Many of us use email almost exclusively, including myself. There's a number of ways the logo and the notification badge could be combined, but I think people have come to rely on clicking on the logo to get to their default feed, rather than to go to notifications. Removing the name would mean needing to add a new way to navigate to your profile. I've been thinking on this, but haven't come upon anything really satisfactory yet.
yah - I should have said "ignore this entire comment". I know there's a ton of functionality behind the stuff you've got there. I didn't give a rip about the badge counter - I just like the wheel (or anything else) I can click on to get to my notifications. Maybe I will look into email... but seriously - there are just too many already. And I think some of the zen I get from hubski is that she NEVER sends me anything. It is self contained. I come, contribute, enjoy, and leave.