Yes, you can add attribute
android:configChanges="orientation" to
the activity declaration in the
AndroidManifest.xml file.
IMHO, it's better to declare
android:configChanges="orientation|keyboard|keyboardHidden"
About the blog post you gave the link in another answers. I guess here is the answer:
If your application doesn't need to
update resources during a specific
configuration change and you have a
performance limitation that requires
you to avoid the Activity restart,
then you can declare that your
Activity handles the configuration
change itself, which prevents the
system from restarting your Activity.
I spoke as well with an android developer about this problem. And he meant following. If you don't have different layouts for landscape and portrait orientation, you can easy use configChanges.