Charles Petzold

I don't need any Vista gadget to tell me it's cold outside. But check out the temperature in Melbourne, Australia, on my imaginary southern-hemisphere Vista machine:

And the sun's not even out. It's actually about 1:30 in the morning in Melbourne right now:

I wish I were in Melbourne, partially because I'd now be sleeping, but mostly because if I can imagine that I'm in Melbourne, I can also imagine that I have great tickets to the women's final at the Austialian Open just 12 hours from now, where Serena Williams will go up against the top-seeded Maria Sharapova.

Two weeks ago, everyone was noticing how out of shape Serena Williams seemed to be, and nobody was predicting she'd get very far. But that's how good she is: It just doesn't matter that much that she's not quite tip-top, and she proved it by defeating 17-year old Czech phenom Nicole Vaidisova in the semis two days ago. My sentimental favorite for this event was Kim Clijsters, who has announced that she'll be retiring to get married and start a family later this year. This is her last Australian Open, but she went down to Maria Sharapova in two sets in the semis.

Well, I'm not in Melbourne today. I'm in New York City slaving away on my 3D graphics book. But fortunately there's ESPN2, and live coverage of the women's final begins at 9:30 PM EST. If I turn up the heat high enough, maybe it'll be just like I'm there.