Regardless of facing North/South vs. East/West, the items render facing the same way. Also, they render in front of your hand when holding them. See attachments.
When holding these items in your hand in SMP, other people see them rendered about half a block in front of your hand, not actually in it.
Not sure if it's a bug, but you'll also notice that items (especially blocks) in 1.8 frames are significantly smaller in size as well. Worth noting...
I can confirm this. I started my server in 1.7.4. Not sure if that makes a difference but I'm noticing a lot of things from this such as picking up blocks that continue to appear on the ground (for me only) and the respawn button taking like 15 seconds to actually work.
These screenshots show that the issue is current in the 1.5.1 pre-release.
I feel like listing my computer specifications here is pointless. Having done some research, it seems to be an issue regardless of Minecraft settings, graphic settings, and anything in between. I cannot tell much of a difference in the new lighting system that was deployed in 1.5. What I can tell is that 1.5 cut my FPS and (even when it says I'm getting 100+) it is very jerky/stuttery/glitchy whatever you want to call it, when I'm playing now. It doesn't break the game, but my God is it a HUGE difference from 1.4.7. I would hate to have to get used to it but it looks like I might have to. Even with smooth lighting turned to minimal or off, my client is definitely NOT as response as it used to be. I've done countless tests so please don't suggest it is any settings I may have on my end. The new update is great but I would pick performance over a few new features any day of the week. Just my "confirm" of this bug and my opinion.
The second fix greatly improved the issue for me. While I did not notice this white stitching prior to 1.5 and its snapshots, I can confirm that this issue has been somewhat prevalent since Alpha. Perhaps I (and others) did not notice this before because I was not looking for it and its effects were minimal. It seems that hardware has nothing to do with this issue and the effect is not generated due to AA settings (although improper AA settings may worsen the appearance). Hopefully 1.5.1 (looking like it will be out within a week or so) will bring enough closure to this topic so that we can all get back to playing this great game without spending more time than we have to in the bug tracker!
I can confirm this issue. Running fresh Windows 7 install, fully updated drivers, and fully updated Java. I loaded a fresh copy of MC and Sphax 128 together and when I run this texture pack I get less than 10fps. Typically I run MC at around 120fps. I can also confirm this is not an issue with my OS or any software or driver files as it ran the same before I reinstalled my OS. In fact, one reason I reinstalled everything was because I thought something in my system was corrupt. Running 1st generation i7 with Radeon HD5770.
Not that I know of.