bulk

Microsoft is now restricting the number of Windows Phone apps that it will approve from a single developer to 20 per day.

In a blog posted yesterday, Microsoft said the new restriction is aimed at cutting down on "bulk app publishing," a process through which developers can flood the Windows Phone Marketplace with hundreds of apps over the course of just a few days.

Though these apps may meet Microsoft's certification guidelines, the company is concerned that such apps can push other recently-published apps out of the "What's New" category, thereby degrading and "… Read more

Web mail services like Hotmail and Gmail are powerful and convenient, but one issue that can stress out heavy users is keeping track of attachments. You may be bumping up against storage limitations, shutting down an old address, or reorganizing files to a single offline location, but it can be a daunting grind without some way to download files in bulk. Windows users can use a free customizable program that makes it simple. Here's how to use it:

Bulk File Changer from NirSoft is a little program with a lot to like. At just over 68KB, it's a very small download, and it runs without installation, so it's totally portable. It's also free. You can use it to create lists of files, even spread out over multiple folders, and perform various functions on them en masse, such as changing the date and time they were created, modified, or last accessed; modifying file attributes such as Hidden or Read-Only; and cutting, copying, and pasting in Explorer.

Bulk File Changer's interface and controls are basic but … Read more

Bulk Image Downloader is an application that lets users download multiple images from a Web site all at once. Bulk Image Downloader Firefox Extension is an add-on for Firefox that adds Bulk Image Downloader options to the Firefox context menu. The extension works just fine, but potential users should be aware that it's made to work with the Bulk Image Downloader application; it won't download any images on its own.

The extension installs without issues, though we could only guess at how it worked, because it had no instructions and no options within Firefox's add-on menu. We … Read more

Watermarks can add a professional touch to any document as well protect content from plagiarism. Advanced Bulk PDF Watermark Creator makes it incredibly simple to add watermarks to multiple PDF documents.

The application's interface is plain and partly truncated at the bottom, though none of the buttons were cut off. We tried to resize the window but were unable to do so. The program is broken down into four steps that are labeled on the interface. First, we had to select the input directory and add the PDFs we wanted watermarked. Second, we entered the text for the watermark. … Read more

TopSales Basic lets you manage of all your company's important information from one place. It has many features businesses will find useful. There's a contacts database, a calendar, and a to-do list function. You can also generate invoices and manage your company's bank account with TopSales Basic. It will generate mailing lists and all manner of reports such as Balance Sheets, Sales Analysis, Inventory Control, and other accounting, customer, and product-based data reports.

TopSales Basic's interface is basic, befitting the name, but it gets the job done. The menus are easy to navigate. You can input … Read more

Digital camera owners, music lovers, and those who have lots of files they'd like to organize will like Flash Renamer, a batch file renaming utility that makes it easy to rename large numbers of files at once but that also does much more, such as adding or subtracting spaces, dates, characters, and other identifiers. You can even use it to alter and manage file names as you save them.

A cleanly formatted interface features a prominent preview window that displays the chosen files and folders. You can browse, search, or free select files. Optional thumbnails make it easy to … Read more

MaxBulk Mailer for Windows is a program designed to help people send personalized e-mails to large quantities of people. While it has a lot on its upside, the program also proves to be a little vague for inexperienced users.

This e-mail program should feel recognizable to users familiar with professional quality e-mail programs such as Microsoft Outlook. With a series of tabs taking users through the process of writing and sending bulk e-mails, people almost don't need to visit the Help file. If they do, e-mail senders will be treated to an in-depth dissection of MaxBulk's functions. Creating … Read more

Want to stock up on batteries, toilet paper, rice, and other bulk essentials? Head to your local warehouse club.

Of course, normally, you have to pay an annual membership fee to reap the savings, but Allstate has a coupon (PDF) that'll get you into Sam's Club for a day--and waive the usual 10 percent upcharge that nonmembers pay.

I realize this isn't a tech deal, per se, but Sam's Club does carry a variety of computers, electronics, and the like. Plus, the coupon lives on the Web, so it kinda sorta fits, right?

Anyway, there's … Read more