We are pleased to bring you another issue of Cipher. If you have read Tom Berson's kind letter, then you know that I say this to you for the last time as editor of Cipher. It has been an educational and rewarding few years for me, but it is time for a new hand at the helm. The new editor will be Jim Davis. As Tom noted, he has ably maintained the call-for-papers page for several years. Readers may not be aware of that since he has modestly declined billing at the head of the newsletter up to now.
I want to thank Jim and the rest of the "permanent staff", Bob Bruen, Anish Mathuria, Hilarie Orman, and Mary Ellen Zurko, for all their help over the last few years. Far more than I, they embody this newsletter. (Indeed, they are also more permanent than I; all but Anish were on board under Carl Landwehr, and all of them remain on board as I depart.) I also want to thank all the people who have written conference summaries. Some of them too are virtual regulars, and this is another core component of the newsletter. I thank Carl Landwehr for his continued help. I also thank Avi Rubin, my co-editor for the first year of my tenure, for sharing and thus easing my learning of the ropes.
My farewell is a bit disingenuous. I will continue on, helping Jim Davis with transitions, just as Carl has continued to help me. I hope that you will continue to contribute as well. Finally, I hope everyone, including Hilarie, will find it appropriate if I close this letter by saying
aloha,
Paul