I've seen the next big JVM language, and it's called Scala.

SqueakNOS is an old idea that has gotten the kiss of life again. You want fast, simple, and OO? Check it out.

During last week's The Server Side Java Symposium in Prague, it looks like scaling is the biggest issue. I've collected some pointers from presentations on the topic and will certainly return to it when we start doing this sort of stuff.