Erlang is a very cool functional language. It has a funny introductory video that keeps coming up at RailsConf. Mike Clark blogged on it last year but (apparently) a ton of people haven't seen it yet.
Here's the direct link to the video.
Also, there's a Pragmatic Programmer book on the subject of Erlang called Programming Erlang. It's in beta at the moment, but worth checking out.
Why do people care about Erlang? Because it's a functional language, when you code an algorithm it can scale across cores or machines without you having to write threaded code. In the coming world, with it's tons of multi-core machines, this is going to be a very important language trait.
You can read more about Erlang and get a quick intro on Dave Thomas' blog. Start with his A First Erlang Program post.
Update: I just noticed the Erlang Programming Contest. The physical prize is only a book, but you just can't put a price tag on Eternal Fame and Glory!! ;)
