Disable banner ads in Skype for Windows

Disable banner ads in Skype for Windows

When you're talking with friends, family, or coworkers, the last thing you want to be annoyed by is an advertisement.

Before the many updates to Skype post-Microsoft acquisition, simply disabling the promotions options in settings was enough to rid your conversations of unnecessary spam. However, a new banner ad has made its way to the conversation window. This ad wouldn't be such a bother if it didn't often cut into the video feed area when going full screen. Thanks to Reddit user N19h7m4r3, you can disable ads through just a few steps. Here's how:

For Skype 6.x

Skype window before ad removal.Nicole Cozma/CNET

Step 1: Head to the Control Panel and click on Internet Options. This settings area may be hidden under Network and Sharing Center if you don't see a direct shortcut for it.

Restricted sites in Windows Internet Options area.Nicole Cozma/CNET

Step 2: Click on the Security tab and select the Restricted Sites icon.

Type the address for Skype's ads into the text box.Nicole Cozma/CNET

Step 3: Press the Sites button and type https://apps.skype.com in the text box, then press Add.

Ad-free chat windows!Nicole Cozma/CNET

Restart Skype for the changes to take effect.

For Skype 7.x

If you have updated Skype and the above options are not removing ads, you may need to perform a few extra steps to finally rid of the advertisements in your client. Here's how:

Check for updates.Nicole Cozma/CNET

Step 1: Make sure your Skype client is up-to-date by going to Help > Check for updates. Once finished, completely exit Skype.

Edit the config.xml file.Nicole Cozma/CNET

Step 2: Head to C:\users\[your user name]\App Data\Roaming\Skype\[your Skype username]. You should see a config.xml file in this directory. Right-click it and choose Edit, then find the line that says<AdvertPlaceholder> and delete the entire line. Make sure to save your changes to the file before exiting. You can use Ctrl+F to find the line quickly.

Note: If you do not see the App Data folder, it's probably because you don't have Show hidden files enabled. Click the Organize button > Folder and search options > View tab > mark the radio button next to Show hidden files, folders, or drives.

Mark the file as Read-only.Nicole Cozma/CNET

Step 3: Mark the config.xml file as read-only by right-clicking the file and choosing Properties. Check the box next to Read-only and click OK.

Now your chat window and video conferences will be free of advertisements.

What do you think of the advertisement placement in chat? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Editors' note, April 16, 2015:This How To post was originally published on September 23, 2014, and has been updated to include new information.

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15 cool emojis coming to a phone near you

15 cool emojis coming to a phone near you

The Vulcan salute is only one example of a new set of emojis coming from Unicode 7.0. Find out what other symbols are coming to your smartphone.

They'll look different when you finally see them in iOS or Android.Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET

Emoji keyboards are changing fast -- Apple last month introduced multi-racial emojis and the (somewhat hidden) Vulcan salute emoji. But I'll let you in on a little secret: that "secret" Spock emoji isn't an Apple creation, it's part of a new batch of emojis released as part of the Unicode 7.0 update in 2014. Currently, iOS currently supports only one of the new symbols (the Vulcan salute), while Android and Windows Phone support none.

Both the same and different

Between smartphones, emojis are both wildly different and almost the same. Whether you use Android, iOS or Windows Phone 8.1, you'll see a core set of emoji symbols on your keyboard. For example, everyone has the kissing and crying face emojis and the see/hear/speak-no-evil monkeys.

Many more to comeThe reason is that emoji symbols are actually coded into Unicode Standard. So, when you send an emoji from your iPhone to your friend's Android handset, you're sending not a picture but a code. The other phone translates that code into the corresponding emoji, which is why the kissing face on your iPhone doesn't look the same as the one on your friend's Android phone. In other words, it's the same emoji, but rendered differently between phones.

With Unicode 7, that stable of emojis will grow far beyond the Vulcan salute. Unfortunately, though, mobile phone operating systems are still stuck in Unicode 6. That means for the moment at least, you'll be missing out on a bunch of cool new emojis for almost any mood and situation. So, while we wait (iOS, Android and Windows Phone will get them eventually), here's a sneak peek at what's coming.

"Wind blowing face"

This will come in handy when you're making elaborate emoji pictures.Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET

"Hot pepper"

Just think of all the innuendos you can make. Er, and references to Mexican food.Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET

"Heart with tip on the left"

For when the regular straight-tipped heart feels too boring.Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET

"Bouquet of flowers"

For when you mess up.Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET

"Level slider"

"Turn up the music." "Turn down the lights." So many possibilities!Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET

"Weight lifter"

Because sometimes it's important to convey exactly what you're doing at the gym.Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET

"Building construction"

So you can complain about the construction that wakes you up every morning at 5 a.m.Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET

"Derelict house building"

To warn people in horror movies. It's less frightening when you send an emoji, right?Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET

"Chipmunk"

Because...I guess we need a chipmunk emoji.Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET

"Om symbol"

Because there's no yoga emoji.Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET

"Black skull and crossbones"

Death, poison, pirates...this emoji has it all.Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET

"No piracy"

Just in case you had any ideas from that previous emoji.Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET

"Hole"

"Sorry I'm late, boss, there was an open man [hole] on the sidewalk."Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET

"Man in business suit levitating"

???Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET

"World map"

Probably useful in some context.Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET

You can check out the rest of the Unicode 7.0 emojis here, but you'll only see a bunch of squares if you don't have a compatible font (such as Symbola) installed on your PC or Mac. And even then you won't be able to see any of the new emojis on your mobile device, with the exception of the Vulcan salute emoji if you're on iOS.

To install Symbola on your PC, download the ZIP file here and extract the contents. Open up the File Explorer and go to C:\Windows\Fonts. Copy the Symbola TrueType font file into this folder.

To install Symbola on your Mac, download the ZIP file to your desktop and double-click it to unzip it. Double-click the font file to open a preview of the font; at the bottom of the preview, click Install font.

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Turn your streamer remote into a universal remote

Turn your streamer remote into a universal remote

Kickstarter project Sideclick adds a clip-on TV controller to your Apple TV, Fire TV or Roku remote.

Sideclick adds TV-control buttons to your existing streamer remote.True Bloom LLC

Everyone loves their Apple TVs, their Fire TVs, their Roku boxes. But using one inevitably means juggling two remotes: one for the streamer, one for the TV itself. You'd think that in this highly competitive product category, Apple, Amazon or Roku would offer a programmable clicker.

Maybe they will someday. In the meantime, True Bloom LLC has created the Sideclick, a universal-remote add-on for Apple TV, Fire TV and Roku.

Available in four different versions (one each for the aforementioned products, including Amazon's Fire TV and Fire TV stick, which utilize slightly different controllers), the Sideclick clips onto the underbelly of the streamer remote, adding a slim row of buttons along the left side.

These buttons add TV power, volume, channel and source controls:

True Bloom LLC

All six buttons are programmable; the Sideclick can learn from any remote that uses IR (which is pretty much every remote, at least for TVs). And if you don't especially need channel up/down, you could turn one of them into, say, Mute.

First of all: Best. Name. Ever. Sidekick, side-clicker...Sideclick!

Second: This comes straight from the Wish-I'd-Thought-of-That Dept. It's an ingenious idea that solves a very real hassle with using your favorite streaming-media gizmo. And I want one. Now. It's the perfect product for me, because I have two TV setups that rely solely on streamers, and in both cases the TV remote is used only for power and volume. Buh-bye, extra remote!

Unfortunately, I'll have to wait: This Kickstarter project hasn't quite met its funding goal of $150,000 (though I'll be shocked if it doesn't), and even early backers won't get theirs until October.

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What you can do with the new MacBook's Force Touch trackpad

What you can do with the new MacBook's Force Touch trackpad

Apple announced a new MacBook model that features an entirely new trackpad design. Learn what tricks hide below its surface.

Apple announced a new MacBook at its Spring Forward event, a 12-inch model that sits between the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro lines. In addition to new internals -- a fifth-generation Intel Core M processor, an individual LED backlight for every key, and a fanless design -- the new MacBook introduces new keyboard and trackpad designs.

Briefly, the new MacBook's keyboard does away with the scissor mechanism under the keys in favor of a new butterfly mechanism Apple says makes each key more stable and precise as well as making the keyboard thinner. Given how accustomed I've grown to typing on my current MacBook Pro (and a white MacBook before it), I'm nervous about the feel of the new keyboard design.

I have less reservations about the new pressure-sensitive trackpad, which Apple has dubbed the Force Touch trackpad. Unlike the trackpads on current MacBook Air and Pro models, the Force Touch can be clicked anywhere on its surface and can detect how much pressure you apply to its surface.

Apple

Current trackpads use what Apple called a "diving board" design, where the top edge of the trackpad near the keyboard is fixed in place, allowing the rest of its surface to be clicked. The Force Touch trackpad features four sensors that let the trackpad be clicked anywhere, including along its top edge. When editing photos, for example, I sometimes lose track of where I am on the trackpad and have a click denied when attempting to click a spot too close to the top edge. With Force Touch, no longer will I feel the frustration of a denied click.

Not all clicks are created equal with the Force Touch trackpad. It can tell the difference between a light tap and a deep press, which has allowed Apple to create new Force Touch gestures. You can deep-press on a word when browsing Safari to call up a Wikipedia entry. You can deep-press an address to bring up its location on a map or preview a file in Finder. Will the two-finger-and-click right-click procedure become a thing of the past?

The pressure sensitivity also lets you make small changes in pressure to adjust the speed when fast-forwarding through QuickTime, for example, or zooming in on a map. Apple also showed that the trackpad's will also make electronic signatures more realistic.

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Along with the new sensors, the Force Touch trackpad features a taptic engine that provides tactile feedback, letting you know by feel when you performed certain tasks. Apple gives the example of aligning annotations on a PDF. You'll get a little pulse when things are lined up just so.

Lastly, Apple states that clicks are quieter on the new Force Touch trackpad.

The new MacBook models with the Force Touch trackpad will begin shipping on April 10, but Apple has added the Force Touch trackpad to the 13-inch Macbook Pro with Retina Display, which is available immediately.

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