AJAX - A New Revolution

My Background (Just feel like mentioning it) :-
After working on legacy technologies - mainly Informix 4GL - on UNIX platform, I was put on a web-based project for DHL (June '05). And here I am, into the web world of hazar new buzzwords (and increasing every moment as I type) - born out of dot com boom?
My project involves:
1. JavaScript, JSP, Servlets (using Struts Framework)
2. EJB
3. Core Java
4. Linux
5. WebSphere Application Server

Enter AJAX :-
Read this strange word "AJAX" on several web programming related sites. Looked like any other technology/buzzword. (I still fail to understand the reason why there are hazar technologies for a single "web" platform - I am still in the 'C language' mindset where everything is in...what else but C!) But I always wanted to learn more about this "AJAX" just because it sounded more like a PC game character name (Warcraft?).
Today, I set out to explore this intriguing technology called AJAX. And I start with - what else - Google - which takes me straight to - what else - Wikipedia. (Isnt it predictive? - Thats the power of a brand name! - more on this some time later)

What is AJAX :-
AJAX is not a seperate technology as such. It is a name coined by Jesse James Garrett in his article Ajax: A New Approach to Web Applications (must read!) for the mix of various technologies - HTML, JavaScript, XML, XMLHttpRequest - to achieve a very fine solution to the problem of presenting dynamic server side information on a web page without actually reloading the web-page (I always wanted to achieve this ever since I learnt basic HTML during my CDAC days). Wow! The secret behind - Gmail, Google Maps, Google Suggest etc and Outlook Web Access!
AJAX simply stands for Asynchronous JavaScripting and XML. Being a web developer now, I find this superbly amazing and intriguing - something which is going to keep me busy for days to come. Just wonder - why did it take so long for web sites to use this amazingingly simple idea. Is it because of the "Evil" image of JavaScript? Hoping to find the answers soon...this blog is going to be blessed with many more posts on AJAX.

End Note :-
Learning and getting to know about AJAX seems an easy ride starting with Wikipedia and Ajax: A New Approach to Web Applications, and then following the links on Wiki.
Right now I am surfing http://www.ajaxmatters.com - a dedicated site for AJAX information.