Download your patch for Microsoft Software now... or howl like a dog at the critical security lapses in Microsoft's OS: 4 critical flaws found. 'The flaws in most versions of Microsoft Windows occur in the help function and could allow attackers to gain control of the user's system.' Microsoft Technet

Celebrate Smoothwall, which won accolades this week from TechTV. Personally, Smoothwall has been my perfect firewall for over two years. And besides being really flawless, the selfless and generous Smoothwall developers support non-profits like children's schools for the deaf and a site to save homeless dogs.

Montgomery County, Maryland's mystery serial shooter is still at large... We might go out with the dog tonight, but where is safe... what if the little creep lives in our neighborhood.... well, maybe he won't shoot anyone in his neighborhood because he plans to rampage again... and then again, maybe not... He stopped his random shootings at about 10:30 a.m. What if he never does it again... we'll never know who it is... our dog got his walk in the neighborhood and all went uneventfully... nobody else out walking... Related: 5 shot dead in Washington suburb, Five slain one by one in Washington, DC, suburbs Minneapolis Star Tribune, Five killed in Montgomery County, Md., suburbs; victims gunned down one by one San Francisco Chronicle; Five Dead in Washington Suburb Shooting Spree ABC News

Girl, 5, gets 350 stitches after dog attack FL Girl, 5, attacked by neighbor's dog  [Stuart News] Related: Officer saves woman from dog attack, 10-year-old girl mauled by family’s dog

Grrr... where's my soapbox: Speaking of intelligence, people-- not dogs -- should have intelligence tests and training before they get a dog. Imagine someone chaining a highly intelligent, hunting dog (an Akita) all day in the front of their house. Now imagine an innocent little girl walking up to the dog... and trying to pet it... tragedy ensues... oh, and the dog wasn't licensed... More often than not, owners and not dogs are the reasons dog become vicious... It is cruel and inhumane to chain a dog for hours on end. It is also a technique used by dog fighting gangs to make a dog more aggressive...

October: Adopt a Pet Month and not a moment too soon... The preponderance of animal cruelty cases in the news can inspire us to change the outlook for our dogs and our society... any kind thing you do for animals is a victory over these atrocities. Of course, adoption is just one way to help. Donations of time and money to animal rescue organizations like the ASPCA or the Humane Society are always a good choice.

• Vineland police seek person who stoned show dog 
• Council Member Sentenced For Shooting Dog 
• Man charged with killing neighbor's dog A wacky neighbor crushed a 12-pound dog's head.
• Teen Sentenced In Dog Beating Case A teenager beat a dog to a pulp with a baseball bat.
• Man charged with woman's beating; killing her dog (a claw hammer kind of guy...)
• Munhall man charged with shooting dog to death 

Is your dog a canine Einstein? How to test  According to the Early Show resident veterinarian Debbye Turner, 'the best way to measure intelligence in dogs is to assess their 'problem-solving' skills; this method is also true of humans. Obedience is another way, the more tricks you can teach a dog, the smarter he is.  And persistence is also a measure of smarts. A dog that keeps trying to solve a problem until he succeeds is considered sharp.' Debby Turner provides a whole slew of simple, yet clever tests to find out how smart your dog is... <How Smart Is Your Dog? [CBS]

'Here comes the lion!' the crowd chants and claps as the large brown dog is led into the arena straining at his leash... Hundreds of people, squatting on a dusty patch of land just outside the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, rise to cheer as one of the best fighters in town enters the arena... Dog fighting makes comeback in Afghanistan [Reuters, UK] 

Tiny yorkshire terrier strangled NY 'The Human Society of the United States is offering a $2500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person, or people, responsible for strangling a dog...' A family found its beloved dog strangled in a backyard  pool after searching for it for days; the gruesome sight was made worse when investigators determined the cause of death was by strangulation... Human society offers reward to find dog strangler [Rochester Democrat Chronicle]

 Shrieking, sobbing custody battle rages on... over tiny dog TX Two women are duking it out in court over a tiny Matelse, who may or may not be the original owner's dog. Investigators have compared fleas, dental records and veterinarian records to determine the dog's rightful owner. The dog in question is supposedly 3 or 4 years old, while the former owner says her dog is actually 9 years old. Another court hearing takes place on October 15... The case of the duplicate Maltese [Galveston County Daily News]

Dog attacks on postal workers: an avoidable terrorism CA 'The U.S. Postal Service is conducting a campaign to raise awareness about the danger of dog attacks to carriers. The injury and trauma to the letter carrier is bad enough, but a dog attack is costly for the postal service in terms of lost employee time, medical bills, interrupted service, training time and other expenses...'  With dog ownership, comes the responsibility to control the dog and that means confining the dog from strangers, if necessary... [Visalia Times-Delta]

Somebody got shot dead this morning right outside my spouse's office in Rockville . There are helicopters outside the building now and they've been circling for a while. The sniper (or snipers) is using a white Mitsubishi box-like moving van and has both shotguns and high-powered rifles.

Also, four (4) other people in our area (we live less than a mile from all the shootings) have been randomly shot dead in the last fifteen hours: mowing their lawn, gassing up a car, vacuuming a car, waiting for a bus and shopping at Shoppers Food Warehouse on Randolph Road (where I shop). I'm not walking around Rockville today and I'm not walking around Silver Spring or Wheaton until they catch the sniper; I'm not taking our dog out for any more walks today; I was planning to go up to Wheaton Regional Park (less than a mile) and do the loop around the old train station.

maybe we should get bullet-proof vests -- not a bad idea, if this continues... but if you get shot in the head, that won't help...

All the schools are locked down because of the Code Blue issued by the police department. (you can't pick up your kid from school). They don't want any children outside right now, although all victims are adults. (Some years ago, a woman was shot dead on my block  -- that murder was never solved... ) Well, I'm going to go light some candles for those who just had their lives cut short.

Victim number six just died at 10:30 this morning, in Kensington, Maryland. All over Montgomery County and the Washington Beltway, police are converging on and stopping white box-like trucks. Nobody's going outside... Rockville is hunkered down; nobody wants to go out to lunch. The streets are empty.

Update: Montgomery County schools will allow students to go home in the next several hours. Extracurricular activities and Classes for the evening are canceled. And the number dead is five (5), not 6 (six); there were six shootings. As for the killer or killer(s), no descriptions are available. One witness said he saw a white box-like (Mitsubishi ?) truck leaving the scene. Nobody knows if the truck is connected to the shooting or not; but police are taking all precautions. The killer is bold and willing to kill right across the street from a police station and fire-station, in a crowded daylight area; that's exactly what he did last night at Shopper's Food Warehouse on Randolph Road. Nobody sees him, so he's quite stealthy. He's probably shooting from a car (or truck); he's killing randomly. All victims are adults: men and women and black, white and hispanics have all been targeted.

Related: Washington Post News Roundup