Two new things that I would try to do in coming time:
pax tools, starting with pax-runner, so that I could use bundles out of the artifacts of a project and try to use the appropriate container for them(tutorials - on ops4j page and have a look here also)
Just read a very interesting discussion about Web services and CORBA. Worth to keep it linked. Still got to see which is (if any) the impact of CORBA in the current trends, cause I am not fully edified yet.
And I need to gain the insight about upgrades in CORBA specification versions - from 2.x to 3.x.
I have to make a review on CORBA, and also on other distributed middleware (probably DCOM). And is not that easy - as these are by now old fashioned. I am working to get whether they can still be usable, and I am trying to find them in the new buzzy trends like SOA, OSGi.
Do you have an opinion to share about the CORBA or DCOM state of the art?