Yesterday I had the pleasure to spend the day at Sun’s Israel Development Center. The team there is smart, passionate, and capable. I was delighted to be able to meet with many of the team members there and to provide some corporate information and messaging to the overall team.

The best part was in welcoming our newest Sun staff, the former Aduva team, into the fold. Here’s a picture of the team (there are a few other hangers on there too like me….)

Here’s something about Israel that you probably don’t know: $4B USD was invested there in the most recent reporting year, an increase of 150%! All the giants of tech seem to be investing in the area and there is a vital start-up scene. If you haven’t checked it out, you’re missing something…..Thank you Michal, Sigal, Tiki, Alan, and team for looking after me whilst I was there (especially the great homemade bread!)

As I sit in my hotel in Tel Aviv, I marvel at the fact I can see what’s happening in the Pacific Ocean because of the National Data Buoy Center system.

The buoy in question, 46012, gives me water and air temperature, wave height, wave period, air pressure, air pressure trend, wind speed (direction and gusts), and a 24 hour reporting sample.

Just before I left on this trip, I got an e-mail from OnStar indicating that my engine oil had an estimated 42% life remaining, that my brakes, transmission, air bag system, and engine were fine. I love that.

We’re in a world chock full of sensors, and it’s only going to become more prevalent. I’m off to Goteborg, Sweden from Isreal this afternoon. We’ll see what sensors we can discover there.

The point to this entry? Well, I wonder how our customers will respond as they are able to “see” that an air filter needs to be cleaned because of a gradual upward trend in CPU temperature? That’s where we’re headed……