This seems like circular logic. First one has to define what a "Neanderthal" is before answering that question.

Drawing hard lines in the sand is perhaps not possible. Neanderthals would share a vast majority of our DNA just by being hominids. There are clusterings of genetic patterns, but a cluster is not a clear-cut distinction.

Corporations are not just people, but protected people now.

Frequent inspections cost money; they ain't free. A biz would factor that into the cost when choosing between supplier A and B from the example.

Moral issues aside, this seems like a bad business move. If you are a device manufacturer choosing between chip A and chip B, and the vendor for chip B bricks their clones, then you would prefer chip A.

This is because if you accidentally get a bad shipment of clone chips, and put them into your devices, your devices will be subject to bricking, creating returns and bad PR.

Plus, having some cloners around gives you a spare option if the main company bellies up.

Ask.com still exists?

I don't know about the company, but their damned tool-bar still does.

And in another 100 years, we'll see a dupe.

And if the slick salesperson lies and says "yes, they are legit"?

It's a mistake in my opinion to dump this problem onto the consumer; it's not realistic for them to police all the parts of gizmos they buy.

I get new ideas by cleaning out old files.

That's rather indirect evidence. The title is a bit misleading if you ask me. It's an interesting fact, I agree, but the title needs work.

Sometimes that works, but shops often dictate or encourage certain styles and practices that may hinder "personal productivity" practices so that the team can do maintenance.

And it's not just a matter of typing: there are screwy schedules, screwy deadlines, fickle requesters, etc. If you finish coding fast, they'll make you install software, fix Outlook, clean printers or whatnot.

Yes, it's a living, but typically one plateaus early salary-wise. Why not encourage women to be sys admins or high-end application trainers? Why focus on coding?

Is the goal to find more labor, or to help women?

Who cares! Coding is on average a dead-end job with long hours. Why not talk about good long-term careers for women instead, rather than high burn-and-churn jobs? Coders happen to be demand right now, but we've seen bubbles before, and will probably see them again.

Thanks for reminding me why nobody goes to lunch with nerds :-)

Send up a bosomy leather-clad babe and people just may pay to watch. That's one way to fund it.