For more than a decade, programmers have been refining the art of Web development while systems administrators have been honing configurations, adding hardware, and fattening network pipes. Upgrades at peering points and transport backbones have dramatically improved network performance. Despite all these enhancements, however, many users still register the same complaint -- "Your site is too slow!" Continued...

Most Web sites contain static elements that are shared by several pages. Each page on a template-driven site will likely contain common elements such as style sheets, Java scripts, and images. As a browser parses HTML, it looks for items required to construct the page. If each request requires the browser to repeatedly download the same elements, a lot of unnecessary bandwidth will be consumed in just a few short clicks. Continued...

"Markets are conversations," according to Thesis One of the 1999 Cluetrain Manifesto. Its authors claim new forms of communication have the power to transform contemporary business practices. The Internet provides a means for people to reconnect to the traditional marketplace and exchange information about products and services. During the age of mass media, most information flowed in one direction -- from producer to consumer. Communication between consumers was limited in large part due to geography. You could warn your friends about a faulty product, but we all relied on industry watchdogs to convey such information on a global scale. That is no longer the case. Continued...