No question there's a learning curve, but you don't have to be a genius to learn Scala and use it effectively. Is Scala there to stay? Yes. I've used it successfully at TraceLink, Inc and CiBO Technologies, Inc and am a big fan. Scala is richer and more expressive than Java and eliminates annoyances like checked exceptions. The key is the principal of minimum power (use the smallest hammer that gets the job done) and some consistency in style across the team. If people go meta-nuts with advanced language features, the result can be spectacular failure. If you use the language right, it's wonderful and you can write some great code quickly.

We had DSL from Bell Atlantic for about six months. Worked great for a while, then there were a number of outages including one that lasted *5 days*. Their customer service is atrocious. They also appear to do no monitoring whatsoever. If something fails, no one at Bell Atlantic will notice until you call them.

We switched to cable modem service from RCN and have been very happy. At first the service was blindingly fast, now it has slowed down probably because they have added a bunch more homes in my neighborhood. It's still a good deal. There have been some outages but only briefly. Another benefit of RCN is that they include dialup service at no extra charge, so if the cable network goes down (or if you are travelling) there is another option. Bell Atlantic offers no backup for DSL at all; when it's out, you're out of luck.