http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2670203 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2670203 has good links on mechanical computers and small CPU designs. http://lis

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2670203 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2670203 has good links on mechanical computers and small CPU designs. http://lists.canonical.org/pipermail/kragen-tol/2010-June/000919.html http://lists.canonical.org/pipermail/kragen-tol/2010-June/00... concludes "There’s a strong appeal in the idea that universal computation has been within the grasp of human materials and manufacturing technology since the invention of sewing in the Paleolithic; it is only the mathematical sophistication that was absent. I don’t yet know if it’s true."