However #3, I still am undecided how to use ripple now. Trust everyone with 0.01 BTC? Trust the known veterans with 1 BTC? Trust my real-life buddies with 100 BTC? Is ripple of any use for me anyway, concerning gateways? Will I (and everyone else here) be scammed to death?
Trust your real-life buddies, and gateways - but don't let the sum of your outstanding trust exceed what you can make good on (in BTC, USD or other currency). Only give XRP away to strangers on the forum for the purpose of testing the system.