diff --git a/humbug/urls.py b/humbug/urls.py
index ba5b3cb91e..5bf36f89c3 100644
--- a/humbug/urls.py
+++ b/humbug/urls.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import os.path
 urlpatterns = patterns('',
     url(r'^$', 'zephyr.views.home', name='home'),
     url(r'^update$', 'zephyr.views.update', name='update'),
-    url(r'^get_updates$', 'zephyr.views.get_updates', name='get_updates'),
+    url(r'^get_updates_longpoll$', 'zephyr.views.get_updates_longpoll', name='get_updates_longpoll'),
     url(r'^zephyr/', 'zephyr.views.zephyr', name='zephyr'),
     url(r'^personal-zephyr/', 'zephyr.views.personal_zephyr', name='personal_zephyr'),
     url(r'^accounts/home/', 'zephyr.views.accounts_home', name='accounts_home'),
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ urlpatterns = patterns('',
     url(r'^accounts/logout/', 'django.contrib.auth.views.logout', {'template_name': 'zephyr/index.html'}),
     url(r'^accounts/register/', 'zephyr.views.register', name='register'),
     url(r'^static/(?P<path>.*)$', 'django.views.static.serve',
-        {'document_root': os.path.join(settings.SITE_ROOT, 'static/')})
+        {'document_root': os.path.join(settings.SITE_ROOT, '..', 'zephyr', 'static/')})
 
     # Uncomment the admin/doc line below to enable admin documentation:
     # url(r'^admin/doc/', include('django.contrib.admindocs.urls')),
diff --git a/zephyr/decorator.py b/zephyr/decorator.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e800535ed9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zephyr/decorator.py
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+import tornado.web
+import types
+
+class TornadoAsyncException(Exception): pass
+
+class _DefGen_Return(BaseException):
+    def __init__(self, value):
+        self.value = value
+
+def returnResponse(value):
+    raise _DefGen_Return(value)
+
+def asynchronous(method):
+    def wrapper(request, *args, **kwargs):
+        try:
+            v = method(request, request._tornado_handler, *args, **kwargs)
+            if v == None or type(v) == types.GeneratorType:
+                raise TornadoAsyncException 
+        except _DefGen_Return, e:
+            request._tornado_handler.finish(e.value.content)
+        return v
+    return wrapper
diff --git a/zephyr/management/commands/runtornado.py b/zephyr/management/commands/runtornado.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6248afb8a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zephyr/management/commands/runtornado.py
@@ -0,0 +1,317 @@
+from django.core.management.base import BaseCommand, CommandError
+from optparse import make_option
+from django.conf import settings
+import os
+import sys
+import tornado.web
+ 
+class Command(BaseCommand):
+    option_list = BaseCommand.option_list + (
+        make_option('--noreload', action='store_false',
+            dest='auto_reload', default=True,
+            help="Configures tornado to not auto-reload (for prod use)."),
+        make_option('--nokeepalive', action='store_true',
+            dest='no_keep_alive', default=False,
+            help="Tells Tornado to NOT keep alive http connections."),
+        make_option('--noxheaders', action='store_false',
+            dest='xheaders', default=True,
+            help="Tells Tornado to NOT override remote IP with X-Real-IP."),
+    )
+    help = "Starts a Tornado Web server wrapping Django."
+    args = '[optional port number or ipaddr:port]\n  (use multiple ports to start multiple servers)'
+
+    def handle(self, *addrport, **options):
+        # setup unbuffered I/O
+        sys.stdout = os.fdopen(sys.stdout.fileno(), 'w', 0)
+        sys.stderr = os.fdopen(sys.stderr.fileno(), 'w', 0)
+ 
+        if len(addrport) == 0:
+            self.run_one(**options)
+        elif len(addrport) == 1:
+            self.run_one(addrport[0], **options)
+        else:
+            from multiprocessing import Process
+
+            plist = []
+            for ap in addrport:
+                p = Process(target=self.run_one, args=(ap,), kwargs=options)
+                p.start()
+                plist.append(p)
+
+            while plist:
+                if plist[0].exitcode is None:
+                    plist.pop(0)
+                else:
+                    plist[0].join()
+            
+
+    def run_one(self, addrport, **options):
+        import django
+        from django.core.handlers.wsgi import WSGIHandler
+        from tornado import httpserver, wsgi, ioloop, web
+
+        if not addrport:
+            addr = ''
+            port = '8000'
+        else:
+            try:
+                addr, port = addrport.split(':')
+            except ValueError:
+                addr, port = '', addrport
+        if not addr:
+            addr = '127.0.0.1'
+ 
+        if not port.isdigit():
+            raise CommandError("%r is not a valid port number." % port)
+ 
+        auto_reload = options.get('auto_reload', False)
+        xheaders = options.get('xheaders', True)
+        no_keep_alive = options.get('no_keep_alive', False)
+        quit_command = 'CTRL-C'
+
+        if settings.DEBUG:
+            import logging
+            logger = logging.getLogger()
+            logger.setLevel(logging.INFO)
+ 
+        def inner_run():
+            from django.conf import settings
+            from django.utils import translation
+            translation.activate(settings.LANGUAGE_CODE)
+
+            print "Validating Django models.py..."
+            self.validate(display_num_errors=True)
+            print "\nDjango version %s" % (django.get_version())
+            print "Tornado server is running at http://%s:%s/" % (addr, port)
+            print "Quit the server with %s." % quit_command
+            
+            from tornado.web import FallbackHandler, StaticFileHandler
+            django_app = wsgi.WSGIContainer(WSGIHandler())
+
+            try:
+                # Application is an instance of Django's standard wsgi handler.
+                application = web.Application([(r"/get_updates_longpoll", AsyncDjangoHandler),
+                                               (r".*", FallbackHandler, dict(fallback=django_app)),
+                                               ])
+
+                # start tornado web server in single-threaded mode
+                http_server = httpserver.HTTPServer(application,
+                                                    xheaders=xheaders,
+                                                    no_keep_alive=no_keep_alive)
+                http_server.listen(int(port), address=addr)
+
+                ioloop.IOLoop.instance().start()
+            except KeyboardInterrupt:
+                sys.exit(0)
+ 
+        if auto_reload:
+            from tornado import autoreload
+            autoreload.start()
+
+        inner_run()
+
+#
+#  Modify the base Tornado handler for Django
+#
+from threading import Lock
+from django.core.handlers import base
+from django.core.urlresolvers import set_script_prefix
+from django.core import signals
+
+class AsyncDjangoHandler(tornado.web.RequestHandler, base.BaseHandler):
+    initLock = Lock()
+
+    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        super(AsyncDjangoHandler, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+
+        # Set up middleware if needed. We couldn't do this earlier, because
+        # settings weren't available.
+        self._request_middleware = None
+        self.initLock.acquire()
+        # Check that middleware is still uninitialised.
+        if self._request_middleware is None:
+            self.load_middleware()
+        self.initLock.release()
+        self._auto_finish = False
+
+    def prepare(func):
+        """Patches the Cookie header in the Tornado request to fulfull                                                       
+        Django's strict string-type cookie policy"""
+        def inner_func(self,**kwargs):
+            if u'Cookie' in self.request.headers:
+                raw_cookie = self.request.headers[u'Cookie']
+                if isinstance(raw_cookie, unicode):
+                    if hasattr(escape, "native_str"):
+                        self.request.headers[u'Cookie'] = escape.native_str(raw_cookie)
+                    else:
+                        print "Method 'native_str' in module 'escape' not found."
+                        self.request.headers[u'Cookie'] = str(raw_cookie)
+            return func(self)
+        return inner_func
+
+    def get(self):
+        from tornado.wsgi import HTTPRequest, WSGIContainer
+        from django.core.handlers.wsgi import WSGIRequest, STATUS_CODE_TEXT
+        import urllib
+
+        environ  = WSGIContainer.environ(self.request)
+        environ['PATH_INFO'] = urllib.unquote(environ['PATH_INFO'])
+        request  = WSGIRequest(environ)
+        request._tornado_handler     = self
+
+        set_script_prefix(base.get_script_name(environ))
+        signals.request_started.send(sender=self.__class__)
+        try:
+            response = self.get_response(request)
+
+            if not response:
+                return 
+
+            # Apply response middleware
+            for middleware_method in self._response_middleware:
+                response = middleware_method(request, response)
+            response = self.apply_response_fixes(request, response)
+        finally:
+            signals.request_finished.send(sender=self.__class__)
+
+        status_text = STATUS_CODE_TEXT.get(response.status_code, "UNKNOWN")
+        status = '%s (%s)' % (response.status_code, status_text)
+
+        self.set_status(response.status_code)
+        for h in response.items():
+            self.set_header(h[0], h[1])
+
+        if not hasattr(self, "_new_cookies"):
+            self._new_cookies = []
+        self._new_cookies.append(response.cookies)
+
+        self.write(response.content)
+        self.finish()
+    
+
+    def head(self):
+        self.get()
+
+    def post(self):
+        self.get()
+
+    # Based on django.core.handlers.base: get_response
+    def get_response(self, request):
+        "Returns an HttpResponse object for the given HttpRequest"
+        from django import http
+        from django.core import exceptions, urlresolvers
+        from django.conf import settings
+
+        try:
+            try:
+                # Setup default url resolver for this thread.
+                urlconf = settings.ROOT_URLCONF
+                urlresolvers.set_urlconf(urlconf)
+                resolver = urlresolvers.RegexURLResolver(r'^/', urlconf)
+
+                # Apply request middleware
+                for middleware_method in self._request_middleware:
+                    response = middleware_method(request)
+                    if response:
+                        break
+
+                if hasattr(request, "urlconf"):
+                    # Reset url resolver with a custom urlconf.
+                    urlconf = request.urlconf
+                    urlresolvers.set_urlconf(urlconf)
+                    resolver = urlresolvers.RegexURLResolver(r'^/', urlconf)
+
+                callback, callback_args, callback_kwargs = resolver.resolve(
+                        request.path_info)
+
+                # Apply view middleware
+                for middleware_method in self._view_middleware:
+                    response = middleware_method(request, callback, callback_args, callback_kwargs)
+                    if response:
+                        break
+
+                from ...decorator import TornadoAsyncException
+
+                try:
+                    response = callback(request, *callback_args, **callback_kwargs)
+                except TornadoAsyncException, e:
+                    # TODO: Maybe add debugging output here
+                    return
+                except Exception, e:
+                    # If the view raised an exception, run it through exception
+                    # middleware, and if the exception middleware returns a
+                    # response, use that. Otherwise, reraise the exception.
+                    for middleware_method in self._exception_middleware:
+                        response = middleware_method(request, e)
+                        if response:
+                            break
+                    if response is None:
+                        raise
+
+                if response is None:
+                    try:
+                        view_name = callback.func_name
+                    except AttributeError:
+                        view_name = callback.__class__.__name__ + '.__call__'
+                    raise ValueError("The view %s.%s returned None." % 
+                                     (callback.__module__, view_name))
+
+                # If the response supports deferred rendering, apply template                   
+                # response middleware and the render the response                               
+                if hasattr(response, 'render') and callable(response.render):
+                    for middleware_method in self._template_response_middleware:
+                        response = middleware_method(request, response)
+                    response = response.render()
+
+
+            except http.Http404, e:
+                if settings.DEBUG:
+                    from django.views import debug
+                    response = debug.technical_404_response(request, e)
+                else:
+                    try:
+                        callback, param_dict = resolver.resolve404()
+                        response = callback(request, **param_dict)
+                    except:
+                        try:
+                            response = self.handle_uncaught_exception(request, resolver, sys.exc_info())
+                        finally:
+                            receivers = signals.got_request_exception.send(sender=self.__class__, request=request)
+            except exceptions.PermissionDenied:
+                logger.warning(
+                    'Forbidden (Permission denied): %s', request.path,
+                    extra={
+                        'status_code': 403,
+                        'request': request
+                    })
+                try:
+                    callback, param_dict = resolver.resolve403()
+                    response = callback(request, **param_dict)
+                except:
+                    try:
+                        response = self.handle_uncaught_exception(request,
+                            resolver, sys.exc_info())
+                    finally:
+                        signals.got_request_exception.send(
+                            sender=self.__class__, request=request)
+            except SystemExit:
+                # See https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/4701
+                raise
+            except Exception, e:
+                exc_info = sys.exc_info()
+                receivers = signals.got_request_exception.send(sender=self.__class__, request=request)
+                return self.handle_uncaught_exception(request, resolver, exc_info)
+        finally:
+            # Reset urlconf on the way out for isolation
+            urlresolvers.set_urlconf(None)
+
+        try:
+            # Apply response middleware, regardless of the response                             
+            for middleware_method in self._response_middleware:
+                response = middleware_method(request, response)
+            response = self.apply_response_fixes(request, response)
+        except: # Any exception should be gathered and handled                                  
+            signals.got_request_exception.send(sender=self.__class__, request=request)
+            response = self.handle_uncaught_exception(request, resolver, sys.exc_info())
+
+        return response
diff --git a/zephyr/models.py b/zephyr/models.py
index 9bfccc03a6..a6c13d06ce 100644
--- a/zephyr/models.py
+++ b/zephyr/models.py
@@ -16,10 +16,31 @@ def get_display_recipient(recipient):
         user = User.objects.get(pk=recipient.user_or_class)
         return user.username
 
+callback_table = {}
+
 class UserProfile(models.Model):
     user = models.OneToOneField(User)
     pointer = models.IntegerField()
 
+    # The user receives this message
+    def receive(self, message):
+        global callback_table
+
+        # Should also store in permanent database the receipt
+        for cb in callback_table.get(self.user.id, []):
+            cb([message])
+
+        callback_table[self.user.id] = []
+
+    def add_callback(self, cb, last_received):
+        global callback_table
+
+        # This filter should also restrict to the current user's subs
+        new_zephyrs = Zephyr.objects.filter(id__gt=last_received)
+        if new_zephyrs:
+            return cb(new_zephyrs)
+        callback_table.setdefault(self.user.id, []).append(cb)
+
     def __repr__(self):
         return "<UserProfile: %s>" % (self.user.username,)
 
@@ -55,9 +76,36 @@ class Zephyr(models.Model):
         display_recipient = get_display_recipient(self.recipient)
         return "<Zephyr: %s / %s / %r>" % (display_recipient, self.instance, self.sender)
 
+def send_zephyr(**kwargs):
+    zephyr = kwargs["instance"]
+    if zephyr.recipient.type == "personal":
+        recipients = UserProfile.objects.filter(user=zephyr.recipient.user_or_class)
+        assert(len(recipients) == 1)
+    elif zephyr.recipient.type == "class":
+        recipients = [UserProfile.objects.get(user=s.userprofile_id) for
+                      s in Subscription.objects.filter(recipient_id=zephyr.recipient)]
+    else:
+        raise
+    for recipient in recipients:
+        recipient.receive(zephyr)
+
+post_save.connect(send_zephyr, sender=Zephyr)
+
 class Subscription(models.Model):
     userprofile_id = models.ForeignKey(UserProfile)
     recipient_id = models.ForeignKey(Recipient)
 
     def __repr__(self):
         return "<Subscription: %r -> %r>" % (self.userprofile_id, self.recipient_id)
+
+def filter_by_subscriptions(zephyrs, user):
+    userprofile = UserProfile.objects.get(user=user)
+    subscribed_zephyrs = []
+    subscriptions = [sub.recipient_id for sub in Subscription.objects.filter(userprofile_id=userprofile)]
+    for zephyr in zephyrs:
+        # If you are subscribed to the personal or class, or if you sent the personal, you can see the zephyr.
+        if (zephyr.recipient in subscriptions) or \
+                (zephyr.recipient.type == "personal" and zephyr.sender == userprofile):
+            subscribed_zephyrs.append(zephyr)
+
+    return subscribed_zephyrs
diff --git a/zephyr/static/js/zephyr.js b/zephyr/static/js/zephyr.js
index 6be1d0bafc..2b171ee8c2 100644
--- a/zephyr/static/js/zephyr.js
+++ b/zephyr/static/js/zephyr.js
@@ -197,10 +197,6 @@ function unhide() {
     $("#narrow_indicator").html("");
 }
 
-$(function() {
-  setInterval(get_updates, 1000);
-});
-
 function newline2br(content) {
     return content.replace(/\n/g, '<br />');
 }
@@ -228,10 +224,19 @@ function add_message(index, zephyr) {
     $("#table tr:last").after(new_str);
 }
 
-function get_updates() {
+function get_updates_longpoll(data) {
+    if (data && data.zephyrs) {
+	$.each(data.zephyrs, add_message);
+    }
     var last_received = $("tr:last").attr("id");
-    $.post("get_updates", {last_received: last_received},
-           function(data) {
-               $.each(data, add_message);
-    }, "json");
+    $.post("get_updates_longpoll",
+	   {last_received: last_received},
+	    function(data) {
+		get_updates_longpoll(data);
+	    }, "json");
 }
+
+$(document).ready(function() {
+    get_updates_longpoll()
+});
+
diff --git a/zephyr/views.py b/zephyr/views.py
index 06343d1422..9871dcc7e9 100644
--- a/zephyr/views.py
+++ b/zephyr/views.py
@@ -8,10 +8,12 @@ from django.shortcuts import render
 from django.utils.timezone import utc
 
 from django.contrib.auth.models import User
-from zephyr.models import Zephyr, UserProfile, ZephyrClass, Subscription, \
-    Recipient, get_display_recipient
+from zephyr.models import Zephyr, UserProfile, ZephyrClass, Recipient, get_display_recipient, filter_by_subscriptions
 from zephyr.forms import RegistrationForm
 
+import tornado.web
+from zephyr.decorator import asynchronous
+
 import datetime
 import simplejson
 
@@ -41,7 +43,7 @@ def home(request):
     if not request.user.is_authenticated():
         return HttpResponseRedirect('accounts/home/')
 
-    zephyrs = filter_by_subscription(Zephyr.objects.all(), request.user)
+    zephyrs = filter_by_subscriptions(Zephyr.objects.all(), request.user)
     for zephyr in zephyrs:
         zephyr.display_recipient = get_display_recipient(zephyr.recipient)
 
@@ -64,37 +66,39 @@ def update(request):
         user_profile.save()
     return HttpResponse(simplejson.dumps({}), mimetype='application/json')
 
-def filter_by_subscription(zephyrs, user):
-    userprofile = UserProfile.objects.get(user=user)
-    subscribed_zephyrs = []
-    subscriptions = [sub.recipient_id for sub in Subscription.objects.filter(userprofile_id=userprofile)]
-    for zephyr in zephyrs:
-        # If you are subscribed to the personal or class, or if you sent the personal, you can see the zephyr.
-        if (zephyr.recipient in subscriptions) or \
-                ((zephyr.sender == userprofile) and zephyr.recipient.type == "personal"):
-            subscribed_zephyrs.append(zephyr)
-
-    return subscribed_zephyrs
-
-def get_updates(request):
+@asynchronous
+def get_updates_longpoll(request, handler):
     if not request.POST:
-        # Do something
+        # TODO: Do something
         pass
+   
     last_received = request.POST.get('last_received')
-    new_zephyrs = filter_by_subscription(Zephyr.objects.filter(id__gt=last_received),
-                                         request.user)
-    new_zephyr_list = []
-    for zephyr in new_zephyrs:
-        new_zephyr_list.append({"id": zephyr.id,
-                                "sender": zephyr.sender.user.username,
-                                "type": zephyr.recipient.type,
-                                "display_recipient": get_display_recipient(zephyr.recipient),
-                                "instance": zephyr.instance,
-                                "content": zephyr.content
-                                })
+    if not last_received:
+        # TODO: return error?
+        pass
 
-    return HttpResponse(simplejson.dumps(new_zephyr_list),
-                        mimetype='application/json')
+    user = request.user
+    user_profile = UserProfile.objects.get(user=user)
+
+    def on_receive(zephyrs):
+        if handler.request.connection.stream.closed():
+            return
+        new_zephyr_list = []
+        for zephyr in zephyrs:
+            new_zephyr_list.append({"id": zephyr.id,
+                                    "sender": zephyr.sender.user.username,
+                                    "display_recipient": get_display_recipient(zephyr.recipient),
+                                    "type": zephyr.recipient.type,
+                                    "instance": zephyr.instance,
+                                    "content": zephyr.content
+                                    })
+        try:
+            handler.finish({'zephyrs': new_zephyr_list})
+        except socket.error, e:
+            pass
+
+    # We need to replace this abstraction with the message list
+    user_profile.add_callback(handler.async_callback(on_receive), last_received)
 
 @login_required
 def personal_zephyr(request):