Google Lulz: MuscleNerd Gets His Google+ Account Suspended

Infamous iPhone Dev Team member MuscleNerd has recently found his Google+ account suspended – for not using his real name. Oh Internets, how our anonymity has always been a respected and an allowed idea. Google on the other hand slaps the hands of those that wish to be recognized, how they have always been recognized – by their internet handles.

Up until the suspension, MuscleNerd had around 3k people in his Circles, so obviously Google’s claims of it’s new attempt at Social Networking “working best” if used with real names is false. If his real name was Charles McDynasty, I would have never found him – but searching MuscleNerd would grant me access to his + feeds.

Jay Freeman (aka @Saurik) wrote up a nice little piece at his Google+ account expressing his thoughts on the current wave of account suspensions. He explains how many people on the interwebs or in real life are known by their handles.

One specific person I know in this situation is not a writer, but is instead a hacker (of course in the good sense of “making things possible”): MuscleNerd, a very famous member of the iPhone Dev Team (with almost 230,000 followers on Twitter). MuscleNerd is an example of someone who is almost entirely known by his handle, a situation quite unlike the oft cited Lady Gaga: despite most people not recognizing her real name, we at least know that it is “Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta”.

What are your thoughts on this way of controlling your social network? Does it make sense to limit it with your real name? Did you keep from joining the + network because of this?

CD =/> Mouse – MacBook Air Owners Weep

Tired of lugging around a crap load of accessories in your laptop bag? Realized you don’t install anything from CD/DVDs anymore? Well boy do I have an item for you!!! disk+Mouse is a Compact Disk sized mouse for your laptop. If you hate how your average portable mouse is so dog gone tiny and hate having to take it out of your bag every time you want to use it then the Disk Mouse is your newest friend.

This “beauty” can be stored in your laptops optical drive for easy access!! Not only will you never have to dig around your laptop bag for a mouse, you’ll now just be able to eject this round form of media from your laptop and then construct an upside down ice cream cone (average build time we would only assume takes longer than reaching into a bag). disk+Mouse is an entry into the Sparks Concept Design Awards.

So if you find yourself struggling to survive the mobile universe with an actual mouse, keep your eye out for the Disk Mouse – if it makes it past the design stages.

More pictures inside…

Rumor: Apple To Purchase Hulu?

Rumor has it that Apple may be bidding on Hulu during the process of company’s sale. Hulu announced that Morgan Stanley and Guggenheim Partners would assist in the sale of the company back in June – and with that, Apple may be toying with the idea of a bid. Both Amazon and Yahoo! are interested in the company, but it makes more sense for Apple to toss it’s hat into the ring. With iTunes only being a purchase/rent service for your TV and Movie needs – Apple would finally be able to fully compete with the likes of Netflix.

Personally, I feel that Apple needs to get into the streaming game. As successful as iTunes is with the movie and TV rentals – Apple could really add to the billions they have in the bank. Being able to add a subscription based service to their media catalog – the interface of AppleTV – Apple will be a serious contender in this market. With rumors of an Apple Television on the internets, and the iDevice integration already in place, no one would pass up on the ability to stream. With Apple already having a big collection of new and older options, to add the streaming service would do nothing but dominate the market.

What about you guys – would you fork over more of your hard earned cash to Apple for a subscription service for your streaming needs? Would you keep your Netflix subscriptions?

iOS 5 Beta 4 News: 3G iPod Touch Revealed, Jailbreak Now Available.

At just over 24 hours old, iOS 5 beta 4 is still a baby…a baby worthy of hacking. With that said, jailbreakers looking to get a piece of the latest iOS 5 beta 4 and still possess the unbound freedoms the typical jailbreak allows can now do so compliments of redns0w 0.9.8b4. You’ll want to keep your computer close by as this is a tethered jailbreak and the new OTA updates that went live with iOS 5 beta 4 do not properly work once jailbroken either. Though if you’re the kind to prolong updates from occuring in the first place, not having automatic wireless updates is probably low on your list of concerns.

In other iOS 5 beta 4 news: 9to5 Mac stumbled upon a new “Use Cellular Data” toggle as well as a new GPS toggle within the iPod Touch’s iOS 5 beta 4 firmware. Up until now, the iPod Touch has lacked any type of cellular or GPS support. It has been rumored that the next-gen iPod Touch scheduled to be announced and/or launched alongside the new iPhone this fall will be the so called “iPhone Lite” — a stripped down, contract-free iPhone for the lower-end of the market.

[Update] iCloud For OS X Lion Beta Live In Developer Section. 10.7.2 Release Coming Soon?

OS X Lion isn’t even a week old and we’re already seeing the next 10.7.x version number being bandied about. According to a BGR tipster, a new version of iCloud for OS X Lion beta OS X Lion is now live in the developer downloads area. While not part of the normal developer downloads section, said update can be accessed via a direct link in the iCloud for Lion beta section. But what’s most interesting about this new download is that it states OS X Lion 10.7.2 is required to run the aforementioned iCloud update (see above).

At this point Apple doesn’t have to hurry with any iCloud updates quite yet as the service isn’t scheduled to launch until this fall. Still, if the next version is nearing release in the developer world, a public launch can’t be too far off, can it? And if we’re talking about 10.7.2 now, what of 10.7.1?

If we can find out any more we’ll be sure to share it with you, right here. (Any developers care to share?)

Apple iOS App Store Now Available In 33 New Countries!

Aching to trick out your iDevice with the latest apps the Apple App Store has to offer but don’t live in one of the supported countries? You’re in luck. Today, Apple launched App Store support for a total of 33 new countries.

• Algeria Angola Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Barbados Belarus Belize Bermuda Bolivia British Virgin Islands Brunei Cayman Islands Cyprus Dominica Ghana Grenada Guyana Iceland Montserrat Nigeria Oman St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Vincent and The Grenadines Suriname Tanzania Trinidad and Tobago Turks and Caicos Uzbekistan Yemen

Good for developers looking for more money and good for consumers looking for more ways to kill time/added productivity/entertainment/etc.

[Update] Windows Phone 7 Mango Update Reaches RTM Status, Released To Carriers.

In slightly less fruit related news, Microsoft is spending their Friday afternoon celebrating the latest Windows Phone 7 milestone with the release of the WP7 “Mango” update to carriers for testing. The RTM status signals this is a near final build that should hit consumers’ devices within the next couple of months should carrier testing go well.

The more noteworthy features that Mango brings to the table include turn-by-turn directions, support for Windows Live Messenger and Facebook Chat as well as group messaging, a heavily revamped email app and a slew of other new features that Microsoft claims tops 500+.

Will Mango finally help Microsoft move more WP7 devices?

Update

Bad news — Windows Phone 7 has not been released to manufacturers, this according to Microsoft’s Bill Cox (via Twitter). Instead, WP7 will hit RC status in late August with RTM following sometime in September — the originally aired plan.