I love how Scala solves this problem (or rather, provides the same functionality while avoiding the problem altogether):

http://louisbotterill.blogspot.com/2009/02/scala-implicit-co...

http://www.codecommit.com/blog/scala/scala-for-java-refugees...

Edit - more links, more detail:

http://technically.us/code/x/the-awesomeness-of-scala-is-imp...

http://scala.sygneca.com/code/simplifying-jdbc