[DonPellegrino]

I pick some technology that has the following characteristics:

- A complete paradigm shift. I want something that will force me to rethink how I approach problems. I want to force my brain to develop new pathways, so to speak.

- Something will at least a minimum of documentation and community online. I've had to abandon dreams of learning some really awesome language before (ATS) because there was simply no resources and that would make my progress too slow.

- Something that could be fun to use in a side project. I need to be able to find occasions to use it. I learn best by doing rather than by only reading. If I can't think of an application, then I won't be able to become proficient, so I'd rather learn something else.

- And finally, it has to be something fun that feels like falling in love with programming all over again.

EDIT: I usually don't pick more than 1 technology to REALLY LEARN per year, so I don't make these decisions lightly.