Morning wisdom

Just as a gaffe must be true, it appears that an aphorism must be false. For example, "A watched pot never boils." I've checked that one out, and I'm here to tell you that it does not pass the 100% truth test. A true thing we might have said is, "An empty kettle never boils" or "If you've left an empty kettle on the burner for a significant amount of time, it's probably best to turn down the heat and wait a few minutes before trying to add water."

The view from Austin

The storm is looking pretty serious. CNN is reporting that as many as 37,000 people may require rescue in the wake of Ike. 

And while things are legitimately scary on the coast, here in Austin...

... people are freaking out! Even if Ike were headed directly at us--which it isn't--the damage to an inland city would likely be very minor. There is a reason that evacuees from the coast are being sent to Austin.

But that hasn't prevented hysterical Austinites from evacuating, buying up all the gasoline, and even closing schools early today. I went to the store for a jug of water, only to discover that in the whole store, there were only two jugs of water left. 

So naturally I bought both jugs. You know, just in case.

Burning salt water for fuel

No kidding. This dude can (allegedly) "burn" salt water by exposing it to an RF energy field. The radiation weakens the chemical bonds and releases the hydrogen, igniting the hydrogen in the process. Even if we never use burning salt water for heat, just freeing the hydrogen in this manner sounds pretty cool to me.

Of course, there's the Vonnegutesque Ice-9 angle:

"This is the most abundant element in the world. It is everywhere," Dr. Roy said of salt water. "Seeing it burn gives me chills."

Indeed.

We are your friends

You may have read this today from any number of news sources.

There have been no recorded earthquakes to explain away the phenomenon, even though it is a good theory.

This one is even better.