How do I set my external monitor so that my gestures won't activate spaces on the external? I'm working with the new 13" MacBook Pro and have just set up my external monitor.  I am looking to accomplish two things:

1) How can I change the external monitor settings so that they do not respond to the gestures used for spaces?  That is, I want my laptop to respond to spaces while the external remains on a single screen.  

2) Slightly related: is there a way to set up two independent sets of spaces between the laptop screen and the external monitor?  Again, having separate control of these two sets would be key.
Control over spaces and external displays is fairly limited in Lion. At the moment what you're looking for isn't possible.

One "space" is really the combination of your MacBook and external display, they can't be separated. Because of this, the number of spaces on your external display will be exactly the same as the number on your MacBook display, and you can't exclude one display from switching spaces or activating Mission Control.