> I was a newspaper layout designer in a previous life.

Such a cool-sounding job! Any fun stories to share from those days?

> Reading anything of length on this screen is decidedly uncomfortable when browsing HN.

Agreed. I always browse HN in a window that's half the width of my monitor.

There is something nice about the ultra-simplistic CSS that goes as wide as your window, though. Then, the user can just resize their window to find the sweet spot for themselves. The sites that force a fixed width for reading on everyone really miss the point, I think.