On 13 Nov 2011 at 13:01, Eric Smith wrote:
  Chuck Guzis wrote:
  (e.g. constrast "normal" software
programming with
 programming a NEC 7281). 
 I hadn't seen that before, so I just found a datasheet.  Looks
 intriguing.  Is there a user manual for the part?  I couldn't find any
 data on the apparently related uPD9305. 
Yes, there is a manual--unfortunately I don't have it.  I do have a
manual for the somewhat related earlier DSP dataflow chip the
uPD7720.
NEC during the 1980s was very big in dataflow work--there's a ton of
published work by NEC and by many others on the subject.
I think another type of computing professional might be right at home
with HDL--the old unit-record machine plugboard programmer.
--Chuck