Website project, need some advice

I'm in the early stages of planning a web site and need some help on how to best develop this site. To describe the site in a brief manner you can think of it as an online diary. (That description is not exactly accurate but the site would be similar in structure and functionality.)

From the description above I therefore need database functionality. The users would basically log in every day, and make entries to the database. This is not like a community site, so there would be no interaction among the users. (At least not in this first development.) Further on I would need some chart functionality, at least column, line and pie charts, which would be based on the user information in the database. (Some kind of dynamic chart solution.)

The first advice I could need is some help on choosing the right programming language/package for this kind of project. My main concern is speed. I want this site to be really quick for the user to use. Also user-friendliness and a nice clean design is important, so I'd prefer that the chart functionality could produce some very nice looking charts in 3d etc.

I've fiddled around with many different languages in my time, but little in the last couple of years. Of course .Net/SQL Server comes to mind, as well as PHP/MySQL, and I'm sure there are lots of other options. The problem is I'm outdated, and if anyone could give me some advice on which solution I'd be better off, I would be very grateful!

TwinCepto

Just want to add one thing.

Cost and ease of programming solution is also important.

I've been surfing a little and came across Ruby on rails. I've heard of Ruby but never Ruby On Rails. Can anyone tell me more about the ruby language and the ruby on rails framework. Is this an option to consider?

TwinCepto

Python and Django? There can't be an easier language to learn and use than Python.

http://www.djangoproject.com/

I never stated that I was looking for the easiest language. However I've actually done a little python scripting back in my linux days, and I agree it's a great language, nothing produces more code quicker...

For web development though, I'm unsure. I've actually been reading alot about ruby on rails, and my current thinking is that its really quick to write, and in addition seems very powerful.

So to clariy, not looking for the easiest solution. I'm looking to write a web site where userfriendliness and really quick navigation is the key focus. I'm still considering solutions, but currently I'm leaning towards Ruby on rails, lightweight css/html design, and implementing ajax to some degree for to make the navigation more seamless. (i.e. not reloading the whole site for every little change etc....)

TwinCepto