can't connect with skype neither access skype web site - https

I'm currently visiting Egypt and skype stopped working after a few days. It gives me "Skype home unavailable" and the status icon keeps spinning. I already searched the net for this issue and tried a few things which did not work. I also tried web skype and it the status icon shows green but messages don't go through anyway. I'm not asking about this general issue which seems to have many possible sources.
Now, while searching for this problem I came to realise that some web pages from skype web site are also not accessible, and I suspect it is either a HTTPS protocol configuration, or the Internet service is blocking skype.
For instance, this page:
https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA10953/how-can-i-update-my-windows-firewall-settings-after-reinstalling-or-upgrading-skype
does not work in Firefox ("Secure Conection Failed") and in IE11 it only started working after after I actived SSL 2.0 and 3.0. Still, although skype-web opened once now I'm not even able to open it.
The address https://web.skype.com/ retuns "This page can’t be displayed" in IE11. And the button "Fix connection problems" finds nothing. After a few retries it seems to work out. Skype messages eventually eventually seem to get through but I can never do a live chat or a call or even a real phone call.
So, any idea why I can't access this and other skype pages? Is there some updated authentication protocol not well supported? Is there a way I can track it (I'm not a network specialist but maybe I can try something).
I found about blockage in Egypt: http://stepfeed.com/more-categories/big-news/egypt-blocks-popular-voip-apps-monitoring-facebook-skype/#.V0M9uVIiggQ
but I was able to use it when I arrived.

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Prevent Google Web Preview bot

I noticed today in the webserver logs that we sometimes get bursts (450 requests in 2 seconds) of requests from a useragent with Google Web Preview. Looking at other stackoverflow it seems this is probably related to the preview functionality on the search page or maybe to the saved/most used links at the bottom of a users chrome tabs.
I've already blocked these particular URLs in the robots.txt, so, it's obviously ignoring that. It seems from this 2010 instant previews page that you can add a nosnippet tag and Google will then not try to fetch the preview. However, it seems that adding nosnippet wouldn't actually stop the request (as they'd still have to fetch the page to parse out the tag).
Short of blocking Google's ip address which I don't want to do, is there a decent way to stop Google hammering the server periodically.
I think you probably did it, but when I get such issue I make a buffer page, and provide link on that page e.g link for admin panel that I don't want to be rendered and use NO Index on that page

Nest Thermostats Have disappeared from Google Smart Device Management API

I was using the Smart Device Management API flawlessly for over a month, then this week.. 1 of 2 thermostats disappeared. (A couple questions on StackOverflow saying "There should be two as I'm setting this up."), but I HAD both of them. Just today when I pinged the API, both thermostats are now gone. My 2 cameras are still on the API device list.
So they were there, now not. The only thing that has changed is I upgraded my Nest account to Nest Aware.. but that shouldn't impact the thermostats' availability in the API?
For anyone that runs into this (apparently rare?) problem.. I re-auth'd the Thermostat into my Google account, then went to the Device Access authorization link (first step in OAuth process)
https://nestservices.google.com/partnerconnections/project-id/auth?
redirect_uri=https://www.google.com&
access_type=offline&
prompt=consent&
client_id=oauth2-client-id&
response_type=code&
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Need a way to keep websocket open for webchat

Scenario:
Open bot try a few commands.
Close laptop.
open again.
Bot says unable to connect.
I figured that this is because web socket closed. Is there a way to keep it open?
This issue is not related to web sockets, per se, but to Direct Line and the general nature of web pages.
When you open a web page it is largely static, assuming it's an every day run-of-the-mill page. If you close your laptop and reopen it nothing about the page should really change because there is no "live" connection being maintained.
However, when you load a page hosting a bot using Web Chat a live connection is opened via Direct Line. If you close your laptop and reopen it, then that connection is severed. Without direction, Web Chat doesn't know how to (re-)establish the connection without the page being reloaded.
Look over the answer I posted here. It shows how you can setup Web Chat to persist conversations with a bot when a user refreshes a page and/or navigates away and returns. It does rely on sessionStorage() for part of its implementation which means it will only persist for the current session. If the user fully closes and opens the window, then a new connection is created.
To maintain "sessions" even when the user closes the window would require a more robust solution.
Hope of help!

Why am I not able to add a new project for enabling Drive API

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In the Google Developers Console, Libraries tab, I select Drive API > Enable > Create. From there I enter a project name and click Create. This is where everything stops working. A modal will pop up with a spinner that just spins forever.
Almost immediately afterwards, I receive a notification in the Google Developers Console that there was unknown error.
I've cleared caches & cookies, flushed socket pools, restarted Chrome, updated Chrome, tried different browsers, etc., but to no avail.
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Slack: Get notification when Bot is offline

I searched the www for a solution to a problem of mine without finding an answer.
I need to get notificated when my bot in slack goes offline, but I don't know how.
To get notificated when he logs in is cacke, because I can set him to send a message, but when he's off there is no option to send a message.
I prefer PHP, Javascript, but other languages are also fine.
Thank you very much for your effort
There are many options how to setup a way to monitor your bot and get notified when it is offline.
One option that has worked well for me is to use an external website to monitor your bot. That website will send requests to your bot every couple of minutes to see if is is still alive and will notify you if the request fails. You may need to extend your bot a bit, so that he can reply to these requests in a proper way.
There are many website that provide this service. The one I use is uptimerobot, which also happens to be free for up to 50 monitors.

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