In this new post to CiteWorld.com, they're making the claim that the Hack language from the developers at Facebook is the "silver bullet for user-developers".

How do you modernize the way we build the web? That's the question at the heart of the release of a flurry of new languages and development platforms -- all from companies that run and build large scale web services. [...] While getting more out of CSS is good, as is replacing JavaScript; Facebook's HHVM and Hack combo is targeting one of the foundations of the modern web: rapid application development.

They talk some about the overall goals of Hack (improved performance, a stricter typing system) and include a brief example of some Hack code. They consider it to be a "more modern language" that brings PHP-based development up into a different level of languages. He also talks about HHVM a bit, migration from PHP to Hack and the potential for Hack to be adopted on other platforms outside of the current HHVM runtimes.

On the php|architect blog today Bill Karwin has shared his thoughts on NoSQL and how, despite the popularity of it during 2010, the hype curve is bending and companies are realizing it's less of the "silver bullet" they expected.

The technology hype of 2010 was clearly NoSQL, which proved to be more of a brand-name than a technical term. Today in his tech blog, Bozho set out his view that NoSQL is probably not a good choice for startups that don’t know yet where their database and application bottlenecks are.

Bill agrees, noting that the adoption of NoSQL technologies caused some major meltdowns when all things weren't properly considered. He points out that "a little knowledge is dangerous - the more little, the more dangerous" and developers should seriously consider the impact a NoSQL environment should have before jumping in head first.