#username: By the late 2000s I was deciding it was probably a better idea to have a less-personally-recogniseable than more-personally-recogniseable handle, at least for some purposes.
There's always the question "what to choose". I'm something of a fan of "Forbidden Planet", and a run-together form of "Dr. Edward Morbius" produced "dredmorbius", which seemed suitably 1337. So I began using it.
When G+ made clear it was trying to create an "identity network", it was time to scrub Old Me.
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The Business Insider reporter who covered the story included that disclaimer, verbatim, in his account. I ... was rather amused.
(The thing about having other people quote you is ... you're really never quite sure what they'll use.)
I've started using the expression generally when I'm in a situation where others are questioning my qualifications or authority -- I'll note "hey, I'm just a space alien cat" -- which is to say, /I claim no authority or qualifications/. Instead ...