I have recently returned to the states from about a week long vacation in the Caribbean (my first real break since beginning this project about 3 years ago). I hope everyone had a happy New Year and are looking forward to achieving some new goals this year. If you are in in Asia, I hope you are continuing to celebrate a fruitful Chinese New Year with your family. Now, let’s get into our first update of 2017: it's a long one. The purpose of Alpha We have been receiving several