> In that case , you may want to google the setun computer for ideas -
> this was a ternary logic computer built at Moscow State in the
> 50's/60's. If you want to skip the whole binary/ternary/etc logic,
> you might want to look into 'analog computers' (usually used for bomb
> sights) and 'real computers' (I don't know of any examples of this,
> just a theory right now).
>
> You also mentioned using a new programming language to work on
> computers comparable to what we have now - again there are some
> hobbyist projects like colorforth and a bootable lisp based floppy for
> x86 based machines that would serve as inspiration.
>
> Me, personally, I'd toyed with the idea of programming something
> together from the ground up in assembler, using a custom
> alphabet/script instead of ascii. But then again, most of my
> conlanging in in the early stages, so I'm pretty far away from that.
>
> On Mon, Feb 9, 2009 at 9:39 AM, Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...> wrote:
>> Whether you use prefab IC chips or a breadboard and wires, these
>> hobbyists making computers are all making von Neumann machines based
>> on binary logic. What we're talking about is either designing
>> computers that work on different principles, or just designing new
>> programming languages that work on the same kinds of computers we have
>> now. Actually building the former would require much more effort than
>> a breadboard CPU; much easier to simulate it on one of these binary
>> von Neumann machines we're all typing on. :)
>>
>> On Mon, Feb 9, 2009 at 9:57 AM, John Osborne <osborne6@...> wrote:
>>> You may want to look into some work that hobbyists have already done
>>> with that. A few years ago someone built their own computer, using
>>> discreet logic chips:
>>>
>>>
http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS5804062141.html
>>>
http://www.homebrewcpu.com/
>>>
>>> That would give you the rough idea of what's involved.
>>>
>>> On Sun, Feb 8, 2009 at 2:44 PM, Paul Bennett <paul.w.bennett@...>
>>> wrote:
>>>> Where does the design of imaginary computer architectures (and
>>>> programming
>>>> languages) stand in the ranks of con-somethinging?
>>>>
>>>> It's probably a highly esoteric question, but that's what I'm doing
>>>> right
>>>> now, instead of conlanging: noodling around with a few programming
>>>> language
>>>> designs that each started off as attempts to create notation systems for
>>>> specific problems, and dummying up a few completely impractical
>>>> computers to
>>>> do thought experiments on. At the hazy borderlines of the two live my
>>>> thoughs of assembler opcodes and register sets (etc) for best
>>>> implementing a
>>>> given language on one of those computers.
>>>>
>>>> Anyone else ever dug into that sort of stuff?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Paul
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client:
http://www.opera.com/mail/
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> John Osborne
>>> osborne6@ieee.org/osborne6@gmail.com/jro@freeshell.org
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>
>>
>
>
>
> --
> John Osborne
> osborne6@ieee.org/osborne6@gmail.com/jro@freeshell.org
>