As far as I know there is still none of those proposed improvements that were already implemented. As we can see, Admin theymos must be very busy. Let's just imagine why the report badges is still haven't released, it's maybe because he's pretty busy or something so I guess he won't be able to implement even one of those proposed improvements for now. Even though we really need some of those ideas, we can't do anything but to wait for Admin's update.
I like some of those ideas in that thread you've mentioned by hilariousetc, and if ever that Admin will apply even two of those proposals. Then my vote is for "1 Merit required to rank up to Jr. Member" and "Completely remove signature to Jr. Member and Newbie rank". This will surely change the Forum.
I don't dispute the fact that theymos may be busy with other things but if it's the case, we may gather a team of devs to volunteer and implement some of them.
I can also volunteer to help out with some of these items if needed since these are going to improve our time here on the forum.