Previously, we tracked new posts by a cookie session. This can be a pain if you use more than one machine to view the site. The tracking is now done within the database. I am not 100% how this is going to work, but the site feels a little snappier since the change a little bit ago. Probably a coincidence.

We'll see how it goes for a week or so...

In the long run, this is the way to go, because it keeps the New Posts icon persistent between browsers, computers, and sessions.
It might make for some annoyance in the short term, though.