> I once made a power resistor (DC) using a glass of salt water and two
> wires

Reminds me of a story told by a colleague, that I think I have told here
before. He had worked for a company that was installing a UPS for one of
the IBM mainframes that started the computer banking system in New
Zealand in the 60s. They had to do a run test on the UPS, to show it met
IBMs requirement of maintaining pains voltage for 10 minutes after mains
failure.

Test method was to run the UPS into a dummy load consisting of six 44
gallon drums of salty water, ( 6 required as it was a 3 phase system,
delta wired) with the electrodes suspended on a wooden frame so they
could be lowered as the water boiled off, to keep the load resistance
constant. So this all got set up on Sunday morning, and run successfully
- just as the Salvation Army were coming out of their Citadel across the
road. His description of them all smartly dressed in their uniforms, and
here across the road was the fire and brimstone ... well for 10 minutes
and 10 seconds anyway, which the UPS held up for.
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