Point of interest: in order to get to step 5, I'd have had to set up AdSense prior to step 3.

Says someone similarly using a pseudonym. That's not evidence, that's just /..

Pseudonymous usage does not == uncivil assholeishness.

If you need evidence of that, have a look at some of the anti-pseudonym sentiments that have cropped up under people's "real" names on Google+ thus far. On the whole the pseudonymous crowd have been considerably more civil, more reasonable, and more able to present research supportive of their arguments.