[ale] [OT] Need to lock down a Windows laptop

[Tom Freeman]

On Tue, 12 Apr 2011, Pat Regan wrote:

> On Tue, 12 Apr 2011 10:14:08 -0400
> Drifter <drifter at oppositelock.org> wrote:
>
>> What I have never understood is how drivers can be so insensitive to
>> the feel of the car that they don't know when a tire gets low.  Even
>> with power steering and sophisticated suspensions a car handles
>> differently when one tire is as little as 10 psi low.  Over the next
>> few years a greater percentage of cars will have tire pressure
>> monitoring systems and the problem will be ignorant drivers who
>> ignore the idiot light when it appears.
>
> You should try driving a sports car with good, low profile high
> performance tires.  Good speed rated tires have thick, very stiff
> sidewalls.  You won't notice a tire that is low on air when you're just
> cruising around.
>
> Even with a flat tire you might actually be wondering if you really
> have a flat tire, at least at city speeds.
>
> I had a flat tire a few years ago in my Miata with a 205/45 tire on a
> 17 inch wheel.  Driving at 45mph, the only real indication that I had a
> flat was the small change in road noise.  I took my hands off the
> wheel, the car just continued driving straight as an arrow.
>
> The extra noise wasn't even that loud, either.  Not much more than the
> difference between rolling on different road surfaces.
>
> I'm certainly not insensitive to the feel of the car, either :)
Must be a Mazda thing. I just had a flat almost three months ago on a 
Mazda 6. Never noticed a thing until the road noise gave it away. 'Course 
I had to call for assistance, as my leg hadn't healed from a pair of 
breaks sufficiently that I was all that confident of getting off the 
ground under my own power. That challenge is better now (not great, just 
better)