Joi Ito visits his family grave, final resting place for 18 generations of Itos.

America is such a young country... I live in Boston, where the oldest institutions go back more than 350 years. Which still seems like a candle flicker when I go to Europe and touch walls that have been standing for 1000 years or more. I don't know who my 18th generation ancestors were, much less where they are buried.

This seems to be the week for conference announcements... The 2006 IEEE/SEMI Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Conference takes place May 22-24 in Boston. Abstract deadline is September 22, 2005. More information at the SEMI site.

From the mailbag: IEEE announces the 2006 International Reliability Physics Symposium, to be held March 26-30 in San Jose. Abstract deadline is October 7, 2005. Late News deadline is December 2, 2005. Full details and the Call for Papers are at the conference web site.

There's an interesting series of articles over at Corante about the changing nature of work. What happens to corporations when the means of production are locked inside the heads of knowledge workers? Parts One, Two, and Three.