It was a tough day in the Valley. My mouth tasted like 20 miles of bad road, which is what my rear end was feeling as I drove up the winding road to Mt. Hamilton. High above the Santa Clara Valley, I was on a mission to see the Source of All Knowledge. The Chosen One used to be a consultant in Silicon Valley. On one fateful day, after a trip to Club Med, he was trapped in an airliner for 30 hours with 200 French tourists and emerged from the smoke and smell with a new persona, Nostradjava.

I was at a loss to understand the recent product announcements from JavaSoft. My editor was told that Nostradjava could see the future and, thusly, is the only person on the planet who could explain JavaSoft's marketing strategy.

Legend had it he lived in a stone monastery near the mountain peak, subsisting on granola bars and warm Sprite.

As I approached the Mt. Hamilton peak, I was greeted by a creature in long flowing robes, sitting in the front seat of an old Ford van, staring into a brass pot mounted on a tripod.

"Greetings, Old Wise One," I called.

I heard him mumbling as I continued, "It is said that you see the Valley through the clearest of eyes, from a higher level."

"You would, too, if you lived on an 8,000 foot high mountain," he stated.

"So, what happened to the monastery, Oh Keeper of the Eternal Flame?"

"Zoning," he replied. "Besides, who wants to be in a stone hut when the shaking starts?"

"Earthquakes?" We don't need any more of those. The last Big One took out my entire collection of Elvis beer mugs.

"No, the shaking that will start when the Valley finally understands that Microsoft is winning everything. People must change, and quickly!"

"You mean with innovation, creativity and vision?" I asked.

"No, buildings. Man, there is bad Karma in some of the buildings in the Valley. People need to move to better locations!"

"Wait a minute, why are we talking about buildings? My editor told me to get a prediction from you on the future of JavaSoft. How will they compete with Microsoft? Will there be embedded Java applications? Will there be a Java Network Computer? And...what is the fate of JavaOS? If I don't come back with a story on JavaSoft's strategy, I'll be back to writing for COBOL Weekly!"

He turned from me as his eyes became glassy. Nostradjava peered into his brass pot and, like his namesake Nostradamus, began speaking in quatrains. Unfortunately, I'm a little rough with my 16th century French, so I asked for a translation.

"If you seek the answers, look to the land," he mumbled.

"Land, land," I pondered ..."You mean the JavaSoft building? We are back talking about buildings!"

"Yes, there is some major league bad karma in the JavaSoft building... and much history of confusion and chaos."

I remembered that the JavaSoft building has been through many tenants, starting with Apple.

He was on a roll as he switched back to his French accent. "It was there that the Little Kingdom of Apple moved its flag at the peak of its power. It was there that the Sculley of Pepsi defeated Steven of Jobs in a legendary battle on the plains of the third floor. It was there that the Huns from the east routed the Cola kingdom and created the disastrous Magna Performa. After the alliance with Blue of Big, the principality of Taligent was formed in that building. Surely, you remember that reign."

"I sure do." I was in job search mode then and every time I talked to someone at Taligent, another bright-eyed Yuppie Puppy would ask me why I was good enough to work for them, a company with no leadership, no products and no future.

"So, is JavaSoft doomed by their building? Is the building a locus of bad Karma? If so, why do they have such a nice cafeteria?"

Nostradjava stared toward the North. "To survive, JavaSoft must move closer to the center of the Force, away from the Land of the Sun."

His Harvard MBA training was evident. I could just picture the size of the consulting bill that my editor was going to get. "So, Oh Great One, where should JavaSoft go to seek their destiny?"

He looked at me and smiled. Switching off his French accent, he said, "Tell your friends at JavaSoft my brother is in commercial real estate. He can get them a great deal on a tilt-up right outside of Redmond, Washington!"

As I headed back down the mountain, I pondered the fate of JavaSoft. Then I heard a commercial on the radio for the latest Apple promotion - buy a t-shirt, get a free Macintosh. And, if you act now, they will throw in a free Taligent coffee mug.

It was a long drive home.