Web: Attention Webmasters!

Please stop using the "blank" target tag for your hyperlinks. If I want to open a link in a new window, I'll do so on my own. If I click on a link directly it means I don't need to be on your page any longer and want to go to the new one - keeping a window open for you is bothersome.

In any case, opening a new browser window for your link is something I thought was being discouraged primarily due to the fact that "windows" are not a universal concept (PDAs and cellphones don't use them in the sense we think of them with things like Macs or Windows XP). The target attribute is not included in XHTML Strict, which is the only true HTML anyway.

This technique is somewhat similar to pages that disable the "back" button in your browser so you won't leave their site. That infuriates me to no end. You can get around it, sure. But you shouldn't have to. Your job as a webmaster is to make navigating your site as easy as possible for a visitor. If you want to keep people on your site, give them a reason to stay. Trying to "force" someone to stay on your site is a surefire way to keep them from coming back.