Hey all, so I just got word a week ago that I was going to be invited to give a talk at the IPFA conference in Taiwan in July! Our paper was awarded “Most Outstanding Paper” (which is actually the SECOND best paper of the conference, not the “best paper”) at the ISTFA meeting we went to last November. Apparently the two conferences have an exchange where the best paper from one goes to the other and gives the same talk. Luckily for us, the “best paper” couldn’t go, so they invited me. Best thing is, I just heard yesterday that the travel and hotel is all totally taken care of. Yee-haw! So I am pretty stoked. The conference is from July 5-8th. Does anyone know anything about what to see in Taiwan? I thought I would ask, though I am pretty sure Mark and George don’t have any connections there. And Chris, well, yeah.

Now I have to convince the state of California to please please please give me my damn birth certificate so I can get my passport! I submitted the forms in December and no response yet! WTF?