A lot of the information all ready exists in links on other posts on this website. Confidence argues the genetic information position and is refuted by examples in
Message 41. I would suggest reading through the entire thread starting with message 41 and following interesting links. Towards the end of this thread are a few examples showing a changed in organisms in two different directions, in particular towards small sizes and large sizes.
Also,
Can random mutations cause an increase in information in the genome? discusses the problems with defining information in a measurable way. This thread got off-topic pretty quickly, but the first couple pages are relevant and informative.
As for gene switching, look at
Message 18. This is what RAZD is refering to in the previous post, and is also refered to in your opening post. When new features do appear, creationists try to explain it away by saying that the gene was present from the begining, but was switched on by another regulatory gene. Still, the switch gene must still be activated, which presumably works by an increase in some sort of information.
DNA increases in length can be caused by
gene duplication , linked to a wikipedia entry.
As for snakes,
here you can read about the various forms of ground locomotion. The most interesting from an information standpoint is rectilinear motion. From the webpage
Rectilinear locomotion is movement in a straight line. It is used mainly by large snakes such as large vipers, boas, and pythons. In rectilinear locomotion, the belly scales are alternately lifted slightly from the ground and pulled forward, and then pulled downward and backward. But because the scales "stick" against the ground, the body is actually pulled forward over them. Once the body has moved far enough forward to stretch the scales, the cycle repeats. This cycle occurs simultaneously at several points along the body. Static friction is the dominant type of friction involved in rectilinear locomotion. Unlike lateral undulation and sidewinding, which involve unilateral muscle activity that alternates from one side of the body to the other, rectilinear locomotion involves bilateral activity of the muscles that connect the skin to the skeleton. One set of these muscles lifts the belly scales up and pulls them forward and another set of muscles pulls the them downward and backward.
This sort of motion is caused by large changes to body structure, which confer a benefit to the snake- the ability to move while being extremely large. The structure and arrangements of skeletal muscles has changed in these snakes, opening up a new form of locomotion.
My favorite example of information increase is in
flying snakes. Similar to rectilinear motion, there is a definite change to the snakes skeletal flexibility and muscular arrangement. These changes allow the snake's body to assume a more aerodynamically efficient shape, thus allowing these snakes to glide through the air.
I like these examples because they are not just genetic changes, they are major changes to an organism's shape and structure which open up the possibility of new fuctions that confer a selective advantage to that organism. It's hard to see how these changes can be viewed as decreases in information, or losses of function.
Hope that helps!