ringmaster

1. This is mostly true. Google will index some pages that include query strings (that’s the stuff after the ?), but your best bet is to use “search-engine-friendly” or “non-cruft” URLs via mod_rewrite.
2. mod_rewrite is currently the best tool for this if you’re running Apache. I checked out bimmercenter.com, and from what I can see, it doesn’t seem to be loaded, but you should check yourself to be sure.
I’m going to assume that you’re self-hosting and not dealing with a managed host that could do this for you.
You’ll need to access your httpd.conf file and look for the mod_rewrite library. If you find it, it’s possible that it’s commented and that’s why it’s not running. Just erase the # from the beginning of the line.
Here’s a thread on an off-site forum that might be of use to you for getting mod_rewrite installed assuming it’s not simply disabled on your system.
After mod_rewrite is running (Netcraft for your site might help you out viewing server headers, but there’s probably a better way), you can get the configuration for mod_rewrite directly from the WordPress admin panel on the Options/Permalinks page.
This is just a quick overview of the basic steps to get mod_rewrite going. You might like to read up on the module and what it does over at the Apache site itself, because the module is quite powerful and configurable.
An alternate method of getting cruft-free URLs is only available in the bleeding-edge cvs version of WordPress. WordPress 1.3 looks like it supports PathInfo, which is a clever way to avoid using mod_rewrite entirely. You’ll need to add an ErrorDocument line to your httpd that redirects 404 errors to your WordPress index page. WordPress will figure out what to do from there using your Permalink settings.

Ah, but then you won’t have access to the flickr crosspost features when Exhibit 2.0 is released… 🙂

@pezastic:
See answer to your question here:
http://ww.wp.xz.cn/support/10/11988
@easydoesit:
1) This is most likely due to the CSS that you’re using to display the images. If you’re using the default file that comes with Exhibit, it shouldn’t stack the images vertically unless there is no space to line them up horizontally inside their container.
2) The default popup settings for Exhibit will automatically create a popup that resizes when the image is displayed.
Providing a URL to your site would go a long way toward getting help with your issues. Imagine that I am telling you how to build something out of Legos over the phone – I can’t see what you’ve done already to help you along.

Beware: My Linux permission knowledge is limited to getting my own stuff to work, and I’m not familiar with your setup…
It looks like your admin panel is creating directories with a user that PHP isn’t in the same group as. You might not need to have chmod settings in Exhibit. Did you try setting them to 0?

Exhibit is designed to work with the thumbnail file that it (or you) creates, and with an image that will fit reasonably in a browser. There are settings that allow you to resample and save the “large” file when it is uploaded, but there is no option to keep three files on the server.
There may be a way to write client-side script that would resize an image that is too large to be displayed in a particular browser, but this script is not included in Exhibit.