guys

Depending on your point of view, Top Girl is either a harmless game about "girl stuff" (shopping, dating, trying to look "hot") or a thoroughly offensive app promoting a stupefying array of sexist stereotypes.

Whatever your take on Top Girl's social and moral merits, this app definitely falls more under the category of time-waster (and freemium money-waster) than game. You start by choosing an impossibly curvy, underwear-wearing avatar, and then trick her out with clothes with varying "hotness" ratings (divided into "daytime chic" and "club" wear). You then go … Read more

Guy Kawasaki is best known as the evangelist at Apple who helped spread the gospel about the new Macintosh back when it was launched in 1984. He's also a prolific writer, speaker, investor, and entrepreneur. His latest venture is Alltop.com, which his book jacket describes as "an online magazine rack of popular topics on the Web."

Kawasaki's recent book, "Enchantment," is sort of a book for entrepreneurs and people whose job it is to promote products, but it's also a manual for achieving a positive outcome in any type of relationship. It'… Read more

First, the tech world had to learn to live without "Get a Mac" actor Justin Long.

Now it appears that another young, handsome mainstay of tech advertising, Paul Marcarelli, will no longer be soothing you on-screen. You might know Marcarelli better as the chap in the glasses who, at the end of the Verizon ads, is desperate to know if you can hear him.

In an interview with The Atlantic, Marcarelli said that Verizon had told him last September that the ads would be going in a different direction.

Astoundingly, it has been 10 years since Marcarelli first … Read more

Links from Friday's episode of Loaded:

Microsoft helps the feds bring down a large e-mail spam outfit.

The New York Times announces its pricing structure for access to digital editions.

Microsoft launches a mobile app to help men be cool.

The FCC may not allow cell phone boosters.

Samsung launches 3D video on demand in Korea.

Are viciously negative Yelp reviews putting an unfair stigma on small businesses? Today's two-part episode of The 404 Podcast weighs the effect of crowd-sourced review sites like Yelp and Zagat on independently owned establishments, and asks the question: will future generations understand topical shows like "The Simpsons" and "30 Rock?"

Part one: this insightful article in The Atlantic magazine questions the legitimacy of online reviews and the misplaced responsibility that Yelp bestows on citizen journalists with little or no training in voicing their opinions.

The piece calls out six distinct types of crowd-sourced reviewers who make us all look bad. Our least favorite is the "Hater's Ball," but we prefer to call them trolls--people who make scathing, borderline vindictive criticisms online about the most minor offenses at restaurants that they would never voice in person.

How many negative Yelpers do you think actually call the manager over after a meal to politely voice concerns? Most of the time, Yelpers don't think about how a single bad review can springboard a series of negative press that could potentially shut down an independent business, so make sure your complaints are legit before you post!

Don't forget that there are always real people behind the keyboard...and sometimes they have access to weapons.

Part two: This Salon.com article raises an interesting question about future generations understanding the pop culture references in topical television shows like "The Simpsons" and "Glee."… Read more

The big Apple news out this week was the event that launched the new MacBook Pros--and they are certainly drool-worthy. All three new models are twice as fast as their predecessors, featuring quad-core Intel i7 processors for the 15- and 17-inch models, and dual-core i5 and i7 processors for the 13-inch models. The AMD Radeon graphics processors have been improved along with newly added Thunderbolt technology that lets you use a new port (along side your USB ports) to transfer data at up to 10GB per second. Read our full coverage here.

I'm not sure whether I'll rush out and buy one of these new MacBook Pros with the iPad 2 coming out in April, but that's mostly because I don't have as much use for the high-powered graphics and processing power in my line of work. I also can't afford to buy both.

Are you in the market for a new laptop and thinking about getting a new MacBook Pro? Are you waiting to see what the iPad 2 will offer before pulling the trigger? Are you going to buy both? Let us know in the comments.

This week's apps include a handy image-scanning app for getting quick copies on the go and a 2D side-scrolling game where you can reverse gravity with a touch of your finger.… Read more

Would you eat a burger created by The 404 Podcast? CNET social-media expert Caroline McCarthy joins us on today's episode and tell us about the burger joint of the future.

Rex Sorgatz, one of the founders of Fimoculous and former guest of The 404, consulted on 4Food, a new restaurant that adds a social-media twist to the burger by letting customers save their unique burger creations in the 4food system; a profit-sharing system even gives the creator 25 cents of in-store credit for every custom burger sold! Since Caroline knows practically everyone in Web 2.0, expect to see … Read more

The recent popularity of GPS functionality built into smartphones and stock vehicles might eventually phase out third party portable navigation devices entirely, but folks who currently own Tom Tom systems can now hear their driving directions read by classic Star Wars characters like Yoda and Darth Vader. Tom Tom will release one Star Wars character a month, available as a $13 download- check out this hilarious promo for the Yoda version.

July 13 is the official Embrace Your Inner Geek Day so we're celebrating this annual holiday by doing...the same thing...we normally...do. And just for kicks, … Read more

Natali Del Conte fills Justin's diminutive shoes today, and boy it could not be more appropriate with today's stories. Big news of the day is daytime talk show goddess Oprah Winfrey's plans to end "The Oprah Winfrey Show," and we're hoping our very own Natali Del Conte will take over.

According to WholeFitness.com, staring at breasts for 10 minutes will prolong a man's life by 5 years. Yes, this could possibly be the greatest piece of health care news ever, and we're hoping they incorporate it into the current legislation.

After some really awesome voicemails, we finally get into some tech talk with high-definition primetime entertainment. The majority of shows have switched over to high-definition broadcasts, but we're particularly disappointed that "Family Guy" and "American Dad" aren't available in high definition yet. Jeff gets really disappointed to learn that almost all cartoons are animated in South Korea. Guess that makes "American Dad" even more ironic. Included in the same list is "America's Top Model." Wilson is particularly disappointed.

Jeff will be out next week, so hopefully it won't be Wilson alone curled up in a snuggie talking about Apple and washing machines. In the meantime, be sure to keep sending in those voicemails as we prep for Thanksgiving. If you're in the New York metropolitan area, be sure to check out Ms. Del Conte on WCBS as she hosts the local news for Black Friday.