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Andrzej Sapkowski's got a new Witcher book on the way, which means he's out and about being his usual scorchingly, wonderfully honest self on the interview circuit. Most recently, he's been at Vienna Comic Con, where he chatted with Austrian gaming website Cerealkillerz about writing (don't do it), videogames (he doesn't play them), and the Netflix Witcher TV series (they didn't listen to him).
"Maybe I gave them some ideas," Sapkowski said when asked if he ever gave Netflix feedback on the show, "but they never listened to me." Emitting what I can only describe as a kind of cackle, Sapkowski repeated "they never listen," before giving an impression of a Netflix exec irritatedly asking "Who's this? It's a writer, it's nobody," and dismissing Sapkowski with an airy wave of the hand.
Not that I think Sapkowski would be very keen to sit down and write a TV show himself. The man's chief love is clearly for novel writing, and even then he sounds laudably committed to kicking back and relaxing whenever he has the opportunity. In fact, he had some advice for budding young writers: "Learn something that is worth doing. For example, repairing computers. That makes money. Forget about writing, it's [a] hard business."
One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War."}), " -0-11/js/authorBio.js"); } else console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); Joshua WolensSocial Links NavigationNews WriterOne of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.
Every time I visit apple.com or netflix.com it says that the connection is not private and doesn't allow me to connect to it. I opened port 443 on my modem (as well as ports 8080 and 2222) so I would be able to ssh to my Raspberry Pi at home from the outside (I also use it to test my website on port 8080).
The security risks of opening ports are really about the risks of the services running on those ports. It is possible that someone discovered your test website and pwned your computer because your site had weaknesses (assuming that this is the same computer that you are seeing the error).
Mirroring means putting the same content on both your laptop's screen and the TV. It's more common and generally easier than screen extending -- where you see different content on both, making the TV an extension of your laptop's screen. Extending is useful for things like having a YouTube video running on the TV while you're working on a spreadsheet on your laptop. It's a bit more involved but still possible depending on your equipment. Mostly we'll be talking about mirroring in this article.
The most basic PC-to-TV connection consists of running a wire from your computer to the HDMI input on your TV. If you have an older TV and an older laptop, there are options like VGA, but that's basically the Dark Ages at this point.
Laptops and PCs have a bunch of different connections, so which wire or adapter you'll need to run depends on what computer you have. If you're not sure, check the manual or Google the model to determine its specs. Here's the rundown.
Thunderbolt, DisplayPort or Mini DisplayPort: All of these usually work with HDMI as well. Thunderbolt is found on many laptops. The first two versions of the connector were the same as Mini DisplayPort, so Mini DisplayPort-to-HDMI cables or adapters should work. Newer versions use the same connectors as USB-C (see the next section). Full-sized DisplayPort is common to Windows PCs. Again, you'll need an adapter or cable with this type of connection on one end and HDMI on the other.
USB-C port: Many modern laptops have only this kind of connection. Usually you'll just need an adapter (USB-C to HDMI) and it will work fine, but sometimes it might not work at all. MacBooks from the last few years should work, as will Microsoft Surface laptops and many others. Note that USB-C uses the same physical connection as Apple's Thunderbolt 3. Check your computer's specs to double-check what connector/adapter you might need.
More wired tips: There are so many varieties of laptops out there, we can't make a blanket statement that a particular adapter will work for your PC. If you're not sure, Google your brand and model before you buy any kind of adapter.
Also, in some cases the quality might be diminished. You also won't likely get HDR or 4K resolution, for example, so if you want the best image quality for videos, you should use a different method to get the videos to your TV, like a Roku or Blu-ray player.
If you have a Windows PC: There's something called Miracast, though it's not as widespread as "all recent Apple products" like AirPlay. Your Windows laptop should have the tech built-in. On the TV side, devices that support Miracast include:
Casting from a Chrome browser: If you don't have a TV device with AirPlay or Miracast compatibility you can still mirror your screen from the Chrome browser on any laptop. It works with any of the devices from the Chromebook list above. Only content on the browser will be visible, and certain websites won't work.
You can also "cast" content from a variety of mobile apps, like Netflix or YouTube, to most smart TVs. This isn't screen mirroring, but if you're just looking to get some content from your phone to a bigger screen, this is an easy way to do it.
If your intention is to play games, the lag from a wireless connection is probably going to prohibit any fun with games that require fast and accurate clicking, like with first-person shooters and racing games.
If you want to up your game a bit, consider a few optional accessories. A wireless keyboard or mouse can go a long way toward making your PC-on-TV experience easier. Here's a couple inexpensive options.
Put your laptop someplace to charge, and just keep a small, light keyboard on your lap. We like the Bluetooth Logitech K380 not least for its long battery life, but also its ability to toggle between devices, like from your laptop to your tablet.
There are a lot of wireless mouse options, but I like this one because it's comfortable, and more importantly, quiet. Instead of click-click-click, it sounds more like a light tapping on a table.
It's easy to do on both Windows and Mac. If you're also trying to send audio, that might need to be switched on as well, either by clicking the speaker button in the lower right on Windows, or in System Preferences on Mac.
On the TV side, make sure you disable your TV's overscan. It might be disabled automatically, but if the edges of your desktop are cutoff, dig deep into your TV's menus for something like "size" or "zoom." If you're gaming, also see if your TV has a game mode. This should help reduce input lag, the delay between you pressing a button and that action showing up on screen. It's also a good idea to lower the sharpness control. I mean, in general this is a good idea, but here specifically it should help you make out fine details better, like text.
Speaking of text, if you're trying to work from your couch it's likely that despite the extra screen size, text is still too small. If that's the case, you can adjust text size on Windows and Mac. You can also use the zoom controls in certain apps, like Chrome browsers.
If you're not getting an image on screen at all, try unplugging the HDMI and plugging it back in (with the TV on), and if that doesn't work, leave it all plugged in but turn the TV off then on. This is trite advice for a reason: it solves so many issues.
Got a question for Geoff? First, check out all the other articles he's written on topics such as why you shouldn't buy expensive HDMI cables, TV resolutions explained, how HDR works and more.
Still have a question? Tweet at him @TechWriterGeoff, then check out his travel adventures as a digital nomad on Instagram and YouTube. He also thinks you should check out his best-selling sci-fi novel about city-sized submarines and its sequel.
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