I agree with both of these suggestions, except that
I wouldn't mind seeing replies if they were near the
original node (as opposed to just not showing them).
I'm also wondering if it would be possible to be able
to mark sections complete. I often start to read the
previous evening's posts when I wake up, but only get
through one section before I go to work. During my
commute, new nodes sometimes get added (or sometimes
don't). In the morning it's pretty hard to remember
what I've already read ;). Every time I
see the home nodes seperate I think about this. It
would make a nice configuration option.