (Pride storybundle ebook)
- Hell Bent (Christmas gift; sequel to Ninth House)
- What Stalks the Deep (Christmas gift; sequel to What Feasts at Night)
- Point of Dreams (Pride storybundle ebook)
- The Hobbit (Tolkien!)
- The Map and the Territory (Pride storybundle ebook)
- The Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien!)
- These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart (Pride storybundle ebook)
- The Two Towers (Tolkien!)
- Be the Sea (Pride storybundle ebook)
- Return of the King (Tolkien!)

Starting off with a couple that I just wanted to get to: the first two Alex Stern novels, and the next two Sworn Soldier novellas. Also starting to work in the queer ebooks, and then Tolkien.

That should get me through the first two or three months of the year! (I’d like that to be the first two months; I am guessing it may be closer to three or even four, since some will certainly not be quick reads.)

We’ll see how it goes from there!

Current Mood: sleepy
Current Location: my apartment

sholio

candyheartsex signups close tomorrow! I was going to try to do it this year, but ... I just don't think it's a good idea. I'm starting to really need a break from exchanges, so I'm going to take a couple months off (aside from the ones I already have, which will be over when Festivids wraps up at the end of January) and then show up again when H/C-ex signups open in March.

Amperslash is still looking for two pinch hits! You can find the details here at the Amperslash comm.

• PH 3 - 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018) RPF, 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018), 镇魂 | Guardian - priest

• PH 9 - Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn, Honor Harrington Series - David Weber, The Goblin Emperor Series - Katherine Addison

If any of those sound like you might want to write them, the exchange has already had several delays and fingers crossed it'll be able to get them filled and open on time! I know there used to be some Guardian people around here; I don't know if anyone's still actively writing in it, or might be able to advertise the PH in Guardian-centric fandom spaces?

hannah

Challenge #3: Write a love letter to fandom. It might be to fandom in general, to a particular fandom, favorite character, anything at all.

Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it.

Dear Fandom,

You've changed. That isn't a bad thing. I'd go so far as to call it a good thing.

I remember when we met - properly, that is. Not the shy glances, not the vague hellos, the genuine, meaningful introduction. When I announced myself. I'd better remember it; I did it several times. You had to, in those early days. Everywhere we met, even if I already knew someone there, I had to introduce myself all over again. There was some fun to be had in that.

I remember when it was just us, you and me. At least, it felt like that. When I didn't dare speak your name and hid behind euphemisms and vague half-truths. When the party was small enough you could fit it onto one dance floor. When I think back on it, the excitement of being private and secretive, of having something all to myself, was a powerful feeling.

You're not my secret anymore. You've come roaring out into the world, with everyone aware of you and many people taking you seriously. There's power in that, too. I know I've known you longer than most people out there. It's still not something I want to explain. I don't think I should have to, and even with so many people knowing about you, I'd rather keep things quiet. They know you their way. I know you mine. The way I know you isn't just the way I remember you; it's the way I'm constantly getting to know you. There's things I can say about how you used to be - the phrases, the trends, the arguments of the day, the sudden new shiny thing appearing out of nowhere - and most of those things are pointless, because there's always going to be arguments and trends, with some of those arriving new and some simply wearing new clothes and I love that I've gotten to know you well enough to recognize which is which. To parse where the impulse comes from. To perceive the motivations. What's happening now would've happened back then and it'll happen in the future.

That's part of what I love about you that I've only recently fallen in love with. I couldn't have loved it back when we met. I didn't know you well enough.

I miss the thrill that came from knowing you, just from knowing you. But people meeting you for the first time are feeling that same thrill themselves. I've learned enough to know that. I've learned enough to love that people are always falling in love.

Best,
Hannah

two log cabins with snow on the roofs in a wintery forest the text snowflake challenge january 1 - 31 in white cursive text

Current Mood: nostalgic
Current Music: Innocent - Our Lady Peace

jenab

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Posted by Michelle Ehrhardt

https://lifehacker.com/tech/lenovo-gaming-laptop-can-stretch-with-push-of-a-button-ces-2026?utm_medium=RSS

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Choosing a gaming monitor is a tough choice. Do you want a standard, 16:9 monitor that takes up a small amount of desk space, or a larger 21:9 or even 32:9 ultrawide monitor that takes up more space, but will also show you more of your game? This goes double for laptops, where ultrawide models are few-and-far between, and are absolutely gigantic. Lenovo's new concept for CES, the Lenovo Legion Pro Rollable, aims to give you the best of both worlds.

When the laptop is closed, or when you first open it up, the Legion Pro Rollable looks like any other gaming laptop. It's a little thick, with RGB keys and a full numpad, but otherwise isn't notable. It's also got a bog standard, 16:9 aspect ratio. But with the press of a button, it can extend to a 21:9 ultrawide screen. And while it's not quite as fancy as the 32:9 screens the most spoiled gamers use, you can actually extend it further to a 24:9 screen if you want.

That trick is possible thanks to a rollable OLED panel, something Lenovo's shown off and even released before, but for laptops that extend vertically, and aren't meant for gamers. The transformation is quick and quiet, and Windows doesn't even need time to adjust to match your new aspect ratio. It kind of feels like you're unfurling a scroll.

In total, the screen space can extend from 16-inches in 16:9 (or "Focus") mode to 21-inches in 21:9 (or "Tactical") mode to 24-inches in 24:9 (or "Arena" mode). Aspect ratio numbers don't always match screen space measurements that neatly, but hey, they're easy to keep track of here.

Having up to 24 inches of screen space on-the-go could be a life changer, and not just for gamers. Currently, I'm writing this article while traveling, which means I'm stuck with just my laptop screen. I'm sorely missing the second monitor I have at home, and being able to swap my screen into an ultrawide mode could easily fix that issue. Plus, I could just shrink it back down to a more standard form factor when it comes time to pack it away.

The only real catches would be weight and price. I don't have specific numbers for how heavy this is, but it didn't feel too different from any other gaming laptop in my hands. Beefy, but not back-breaking.

As for price, here's the kicker. Because this is just a concept, there's no pricing or availability info, since it's not guaranteed to come out. Lenovo does say the unit I saw is based on a top-specced Lenovo Legion Pro 7i, though, which currently goes for around $3,000.

That would be a lot to pay, especially because the extending screen would probably add a couple hundred dollars to the price tag. I wouldn't put too much stock into the demo unit right now, though—if this does make it to market, you'll probably be able to configure it to better match your needs.

Personally, though, I might be willing to pay that $3,000. Not only is this truly unique in the space, but it also conveniently solves one of my biggest pain points when I have to use my laptop, which is the lack of a two-screen setup. It could even be useful for desktop gamers looking to make the transition to portable gaming—no more having to choose which type of monitor you want.

https://lifehacker.com/tech/lenovo-gaming-laptop-can-stretch-with-push-of-a-button-ces-2026?utm_medium=RSS

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Posted by Michelle Ehrhardt

https://lifehacker.com/tech/lenovo-just-quietly-announced-the-most-powerful-steam-deck-yet-ces-2026?utm_medium=RSS

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2025 was a great year for handheld gaming, with the Nintendo Switch finally getting a sequel and older handhelds like the Nintendo DS getting unofficial successors from companies like AYN and Ayaneo. Steam Deck fans did take a bit of a hit towards the end of the year, when Valve announced it was discontinuing the $400 Steam Deck LCD, but for gamers on the other side of the price spectrum, Lenovo just announced the most powerful SteamOS handheld yet.

It's technically not a new device, but instead, a reissue of a handheld from last year. Called the Lenovo Legion Go 2, it packs up to an AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme chip, up to 32GB of RAM, and up to 2TB of storage. It's also got detachable controllers like the Nintendo Switch, and uniquely, an 8.8-inch OLED display. And now, you can buy it with SteamOS officially installed out of the box (last year's release only came with Windows).

If it's anything like the Legion Go S with SteamOS preinstalled, that means booting it up and navigating through your games will feel just like using a Steam Deck, which is great news for anyone who's a fan of Valve's lightweight and simple-to-use operating system, but is starting to feel like it might be showing its age. Not only should it prove easier to use than last year's Legion Go 2 with Windows installed on it, but the more powerful chip means the handheld will be able to play games much more smoothly and at higher resolutions than any other official SteamOS device yet. The hardware isn't made by Valve, but effectively, this is now a new, ultra-powerful Steam Deck sequel, and should be able to bump up your fps by up to dozens of frames in the right circumstances. For a measure of how transformative this can be, when the Legion Go S got SteamOS, it went from one of my least favorite handheld gaming PCs to my best pick for most people.

Even those who already have the Windows version could see a performance increase, since SteamOS typically takes fewer resources to run than Windows, which can translate to smoother gameplay. You can see my review of the Legion Go 2 with Windows for more there, where I compare it to SteamOS devices. With this hardware combined with this operating system, this might be the most powerful handheld gaming PC you can buy right now, period.

The only catch? This is still a bulky device, and while the SteamOS version of the Legion Go S saw a price cut over the Windows version (likely due to Valve not charging a licensing fee like Microsoft), the SteamOS version of the Legion Go 2 actually starts off more expensive than the Windows version, at $1,199 rather than $1,099. That could be due to shortages on key components like RAM, but it is disappointing to see an already high price tag get higher when the precedent for SteamOS versions of these devices is for prices to come down.

Still, the cheapest Windows model for the Legion Go 2 is actually a bit hard to find anywhere other than Lenovo's official store right now anyway, so it's possible that model could face its own price bumps in the near future as supply dwindles. And above four figures, one could argue that quality matters more than an extra $100 on the price tag.

Granted, you could get a Windows version and install SteamOS on it yourself, but doing so is a bit arduous, and can result in some unintuitive button mapping. The version with SteamOS installed out of the box, meanwhile, has a dedicated Steam button set-up from the get go. You'll have fewer headaches and a more intuitive setup by going for it.

Aside from that button and the operating system, everything else about the device is the same as the Windows version, but that's not a bad thing. I called it "overkill" in my review, but that large OLED screen is gorgeous, and perfect for gamers who want the best looking graphics possible on the go. The original Legion Go 2 was my favorite premium gaming handheld of last year, and the model with SteamOS installed on it is only set to make it better.

Valve gamers who think the Steam Deck OLED or Legion Go S aren't quite ritzy enough for them should stay tuned for the official release date, currently expected for June. This could be the premium handheld gaming PC they've been waiting for, marrying SteamOS convenience with modern specs that even the similarly priced Xbox handheld can't match. Finally, there's a "Steam Deck" for the 1%.

https://lifehacker.com/tech/lenovo-just-quietly-announced-the-most-powerful-steam-deck-yet-ces-2026?utm_medium=RSS

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Posted by Michelle Ehrhardt

https://lifehacker.com/tech/ces-2026-lenovo-new-ai-frame-gaming-monitor?utm_medium=RSS

It's easy to take this for granted, but not everyone is able to immediately look at a shooting or strategy game and find the reticle or map. Gaming UIs can get complicated, and for less-seasoned gamers, they can be pretty intimidating, too. Lenovo's new concept "AI Frame" monitor, shown off at CES 2026, aims to make some games a bit more approachable, although experts might consider it cheating.

Hardware-wise, this is a normal 21:9 ultrawide gaming monitor, but it's not actually meant to be used like that. Instead, you play your game in a left-justified 16:9 rectangle that takes up most of the screen, and in the remaining space, the AI will automatically zoom in on part of your gameplay and show a blown-up version of it. For instance, it might show you a zoomed-in map in a MOBA, so you don't have to look at the tiny mini-map in your main gameplay to know where you or your team are. Or, it might zoom in on your reticle in a shooter, letting you better see your targets. There's even enough space left over for you to pull up an internet browser and look up some help.

Lenovo AI Frame Monitor showing a map in a MOBA

Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt

It worked pretty well for me in-person. Again, it doesn't actually generate any visuals, but instead just blows up the most important parts of your game screen so you can more easily glance at them or see them in more detail. That does mean resolution can suffer a little, but that's what your main gameplay screen is for. For getting across information, it's a good option.

Plus, while some games will automatically know what to zoom in on, there's also a generic zoom mode that will just blow up whatever your mouse is hovering over, so it can work with any content. The AI Frame is being pitched for games, but you could also use it like a digital magnifying glass on an article in your browser, for instance.

Lenovo AI Frame monitor displaying a shooter

Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt

The catch? It's maybe not exactly "fair" to play this way. While a bigger map in a MOBA might just save you some eyestrain, an AI-assisted zoom on a shooting reticle basically lets anyone act like a sniper, regardless of what character you're playing or gun you have equipped. For me, characters in the distance that were basically ants became immediately visible on the AI Frame, which made gunfights much easier to handle.

I suppose we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. The AI Frame is just a proof-of-concept for now, so there's no hard specs sheet or pricing or release date as of yet. But if this does ever actually make it to market, Lenovo might have to contend with companies like Valve. The developer has banned similar "this is arguably cheating" peripherals from its games before, and the AI Frame could be the next battlefront in an ongoing war between peripheral makers (who want to sell you on the idea that buying their products can make you a better player) and developers (who, at least theoretically, want all of their players to be on an even playing field).

https://lifehacker.com/tech/ces-2026-lenovo-new-ai-frame-gaming-monitor?utm_medium=RSS

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Posted by Michelle Ehrhardt

https://lifehacker.com/tech/ces-2026-lenovo-yoga-mini-i?utm_medium=RSS

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Mini PCs are great for people who want minimal desk setups, but aside from the Mac Mini, they're not really something that appeals to the average user. Most are boring and still-slightly-chunky boxes, come from lesser-known companies like Geekom, and are built either for enterprise or thrifty gamers. What's a Windows user who doesn't want to swap to Apple to do? This year, Lenovo's launching a new Mini PC with some of that Apple sleekness, to try to fill that niche.

Unveiled at CES, the Lenovo Yoga Mini i is a cute little circle that fits in the palm of your hand and weighs just about 1.3 pounds (with small variations depending on how you configure it). A slightly textured, silvery-gray paint job covers the entirety of the device, and ports are generous but stay in dedicated areas on either the rear or side of the device. The rear's got slots for an ethernet port, a USB-A cable, an HDMI cable, and three USB-C cables, with one set aside for power, one for Thunderbolt 4 accessories, and one for all the rest. The side has a 3.5mm headphone jack (thank goodness) and another Thunderbolt 4 port.

Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt

It's an overall attractive appearance, which is important when you're selling something based on form factor, but the kicker is that the power button is actually on the side of the device. It sounds simple, but that's bound to drive people who bought the latest Mac Mini, which has its power button underneath the computer, crazy with envy. Better yet? That power button also doubles as a fingerprint reader for easy sign-ins.

Lenovo Yoga Mini rear view (left) and power button view (right) Credit: Lenovo

Specs wise, it comes decked out with the latest Intel Core Ultra X series AI chips, up to 32GB of RAM, and up to 2TB of storage. It also features a WiFi 7 adapter, two speakers, and even a microphone built-in, for zippy internet connectivity and easy audio calls. That's more than enough performance for the average person, and probably even outclasses my years-old full-size desktop. Don't expect to play the latest games at max settings on it, but this should be roughly equivalent to a high-end productivity laptop if you go for its most powerful configuration options.

To push it over the edge, the Yoga Mini i also has its own "one more thing." There's actually an accelerometer with a touch sensor inside this thing, so it can work with Lenovo's Smart Connect ecosystem. The company says you can use this to take calls by tapping on the PC, use certain touch gestures to adjust the Yoga Mini's performance mode, or use a customizable double tap to do other actions, like calling up an AI chatbot.

Taken all together, the smooth appearance, user-friendly design tweaks, and tiny size make for probably the closest thing I've seen to a Windows version of the Mac Mini yet—and that goes for the pricing, too. The Yoga Mini i will start at $700, which is $100 more than the base Mac Mini, but is still pretty affordable for those kind of specs in the middle of a memory shortage. Lenovo hasn't said how expensive it could get if you go for extra storage or RAM, too, and it's possible its mid-range configurations could come in at less expensive or around the same price as the Mac Mini's.

Personally, I was seriously considering downsizing to a Mac Mini for my next computer, but with the Lenovo Yoga Mini i, maybe I'll stick to Windows for at least a little bit longer. If you're in the same boat, Lenovo expects to release the Yoga Mini i sometime this June.

https://lifehacker.com/tech/ces-2026-lenovo-yoga-mini-i?utm_medium=RSS

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Posted by Michelle Ehrhardt

https://lifehacker.com/tech/ces-2026-lenovo-auto-twist-laptop?utm_medium=RSS

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Usually, you can open a laptop screen, you can close it, and that's it. But Lenovo's newest laptop, debuting at CES 2026, can also rotate from side-to-side, open and close itself, turn into a tablet, and talk to you while doing it.

That's all thanks to a small motorized hinge in between the screen and the keyboard, giving the laptop full, self-powered 360-degree movement. It's an evolution of a previous concept laptop, but now it's finally coming to market as the ThinkBook Plus Gen 7 Auto Twist.

The idea is obviously there for a bit of a cool factor—you can knock twice on the laptop lid to open it—but there's practical use, too. If you're on a video call, you could walk around in front of the laptop, and the screen will track your movement, ensuring you stay centered in the webcam's frame. And yes, you can set the screen to only follow you, or you can have it follow anyone who gets in front of it.

Lenovo Auto Twist AI chatbot demonstration

Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt

There's also a generic ChatGPT chatbot that Lenovo is working on for it, but it won't quite be ready for launch. It'll pop up a big pair of cutesy eyes on screen, and the laptop will know to nod the screen up and down if the chatbot says something positive, or shake it from side to side if it says something negative.

The catch to all this is that the motor's a bit on the loud side, so I maybe wouldn't use it too much in a crowded office—but it's nice to see one of these concepts actually make it to market.

This is actually the second time Lenovo's made good on one of these flashy new designs, after it turned the rollable laptop it showed off at last year's CES into reality with the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable. It's also clear the company's not done iterating—I saw a new version of a rollable laptop alongside the Auto Twist, and while it's still just a concept, it's more compact than the one Lenovo released, and can show some key performance information on the laptop's lid.

Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt

As a computer, the ThinkBook Plus Gen 7 Auto Twist should also be pretty powerful, too. It'll come equipped with the latest Intel Core Ultra processors, up to 32GB of RAM, up to 2TB of storage, and a 14-inch OLED screen. Gimmicks aside, this is a workstation, through and through.

And while specs like that will cost you a pretty penny, it looks like the auto twist feature won't add too much to the cost. The ThinkBook Plus Gen 7 Auto Twist is set to launch in June 2026 starting at $1,649. That's actually a significant savings against other, non-twisting Lenovo laptops announced during this CES, like the new ThinkPad X1 Carbon, which has similar specs but is slightly more AI-oriented and has a more premium chassis. That laptop will start at $1,999 when it hits the market in March.

https://lifehacker.com/tech/ces-2026-lenovo-auto-twist-laptop?utm_medium=RSS

writtenwordsaloud posting in

fandomcalendar

( You're about to view content that the poster has marked as potentially inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

alchemise

I wrote for True Detective: Night Country this year and kind of just sunk myself into this world for a couple of months. Did a bunch of research on polar night, only to have to acknowledge that the show just hand-waved whatever it wanted so I followed suit. I love these characters so much that I had an absolute blast writing this.

Endless Night (4657 words) by alchemise
Fandom: True Detective: Night Country (TV)
Relationships: Liz Danvers/Evangeline Navarro
Characters: Liz Danvers (True Detective: Night Country), Evangeline Navarro, Peter Prior, Rose Aguineau, Bee Malee
Additional Tags: Case Fic, Horror, Cosmic Horror, environmental horror
Summary: Liz hadn’t intended to watch the first sunrise of the year.

( fic )

lifehacker_feed

Posted by Michelle Ehrhardt

https://lifehacker.com/tech/ces-2026-xreals-new-gaming-glasses-put-huge-gaming-monitor-on-face?utm_medium=RSS

I've been a fan of XREAL for a while, but outside of people who are really into AR, it's still a lesser-known company. Lifehacker has given XREAL's glasses stellar reviews before, but in the company's new collaboration with Asus, it's aiming to expand its market. The new ROG XREAL R1 AR glasses are the first XREAL glasses aimed specifically at gaming (though its other models aren't exactly bad for gaming), and they basically put the best gaming monitor you could ever want right in front of your face.

You wear these like a normal pair of sunglasses, and you get a massive 171-inch virtual TV floating in a black void right in front of you. It's an OLED, so there are crisp colors and high contrast, and the resolution is a respectable 1080p. Most importantly, the glasses max out at a 240Hz refresh rate, meaning they can display up to 240 frames per second.

Taken all together, that's better than pretty much all of the full-size desktop monitors I have at home, but these are portable. They're barely heavier than my reading glasses, too, and you can set your virtual screen to either be anchored in one spot (meaning it won't follow your head) or stay in front of your eyes at all times. I prefer the former, since it shakes around less.

The writer using the ROG XREAL R1 glasses

Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt

I also didn't get any of the usual problems I have with AR or VR, like light bleed or fuzzy graphics. Aside from the black void, this really did feel like looking at a real-life screen. And you don't even have to use the full 171 inches, if you prefer something smaller.

Aside from the glasses, Asus is also shipping these with a dock, to help you better use them with your various devices. It has two HDMI ports and one DisplayPort connection, so you can have up to three devices ready to go at one time. It's probably the most realistic way to simulate gaming on a movie theater screen, and it's only set to improve down the line. Asus told me these glasses will eventually support XREAL's 2D-to-3D conversion tech, which just came out on the new XREAL 1S glasses and automatically converts any image to 3D. The effect uses AI to determine how to split the image between your eyes, but it was so convincing to me when I tried it with Mario Kart World that it felt like it was officially developed by Nintendo.

And on that end, I have confirmation from XREAL that the ROG XREAL R1 glasses are compatible with the XREAL Neo mobile dock and battery pack. This is much more compact than the dock that comes with the headset, and, if you plug the glasses and the Nintendo Switch or Switch 2 into it at the same time, it will allow you to play your Nintendo console in AR. Even Asus' dock can't do that without another Switch dock acting as an intermediary first. Plus, this will charge whatever device you're playing at the same time.

The ROG XREAL R1 AR glasses will release later this year, although pricing isn't available quite yet. They're expected to release in the first half of this year.

https://lifehacker.com/tech/ces-2026-xreals-new-gaming-glasses-put-huge-gaming-monitor-on-face?utm_medium=RSS

bluerosekatie posting in

smallfandomfest

Title: everything a man is supposed to be
Author: bluerosekatie
Fandom: The Protomen (Rock Opera)
Pairing/Characters: Dr. Light & Emily Stanton & Protoman & Megaman
Rating/Category: Gen, background Het
Prompt: Protomen, The (Rock Opera), Emily & Dr. Light & Mega Man & Proto Man, Family fluff (Happy AU)
Spoilers: N/A, but addresses characters/concepts from act 2.
Summary: Blues welcomes his new brother and starts to teach him about their home and family.
Notes/Warnings: Fic is archive-locked to avoid AI scraping.

Read it on Ao3 here!

maevedarcy posting in

gamechangerhr

( You're about to view content that a community administrator has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

alisx

A moment of levity in this oft-dire world. Beautiful.

Leave a comment.⁺

senmut

AO3 Link | In the Demon's Claws (2219 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Drizzt Do'Urden & Vierna Do'Urden
Characters: Drizzt Do'Urden, Vierna Do'Urden
Additional Tags: Ensemble Cast, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Typical Violence, Resurrection
Summary:

Things in the Hall went slightly different, but still Drizzt chooses the road, and learns of one more quest.

In the Demon's Claws

Drizzt Do'Urden gazed out over the lands, thinking about everything endured. If Regis had not escaped sooner — no, it didn't bear thinking about. What he knew had let them disarm the trap, though not without personal cost for Drizzt himself. He had caused his father's death, brought about the deaths of his House from afar, and now… personally slain his sister, both by dam and sire.

His only consolation had been seeing her less a zealot, more sane in her eyes even, as the light faded, letting him cast true blame upon Lloth once more. It had been Catti-brie who supposed the entire raid had been concocted as but one thread of a web, given how near it had been to losing Wulfgar to the yochlol, how strange that they had chosen to come for Drizzt inside the dwarven stronghold rather than upon the road some night when he would be alone.

Bruenor had thundered, and Wulfgar had pledged support, with Regis managing advice based on his studying Artemis Entreri while the human consorted with drow. Aid had come from the region, and it would be a long time before Menzoberranzan could stir from its cesspool of hate and anger.

Catti and Wulfgar needed to work upon their relationship. Regis still had much recovery to make from his ordeal. Bruenor had a much expanded clan to lead to prominence.

Drizzt?

He looked back to the road for salvation from that which ate at his soul. A passing remark from one of the Harpells had reminded him of unfinished business concerning a crystal… and a demon that had been defeated once.

There had never been any chance of an ending that led anywhere but to the Demonweb Pits, Vierna had known. Either she would arrive in favor, and become one of Lloth's own servitors in some form —

— or she would arrive in full disfavor to be tortured.

She had learned three things as she endured the torture, and then the bartering deal with the balor.

Her father was not in the Demonweb Pits. This had been clear while she was still tortured under the servants of Lolth. He would have been an instrument in those tortures, as she had, again, fallen into that strange emotion surrounding Zaknafein, on seeing how true to himself her brother had remained.

There was the fact that Lloth had never been worth her devotion. This point — she'd had sight of it in the fall of her House — had clarified when the religious madness fell from her eyes even as her brother was lowering her body to the floor. If she had only managed to learn it earlier, and used her power to protect the two males she'd felt strong emotions over!

And, somehow, this balor intended to use her against her brother. Errtu could not keep himself from alternately salivating over his plans against Drizzt Do'Urden or raging in a froth of madness over what the impertinent drow had done to him.

She would just have to help her brother beat the demon at his own game. Vierna was looking forward to his death at Drizzt's hands.

Drizzt's concerns about the demon had proven too correct. He finished cleaning Icingdeath, his mind turning over the words spit at him by the fiend before its death. The gloating, brash taunts of what Errtu meant to do with him — after Errtu finished rending the soul of one that Drizzt cared for — had been too in line with what he knew of the balors. They were incapable of getting over a defeat that had been meted out to them.

Only? Errtu had an advantage over him. The only person's soul that could possibly be at risk to the demon was his own father. Drizzt would no more leave the soul in peril than he ever would have risked the man in life, had he but been a little wiser.

He didn't dare not follow up on this, no matter the source. Since Drizzt had left Mithral Hall, burdened by the suffering, deaths, and his own actions, he'd been seeking a purpose. He would recover the damnable crystal, and trek to a land known to hold the knowledge of the ages. Surely he could learn what was needed to save his father and destroy both threats if he but tried hard enough.

With resolve etched in every line of his body and soul, Drizzt plunged into the frozen north once more, intent on his goals.

The Crystal Shard couldn't be tricked by Drizzt. Nor could it offer him what he wanted, not in a way that ever tempted the drow. The psychic effect of merely carrying it in a quiescent state was enough to make Drizzt constantly question his own mind as he traveled. Guen, on her visits to the Material Plane, also kept a watchful eye on him.

It was a necessary evil, bait for the demon that was seeking vengeance. After the not-so-minor trouble of getting back to it, finding it, Drizzt was just as relieved to find his next destination after a stop in Longsaddle. He'd kept the artifact's presence carefully hidden, indulged Harpell curiosity as some were in residence now that he had not met before.

"If you're dead set against leaning into the alliances you've made in Silverymoon," Bella began, the brighter eye rolling with what she thought of that and the dull one fixed on him, "you need to head for Tethyr, a small kingdom down there with a cathedral being built.

"The priest of Deneir, Chosen they say, will point you to the knowledge you need to deal with this demon you need to be rid of."

"It seems I should see if Captain Deudermont will aid me in my journeys, then," Drizzt said, not keen on going so far south once again, but he was no priest nor wizard, to be able to banish the demon for good… and with luck, this cleric might well know how to rid the realms of the Crystal Shard.

With the right tools, Drizzt Do'Urden would be willing to wager against the evil ones, and try to reclaim his father's soul from the Abyss.

"You could become a cleric of sufficient rank in the decades you have left. Or a wizard of strength," Cadderly mused at Drizzt, even as the wizened Chosen walked beside Drizzt in the garden, aware that Pikel and Ivan both were still keeping an eye on the solitary drow.

"They say time stretches in the Abyss, and I feel that taking the time to do so would further torment the one I seek to rescue. Likewise, I will make no bargain with a Power to become a warlock."

Cadderly looked at Drizzt then, leaning on his staff as they paused. "And yet you refuse your goddess Her offer?"

Drizzt flushed, looking down, and Cadderly knew the ranger had not expected that to be known. When he looked up, it was with an expression of sadness. "She has been good to me, and I will serve Her so long as She walks the path I view as right.

"But I do not trust myself with a spark of who She is."

"Which is of course why She would most want it to be you, for that very distrust, but. You have closed that door — for now — and having a pressing need to save one you care for. The vile artifact's destruction is what you seek, but not before you are able to barter with and defeat the balor.

"A complicated task you have set yourself, but I will set people to the research of it."

"Thank you; it is all I can ask."

Vierna felt something change in her captor. He was eager, close to success of some kind? She felt weaker than she had even in the moments after Lloth forsook the House. How could she aid her brother like this?

When the demon back-handed her for daring to spit in his direction, she lolled in her bonds, feigning unconsciousness and made the choice to reach out to a different power. Never again would she submit to the divine… but bargain with one? That she could — and would! — manage.

~Vhaeraun son of Araushnee and Corellon, god of drow,~ she prayed, all of her singular focus on inviting the Named One to take notice of her. Even now, out of favor and having renounced her former goddess, the names burned in her mind, invoking pain.

Pain that she further used to fuel her call to the one that could make her plans work — she would not fail! Her brother, the boy she had taught and raised, needed her, and this time, she was embracing that.

Little did she know that her very need to aid a male sibling was the right spark to bring the god's attention to her.

"As long as your darkness holds," Danica coached, "the thing will be destroyed."

Drizzt looked past her to the rather unassuming man with them, very little giving away his draconic nature.

"And Icingdeath will guard me from the flames," he reminded himself.

"Yes, a superb frostbrand," Vaeros said, having inspected the magic on the blade to be certain.

"The breach of magic has made it possible for the balor to come to a simple summoning," Drizzt recited. "I will offer the artifact, and then we will be 'attacked', at which point the crystal will burn while I hold darkness — and evade the enraged demon while protecting my father."

"Presuming that the captive is brought, and that it is your father," Danica agreed. "Should be simple for the drow that decimated Menzoberranzan's might."

Drizzt stared at her, then saw the twitch of her lips, and gave into the laughter at that outrageous elaboration of his part in the war of Mithral Hall.

"We will do this, Ranger, on our shared love of the Wilds," Vaeros said, once the laughter had worn off, with the effect of living Drizzt lighter in spirit.

"So we shall."

It was not Zaknafein.

That small fact half-broke Drizzt's willpower at first. He wanted to angrily decry that he didn't care about Vierna.

His heart knew that for a lie.

She looked mangled in the grasp of the demon, and trickles of blood had formed where the clawed hand pierced flesh.

She was conscious, and her eyes locked on his.

Distantly, he could remember the plan even as the sealed case with Crenshinibon hung from an outstretched hand, the demon gloating within the summoning circle.

His mind toured over early, harsh lessons. He recalled the gentle touches that had been rare and treasured. He remembered that someone had to have told Zaknafein of his speed and skill with both hands. He recalled the look of sanity in her eyes, at the end of her life, blood spilling from a wound he'd made in her.

Something in her eyes told him she trusted him, and that she was ready for whatever came next.

"Let her go, and you can have what you want."

"You think I am unaware of the treachery lurking in your soul, drow?" Errtu demanded, hand closing more —

— and Vierna uttered a quick phrase in formal drow, one that called upon Vhaeraun, god of the male drow. The next moment, she was small, transformed into a bat that eluded the demon's grasp, fluttering valiantly into the hood of the cloak Drizzt wore.

He prayed that was enough to protect her, as he gave himself over to the Hunter, Icingdeath more than eager to drink the blood of this balor once more. Errtu had no chance to evade, or even dispel the darkness, as Drizzt furiously fought for his life, the crystal's end, and for the daughter of his father.

Vierna awakened at the feeling of healing being pushed into her, the kind that traced fire in her veins, counter to her very nature but helping abate the last tortures' marks upon her.

She found herself looking into the purple eyes that had entranced her since his birth.

"We're in a small cave. I didn't want to impose on my allies," he told her softly. "You turned back to drow after the fight ended."

"I did not ask for it to be a permanent change," Vierna said, but she reached for his hand on her shoulder. "You can heal?"

"If my patron agrees, yes," he said, taking her hand and shifting so he could sit more comfortably and hold it. "Vhaeraun?"

"I promised Him I would become a potent cleric for Him, if He let me aid my troublesome little brother against the balor."

Her smile on those words provoked one from him.

"I thought it was my — our father."

"And yet, you still pushed through with the plan you had made." She squeezed his hand. "We will have peace, Drizzt. I swear it on my continued life."

He contemplated her words a long moment, then laid down on the bedroll, sliding an arm under her neck, tucking close to give her the warmth he had.

"Good. There's been enough strife for us both, I think."

She closed her eyes, shifting a little to be comfortable, and decided that he was still strange to her.

But she had become something different and wanted to embrace the strangeness with him.

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Page Summary

xandromedovna in fic_rush - Round 157 Runoff
torachan - Daily Happiness
adafrog - Epiphany
rocky41_7 in booknook - Book review: In the Night Garden
mistressofmuses - Reading goals for 2026:
sholio - Fandom things
hannah - Stand up on your own.
jenab - Movies 2026
lifehacker_feed - CES 2026: This Lenovo Gaming Laptop Can Stretch From 16:9 to ‘Ultrawide’ With the Push of a Button
lifehacker_feed - CES 2026: Lenovo Just Quietly Announced the Most Powerful 'Steam Deck' Yet
lifehacker_feed - CES 2026: Lenovo's New 'AI Frame' Gaming Monitor Might Actually Just Be Cheating
lifehacker_feed - CES 2026: This Tiny Computer Is like a Mac Mini for PC Users
lifehacker_feed - CES 2026: This Laptop Can Nod Yes or No When You Ask It a Question
writtenwordsaloud in fandomcalendar - HAZBIN HOTEL: Smokescreen 2026
alchemise - fic post - Yuletide
lifehacker_feed - CES 2026: XREAL's New Smart Glasses Put a Massive Gaming Monitor Right on Your Face
bluerosekatie in smallfandomfest - Fanfic, Protomen, The, Dr. Light & Emily & Mega Man & Proto Man, Happy AU, Family Fluff
maevedarcy in gamechangerhr - ...it's you | a Hollanov gifset
alisx - Wednesday @ 11:36 am
senmut - Fic: In the Demon's Claws

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