Quick question on mining rewards: I have my reward threshold set at 1 BTC, and I'm currently at .3 BTC. Do I need the wallet program open on my computer to receive the reward once I hit 1 BTC, or will the transaction be there the next time I log into the wallet?
Your transaction will be there the next time you log into the wallet... it may take a few minutes to show up as the Bitcoin program connects to the network and retrieves blocks until it gets to the one containing your transaction.