As you may have noticed I've just pushed out some design changes. The activity streams now have a more updated look, and I've streamlined many of the animations. There are no longer separate options to post images and start threads. I've consolidated the two into this single "Start Thread" area. As always, let me know if you find any problems!
I don't seem to be receiving email alerts anymore. The last notification email I received was quite awhile ago.
EDIT: I also have all email alerts enabled in my account settings.