I managed to validate (woo!) ... eventually, after learning a thing or two. The ampersands in the URLs were a new trick to me in particular. (Should I be admitting this?)
Unfortunately, the W3C Validator doesn't appear to be responding, so I can't do it through them at the moment. Their CSS validator practically waved me through the gate, though.
Flash, Java, and XML... whoa. Must read this later, at least to see how feasible it is with my skill set.
E's Web Manager Weblog contains more mentor-like goodies for me and me alone! Woo!
All Stats Should Be Created Equal: forward to Random for his input. Er, as best as you can "forward" a link to someone who never checks his email.
The Tables argument. Well presented. I'm leaning towards tables pending more evidence.
I hear it's on its way out anyway, but it sucks. Go back to newsgroups and FTP, people. Sheesh.