HTML isn't what it used to be. ...2 years ago. Back then you could through in Javascripts, style tags and form tags all of the place and we did not care if the HTML was valid or not. What mattered was that it worked in Internet Explorer and Netscape. That's no longer the case. Now it needs to work and be correct. Actually you only make sure it's correct and then it will [hopefully] work automatically.
I like this pop-up script because it will work quite well even without Javascript enabled and does not require you to enter the href more than once. Worth keeping.
"Back then you could through in" ....you mean "throw in"?? Good coding is one thing - good English is another ;)