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Displaying ads on C# desktop applications?

So I've been trying to figure out what's going on with ads in desktop applications, and looking at APIs, Google's API seems low on examples and documentation, and I didn't manage to make any sense out of it, and the Bing API seems to be concerning itself with those who want to be advertised, rather than affiliates. In retrospect, so does Google's.
My currently leading idea is to just drop in a web form in my Windows Forms application, and load the HTML that the Google/Bing/Whoever would give me for my webpage, that should register as the ad being viewed/clicked etc. But that seems a bit amateurish, I would imagine there would be a component ready for displaying ads.
So the question is, do advertising APIs from the major players (Google, Bing, Amazon etc) target affiliates or not? If not, does the web browser component method work, or may it lead to having the account revoked due to suspicious use of the HTML code (to prevent scam etc)?
Additionally, I found out that Amazon forbids use of the ads in applications not specifically related to Amazon itself, it seems alright to do so for Bing and Google but I can't find conclusive proof of it, does anyone know what's going on with that?

Custom WinRT app running during lock screen (instead of default Slide show)

Any chance to make it possible to build special WinRT application that would run in lock screen mode on Windows 8 like it "works" for default Slide show option setting?

I don't think this is possible. The Win 8.1 API lets you provide an rss feed of images that fuel the lockscreen slideshow, but you don't appear to be able to provide your own app to replace the lockscreen background.
I agree this would be really useful. The lockscreen could be used to turn your device into an ambient data source. For example, custom slideshows, streams of social network posts & pictures, graphs tracking stats you care about (stocks, server load etc.), streams of trending headlines etc.

You can do things with Badges, such as outlined here and here. Unfortunately, I don't think you can do exactly what you are asking, aside from possibly disabling the Lock Screen and building a facsimile of your own, though I don't know to what extent this will be allowed in the store, and will likely be largely up to the users settings with regards to things like working on battery or not.

Set any application's volume

I was wondering how I could set a specific application (as in any running application, not just my own)'s volume level in c#.
I know I'd probably have to use P/invoke, this is fine. I'm just not sure on how the sound api's work and how I would go about getting/setting the volume of specific applications (like the volume mixer in vista/7 can).
I know it's possible to do programattically because nircmd has a feature that can do it.
Any help would be appriciated, thanks.

I think you should look here. Following the links you'll find interfaces and API functions to use to manipulate endpoints' volume. Together with the documentation, Microsoft provided some code samples in C++. As you said, it is possible to get the same functionalities to work in .NET using platform invoke.

I think (and hope) your request is, for all intents and purposes, impossible. Allowing an application to set its own volume is like allowing an application to override the user's notification icon settings. These settings are user settings, so you can't circumvent them.
Imagine for an instance that a user has the volume of his speakers set way up, but has dimmed the volumes of all individual applications. Your application comes along and goes 'whatevs, I'll just set myself to full volume'. You've just made a user go deaf, or at least cower in a corner of the room, scared to death.

Want to know about the best framework available for my app

I am trying to design a new application which basically aims at providing biometric authentication services. What I want to do is that the app will present the user with an interface where the user can get his eye scanned for authentication. The most important feature I want to incorporate is that the user need not have a webcam, the app must be able to read the eye from the display device i.e. CRT or LCD screen itself.
I want info about the best framework available for this. Once successfully tested, I am planning to provide it as a webservice. Any one who will help me will get a royalty from my income.

I think you're want Microsofts new multi-eye monitors. This is a special version of Multi-Touch intended for eye validation, much like how Microsoft Surface is intended for surface finger interaction. For example, you can just lay an eye on the table, and the table can sense the eye is there and validate it, using blue-tooth or whatever. I saw a demo where this guy just shakes his eye near the table and it validated him. I was so cool. SDK's will be available for Retina, Iris, etc.
I know for a fact that there has not been a lot of work done in this area, but the potential is big. I wish you luck.

The best way to do this is to use (old) monitors with electron tubes (LCD screens are not suited for your purpose). By applying a rectifier for the electric current input, swapping the polarity of the cable set to the electron tube and focussing the electron ray to a radio button on your user interface where the user is required to stare at you can make sure that the ray hits directly his eye and is reflected back to a small canvas you need on your UI (users should look a bit cross-eyed for this purpose). The electron pressure paints the retina layout directly to the canvas and you can read it out as a simple bitmap. No special SDK required.

You might try Apple's new iEye. This fantastic, magical add-on to the iPad rests on the eye, and is operated via a single easy-to-use button at the bottom of the device. Unfortunately, it only works with the iPad, and the SDK is proprietary.

I don't get you.
How do you propose the image of the eye is collected without some kind of image capture device.
A bog standard 'display device' is an 'output device' as opposed to an 'input device' - this means there would be no signal.
Are you talking mobile phone apps, custom manufacture eye scanning devices, desktop pc's?
please elaborate.
aaah Patrick Karcher - has the correct answer. plus one for that - i should have been more prepared for coming to stackoverflow on april fool's day.

If you mean getting images from devices without using encoders and drivers, have a look at TWAIN (Technology Without Any Interface). and it's faq.
The most important feature I want to incorporate is that the user need not have a webcam, the app must be able to read the eye from the display device i.e. CRT or LCD screen itself.
are you sure it's possible with the current CRT and LCD technologies? i think you have to have a reading device.
more info from TWAIN.org:
The TWAIN initiative was originally launched in 1992 by leading industry vendors who recognized a need for a standard software protocol and applications programming interface (API) that regulates communication between software applications and imaging devices (the source of the data). TWAIN defines that standard. The three key elements in TWAIN are the application software, the Source Manager software and the Data Source software. The application uses the TWAIN toolkit which is shipped for free.
good lucks.

I know this is an April Fools, but... Actually, if you remove the condition about the fact that it must come from a CRT or LCD screen it might be possible to do it without image capture device attached to their computer.
Possibly using their facebook username and some red-eye photos of them (reflection of the flash off the back of the retina) + a lot of luck and R+D.
Authentication then might simply come from some way of proving that you are the person in the photo.

WPF in a browser and printing

Can WPF be hosted in a web browser? If so how? (I think it can as I have seen some examples of it.)
While hosted in the web browser what printing support does it have?
What are the drawbacks to using WPF in a browser?
My company is looking for a rich web app platform. They will not choose Silverlight because it ignores any printing needs (at least as far as I understand). Right now a solution from Adobe is in the lead because it supports printing.
Most (if not all) of the apps written for browsers will be used internally by my company (ie we control the computers and browsers). (We want to use browsers for easy of deployment.)

Have you checked out XBAP (Xaml Browser APplications)?
The major drawbacks I am aware of concern security. When some coworkers of mine were developing an XBAP product, they often ran into problems with security, as the XBAP model is pretty strict.
I can't answer about printing, but I'd tend to think that might be a problem with the security considerations.
Hope I was able to help.

If the apps are solely internal and you control the target platform; and the reason for choosing to host your apps in the browser is 'ease of deployment', I would seriously consider writing Full Trust applications in WPF, and deploying them with ClickOnce... Your users would simply have a shortcut on their desktops that would check a server to see if their version of the app is current, and download the newest version if not.
You get all the benefits of the full WPF platform (greater feature-set than Silverlight), and do not need to conform to the Partial-Trust restrictions of XBAP (although you will need to configure the ClickOnce server to allow for Trusted Application Deployment)

No. That's what Silverlight is for right now and yes there are printing limitations. However, printing anything using a web app is not straight forward.

I would suggest Silverlight/Flex solution for web based app and for printing need the best way to do is use iTextSharp library and generate PDF for your reports or printing need, which can be fetched from a URL. PDF is a very standard and adobe reader will always print it right, printing will not be a problem, we went through lot of options and it requires reinventing wheel where else generating PDF through iTextSharp is very easy as creating normal html in javascript way.