Which OS Will Reign Supreme

I recently read a very interesting blog post (read it here) concerning the monthly trends in security flaws in several common computer operating systems (OS), including Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Mac OS X (versions 10.4 and 10.5). The results may shock you if you are one of the people that believe everything you hear in those funny Mac commercials.

The report was based on data from a 3rd party security analysis company (Secunia). In short, for 2007 the report shows that Windows XP and Vista combined had 44 security vulnerabilities of which 27 were considered Extremely or Highly Critical. In this same time period, Mac OS X (versions 10.4 and 10.5 combined) had 243 security vulnerabilities of which 234 were considered Extremely or Highly Critical. That's over 5.5 times as many in all, and nearly 9 times more in the extreme and high categories!

This didn't really surprise me, because I keep an eye open for these sorts of things, and have seen reports on OS flaws for years. However, nearly everyone that has ever tried to convince me that I should switch to a Mac has used the "fact" that they are "more secure" as one of their biggest points. This report clearly shows that this is just not the case. Sorry Mr. Jobs.

Regardless of which OS you choose for your next computer, you need to be sure that you are always on guard against security flaws and should always install any security patches that are made available by the OS vendor.

Also, remember that the only way to make your computer 100% safe from hackers is to turn it off and lock it up...and if you watch enough spy movies, even that won't do it. : )

Have a Merry Christmas!

Coming Home

It's late Saturday evening in Moscow, and we are getting packed and ready for bed. We leave the hotel tomorrow morning at 9:00 am to get to the airport and get through security. There are numerous check points to work through, which can take some time, so we need to be there about 3 hours early.

We have had a great trip and we have so many stories to tell, but you'll have to wait just a little bit longer because it's too late tonight to type them all out.

See you soon.

A short post today

I just typed a long update for our team on the Portland East West web site, so I'm running out of typing stamina for today. : )

You can check out the post on the Portland East West site. Much of this will be a repeat if you been reading my blog along the way.

Voronezh - Day 1 and 2

Well, we arrived in Voronezh yesterday morning after the overnight train ride. It was quite an experience. There were several times where I was certain that the train had hit something on the tracks. Kind of an unnerving way to be awakened. But, we arrived safely and without issue.

We loaded our stuff into a bus and headed off to church. It was an amazing service with over 100 people there. Very uplifting. After the service, we were transported over to another church for lunch and then back to the hotel to meet our interpreters. I was a little disappointed to learn that my interpretor from the past 2 years (Irina) would not be with us this year. However, I got paired up with Sasha, whom I met the last time I was here, and she is also good.

Today (Monday) our team split into 2 groups to work in 2 different villages outside of Voronezh. Nickie and I went to a town called Borovoe (Bore-oh-VOY-uh), where we walked the streets and invited people to the weekly Bible study held in the home of a local pastor. We also had some really good home-cooked Russian food - more than we could possibly eat! At the end of the day, we had a large prayer meeting in the pastor's home and then returned to the hotel for dinner and then to the Internet Cafe where I am now typing this post.

I don't want to spoil all of the stories before we get home, but I will tell you that we are having an awesome time and have truly seen the Lord work in so many ways. Be sure to check back here later for more posts.

Moscow Revisited

Well, we arrived in Moscow today, which makes my 5^th time to visit the city (counting the 2 times on the front and back ends of my 2 previous trips to Russia). It seems that this city is in a constant state of change. From the new construction going on near the airport, to the renovation of buildings in and around Red Square, you can always hear the sounds of jack hammers or backhoes doing their thing. Even the Metro (subway system) is changing slightly as they renovate the various stations along the route between our hotel and Red Square.

With all this change, however, there is still a lot that is the same. There are still a bunch of stray dogs in the field near the hotel, there is still the same number of smokers everywhere you turn and it’s still pretty easy to get access to the Internet. Technology is a wonderful thing. Nickie and I were able to post updates on our blogs and send some emails out to our family, all from the comfort of our hotel room.

I’m excited to see what changes await us in Voronezh. I hear the hotel there has undergone some upgrades since my last visit, and that there is now an Internet café right there in the hotel. If this is true, it will make updating our blogs very easy to do. We’ll post more information as we have it. Until then, here is a photo of us in Red Square:

In Atlanta - about to board the plane to Moscow (fwd)

We've made it to Atlanta and are about to board the plane to Moscow.

News so far...the computer messed up our seats, so we don't get the seats
with lots of leg room. However, they did give us us $200 each off a future
flight. Woo hoo! Possibly free vacation.

Voronezh Trip Prayer Calendar

We have received our team prayer calendar for the trip to Voronezh. It provides information about what we may be doing each day (assuming schedules don't change) and gives you a list of things to pray for. Please remember that Voronezh is 9 hours ahead of US Central time, so please plan accordingly and thank you.

Download our prayer calendar.

Also, please remember that we will try to post information about the trip while we are in Russia, but there are no guarantees that we'll be able to make it to the Internet cafe on a regular basis. Please be patient. : )

Nickie's New Blog

Nickie (my wife) just set up her own blog. You can check it out here: nickiefruin.blogspot.com.

It's almost time

In just over two weeks Nickie and I will be heading off to Voronezh, Russia. We leave on Thursday, September 27th and return Sunday, October 7th.

This will be my 3rd trip to Voronezh and Nickie's first. We are both very excited about the trip and can't wait to see what the Lord has planned for us.