John...while I realize there are reasons for what you do, I have to admit that I am perplexed by some of the changes. Was there a "release" thread on all of the changes where some feedback can be given? I might have missed it, but if there was I can re-post the comments there..
1. I can't stand the blinking at the top right ("You have mail", "New Posts to You"). That has to stop. The red makes it stand out plenty, but blinking is a) really cheesy (like as in stupid IE-browser specific cheesinees), 2) adds no redeeming value to the page, and iii) what's next, blinking and flashing spam and advertising?
PLEASE STOP THE BLINKING!
2. There still seems to be a bunch of room between the body of a post and the footer/tag of the post. It is just space, but it hogs up vertical space. (more scrolling)
Ok, it was only 2 comments, but my $0.02.
Oh, one last thing, STOP THE BLINKIING!
I have IE 6 and mine doesnt blink...
Huh, I see it as the only legitimate use of the blink tag. Try it out for awhile, you can make it stop blinking by reading your mail/posts. :-)
Correct me if I'm wrong, but that white-space is a function of the auto-formatting. If you stick any HTML tag in, that white-space disappears.