Back in Tbilisi

Well, after a final breakfast in Duisi and a 3.5 hour car ride, we're back in Tbilisi, safe and sound. We enjoyed a great lunch at the guest house followed by a shower for a few people before the water went out. I was in the middle of mine when that happened. : )

The week has been very full of activities; too many to recount right now, but if you'd like to read a few updates from throughout the week, check out the update page on the Caucasus Hope Partnership website (http://caucasushope.org/stay-informed/news/84-fall-2009-trip-updates.html).

It's 3 pm now, and we leave for the airport at 3 am to fly back to Houston. More updates then...

Mac Hacker Strikes Again at 2009 PWN2OWN Contest

It's hard to believe that it's been (roughly) a year since the PWN2OWN contest last year in which a fully patched and updated Mac fell victim to Charlie Miller's hack attack in under 2 minutes. The contest was run again this year, and the pressure was on Miller to defend his title - and he didn't disappoint. In fact, this year he was able to hack the MacBook in under 10 seconds! Exploiting a flaw in Apple's Safari browser, Miller was able to take complete control of the laptop once a link on a website was clicked on the computer. Another participant was able to bring down a Sony laptop running Windows 7 and Internet Explorer 8 (both still in beta) later that day. Both participants won a $5000 cash prize and the laptops they hacked. Read this article for more info.

So why do I continue to point out when Apple computers are hacked? Is it because I hate Apple and/or Macs? Not at all...in fact, I'm currently saving up to buy one of those awesome new 17" MacBook Pros that came out last month so I can do some iPhone development. No, the reason I post about these events is so that people will open their eyes to the lie that Macs are invulnerable, and thus superior to PCs. The MacBook that was hacked by Charlie Miller was completely up-to-date with all the latest patches from Apple, yet it still fell.

I'm writing so that current Mac owners, and those looking to make the move, will be sure to always keep their systems up-to-date AND continue to use caution when browsing the web. If you believe that your Mac is invulnerable, you may be more lax in your browsing habits and go around clicking on every link you see without considering the source. This is a very bad habit to fall into.


So, a word to the wise, always be certain that any links you click on are from a reputable source and that they point where you think they are pointing. If you are uncertain about them, DON'T CLICK ON THEM.

Stay safe out there....

Leaving Voronezh One More Time

It is almost time for us to go to the train station to head back up to Moscow. Everytime we leave it gets a little bit harder to say goodbye. One of these days we may just decide to stay here. : )

Sorry I haven't posted more often this week, but as I've said before it has been difficult to get internet access this week. I'll post more in Moscow and then again when we get back to the states.

See you soon.

Hi From Voronezh

Hello from Voronezh, Russia. It's Wednesday evening here, and this is the first real chance I've had to get on the Internet. We work so late each evening that we can't make it to the Internet cafe in the hotel before it closes. To get on, we would have to walk quite a way down to another cafe, but it isn't in the nicest part of town, so we don't go there all the time. This evening we were at the "You are not alone" Club, which is a transition center for orphans that have left the orphanage due to their age. The are legally considered adults, but many of them have never learned many of the life skills that we take for granted, like how to wash clothes, cook food, or even find a decent job. The club gives them a place to make friends, learn life skills and perhaps even train for a job.

I have also been involved with a construction project at one of the local churches. We have been digging a place for the "parking lot" and building a fence along one side, which involves moving a lot of sand and gravel. It's hard work, but it's great to see a tangible result from the work.

Nickie and I are doing great, and are really enjoying our time here. We'll try to post more over the next few days. Check back soon. : )

It's Almost Time

In less than 24 hours, Nickie and I will be on a plane heading for Russia once again. We are so excited about this opportunity to return to Voronezh to work with the pastors of that city/region as they work to grow their churches and reach people for Christ. This is my 4th trip and Nickie's 2nd, and we are very excited to see how God uses us this year.

As we are in Russia and have access to the web, we will post updates and photos to our blogs so you can keep up with us along the way.

Was (color) blind, but now I see...

I just read about this amazing new treatment that a doctor in Maryland has come up with to help people with color deficient vision (aka "color blindness") be able to see color. Dr. Thomas Azman has developed a set of color corrective lenses that alter the wavelengths of light so that the rods and cones of the eye are able to distinguish between different colors. He claims to have had a 100% success rate and guarantees that his patients will be able to pass the Ishihara Color Plate Test (the gold standard in color deficient vision testing).

Dr. Azman currently only has one location in Maryland, and is the only one offering this service, so people that want to use this service must go to him. However, if his lenses work as claimed, I foresee a lot of optomitrists and opthomologists signing up to offer this service to their patients.

The process is not a corrective surgery, but rather a set of corrective lenses which can be made as either glasses or contacts. To read more about this amazing new technology, visit Dr. Azman's web site.

More Fun Than A Barrel Full of MediaMonkey

I have been looking for a replacement for MusicMatch and Yahoo! Music Jukebox for a while now, and I was beginning to loose hope. That was, until I found MediaMonkey. Thanks Google!

I've been using MediaMonkey for a couple days now, and so far I'm very impressed. The installation was quick and simple, and importing my library of music was extremely quick - although it didn't seem to import all of the track data - specifically my ratings of each track. Not the worst thing in the world, but it would have been nice. Also, the user interface is a bit more busy than what I was used to in MusicMatch, but as I get used to it I'm finding a few things to be a huge convenience.

My initial impressions have been great. Here's a sampling:

AutoDJ

The #1 feature that I was looking for in a replacement to MusicMatch was AutoDJ. If you read my last blog post, you know that this was my favorite feature of MMJB and one that I couldn't live without. Great news! MediaMonkey has an AutoDJ feature. While it's not exactly like the one in MMJB, it actually functions more like what I was hoping that MusicMatch's AutoDJ would become. Rather than specifying the number and genre(s) of songs to pull up and then creating a static playlist of songs, MediaMonkey does it a little differently. All you have to do is turn AutoDJ on, and it will automatically fill up your "Now Playing" list whenever it starts to run empty. This is great. An unending list of music from my library without me having to fiddle with it when the playlist is finished. It just keeps on going until I stop it. It's like having my very own radio station. I can also foresee this function being very useful at our next house party.

The only downside I've seen to MediaMonkey's AutoDJ feature is that it doesn't let you pick songs by genre, etc. Instead, it chooses songs at random from the library. It can be quite jarring to go from Pink Floyd to Johnny Cash to Mozart to The Pixies. I'll need to research this a little more...

Track Tags

As I previously mentioned, MediaMonkey didn't import my song ratings - but it makes up for this with a very handy set of track tagging tools. The library offers the standard grouping and sorting options (by artist, album, title, genre, year, etc), but it goes one step further. MediaMonkey also includes a few custom groupings, including one called "Files to Edit". This group contains all of the tracks in your library that are missing key track tags such as artist, title, album, genre, year or rating. Wow! This makes it super-easy to find tracks that you need to edit to fill in the extra info. No more searching around for tracks with missing info. MediaMonkey puts them all in one place, ready to be edited when time permits.

Of course, MediaMonkey also helps you edit tags by looking for information on the internet (Amazon to be specific) and then lets you choose which info to add. Very nice!

Full Player vs. Mini Player vs. Micro Player

Most media players/managers offer 2 modes for playing - the full mode and a mini player mode. The full mode shows everything, which is useful when managing your library, but cumbersome when you just want to play music. The mini player takes up less screen space, but usually offers less functionality. This is not revolutionary

MediaMonkey also offers what they call the Micro player, which is essentially just a tray icon that controls the player. While this is not a unique feature, what makes it cool is that you have 2 ways to control the micro player. By right-clicking on the tray icon, you can handle all your standard playback functions (play, pause, next/previous track, etc) via a set of menus. However, you can also use the left mouse button to do some cool things. Click the icon once to pause the playback and again to resume play. Click and drag the mouse left or right to skip to the next/previous track. Click and drag up and down to raise and lower the volume. Pretty cool.


Well, that's all for now. As I have more detailed info, I'll post it. However, I'm pretty confident at this point that I have found my replacement for MusicMatch Jukebox. If you'd like to give MediaMonkey a try, you can download it from www.mediamonkey.com. If you do, let me know what you think of it.

Wherefore art thou, MusicMatch?

Way back in the late 90's I bought a new computer that came preinstalled with a copy of MusicMatch Jukebox (MMJB) version 3. At the time I was a huge fan of WinAmp, but figured I'd give it a try. I'm glad I did, because I fell in love with MMJB almost instantly. It let me easily manage my already huge and ever increasing collection of mp3s and let me tag them easily. It would even look up tag info on the internet and let me choose which info to add to the files. Then I found my favorite feature of all - AutoDJ!

AutoDJ was a feature that would automatically create a playlist of songs based on a few simple criteria set in the dialog box. This made it super-easy for me to get a bunch of songs ready to play while I was using my computer, without having to add them manually. It eventually even let you pick songs from similar artists or genres, making it even better.

I loved MMJB so much that I actually purchased the full version almost right away, and even paid the premium cost (double the price) to get an "all future versions" license so that I would always have the latest and greatest version of the product. Over the years other media players and media managers came along, but none of them could compete with MMJB .



Then one day it happened - I lost faith in MusicMatch. I had rebooted my computer after installing a new application, and when I clicked the icon to launch MusicMatch a little dialog window popped-up informing me that MusicMatch had been sold to Yahoo! and would become "Yahoo!Music Jukebox". Yahoo claimed that everything would be okay, and that the product would remain the pretty much the same and that all of us that had the "all future versions" license would be taken care of. Long story short - that was a complete lie!

Oh sure, Yahoo did indeed create a Yahoo looking media player/manager program and upgraded me to the premium version when I entered my MusicMatch license key, and it even migrated my library of music over to the new app. But YMJ was not a comparable replacement for MMJB. Rather than focusing on letting me manage my library easily, instead it focused on looking at my library and trying to tell me about other artists that I might be interested in. It was even nice enough to let me purchase songs from those artists right away. How nice of them to provide me with a way to give them money.

Worse than that, my absolute favorite feature of MMJB (remember AutoDJ) was no longer part of the program. After some research I learned that Yahoo decided that feature wasn't important and pulled it out. I could understand not wanting to invest time and effort improving that feature or expanding it, but what cost is there in simply keeping that code in there? It already worked, and worked well. Surely there couldn't be a huge number of bugs in the AutoDJ code.

So, after giving YMJ a try for several months - and hating every minute of it - I decided to return to using MMJB (which I never removed from my system). However, MMJB no longer worked properly. It would crash most of the time, and when it didn't crash, it wouldn't let me manage my library. I couldn't add new tracks. I couldn't remove old tracks. I couldn't edit tags. Nothing. Needless to say, I was very upset.

So, I've started looking for a new replacement for MMJB, and after a little research, I have found MediaMonkey. Lots of former MMJB users are switching over to MediaMonkey and have a lot of great things to say about it. I have installed the free version of the program and have started using it. I'll post more info in my experience as I get into it more.

1 Month + 1 Week

In one month and one week Nickie and I will return to Voronezh, Russia for another short term mission trip (Sept. 18-28). We are really looking forward to what the Lord has in store for us on this trip (my 4th and Nickie's 2nd).

I also want to express our deepest thanks for the support of so many of our family and friends that is making this trip possible. Raising $7000 in 2 months can seem like an insurmountable obstacle, but the Lord continues to show His provision, and we are within $1500 of the goal. Thanks to everyone that has committed to praying for us while we're there and/or made a financial contribution to the trip.

Final Post On "Pwn to Own"

This will be my last post about the "Pwn to Own" contest held last week. I just wanted to post that the organizers of the event have come out to share with us that the Linux computer didn't fall to hackers not because of its superior security, but rather for lack of interest. In fact, they said that the same exploit of the Flash player that took down the Vista box also would have worked on the Linux box. You can read more about it in this article.

More hacking news

In an update to my post last week about the computer hacking competition, "Pwn to Own", I read another article that told of how the Windows Vista Ultimate computer ultimately fell to a hacker. The exploit cam through the Adobe Flash player which is ubiquitous on most computers these days. I'm actually a little shocked that Vista didn't fall purely on it's own default installed software, but I guess that shows that Microsoft did some things right in Windows this time around.

This also goes to show that no software can be completely relied on to be 100% secure. Adobe is a well respected company, and their software is trusted by most people. Most people have no problem installing the Flash player on their computer so they can ply online games or view videos on sites like YouTube.com. However, this competition shows us all that we need to be aware that even the big dogs on the software block can put out software with vulnerabilities.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, stay on top of your security updates and patches.


BTW, the Linux computer was the only one of the 3 to not fall during the competition, though many wonder whether very many people actually tried to hack it.

The "un-hackable" Mac?

I read an article today discussing a contest in which anyone was given the opportunity to try to hack 3 different computers - one Vista, one Mac and one Linux. The first day of the contest only allowed attacks to be attempted over the network - no direct access to the computers was allowed. All three computers remained safe.

On the second day, people were allowed to send emails and web links to the computers, which contest organizers would open and click on. In under 2 minutes, the Mac had been hacked by Charlie Miller, a former National Security Agency employee (best known as one of the researchers who first hacked Apple's iPhone last year), thus earning Miller a $10,000 prize. The Vista and Linux computers remained unhacked.

Today, the contest rules will be relaxed again, allowing people to attack 3rd party software installed on the computers. Organizers of the contest think that today will be the day that the other two computers are hacked.

So why have my last 2 posts been "anti Mac" - pointing out that the OS has flaws? Am I an Apple hater? Do I bow at the feet of the almighty Microsoft? Of course not. It's true that I am slightly biased toward MS products because I have built up my career around their products, and have had a blast doing so. Is Microsoft perfect? No. Do their products have flaws? Obviously. No one in their right mind would say otherwise.

However, followers of the "Cult of Mac" love to talk about how great and infallible Apple is, and how all of their products are the most secure and "un-hackable" products on the market. They often speak as if they are immune to security problems that others have to deal with because they use a Mac. This should be a wake up call for all the Apple daydream believers. In the words of Flavor Flav, "Don't, don't, don't, don't, don't believe the hype!"

In today's world, EVERYONE needs to take proactive steps to ensure that their computers are safe and secure - regardless of which operating system they use. Install OS patches promptly. Purchase and install additional security software, like anti-virus, anti-spam and anti-spyware programs and KEEP THEM UP TO DATE.

I think that contests like the one discussed in the article I read are absolutely vital to the computing industry. Not because they continue to poke holes in the Invincible Apple Theory, but because they cause ALL of the operating system vendors to put even more emphasis on tightening up security in their products. Gone are the days in which you only had to focus on having a million and one widgets in your OS to sell a gazillion copies. Now they must focus on making their software a secure as they can. And in the end, that's good for all of us. : )

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.