Since my introduction is out of the way I feel its time to get all my questions onto the board so the guru's and people who have been around a bit can guide me towards the garden path 
OK so here goes. (yes i have tried the search feature, it did trim my list of questions down some)
1) Software
a) Im currently using the Bitcoin QT software and as I said in my opening post im happy to be a part of the back bone and run the software thats fine with me, but should i look at something else? I want easy to use and I seem to be stumbling my way through this software ok
b) I see alot of pages about backing up but what are users doing in regards to this? Should I do it weekly and keep a copy on a USB stick that stays in the desk draw? If someone did get that USB sick how hard would it be for them to take what i have?
c) The encryption option in Bitcoin QT seems self explanatory but does that effect me making payments when i eventually get coins? or is it like loggin into a webpage once the key/password is in it just works as normal?
d) Is port forwarding required for any wallet/mining software?
2) Mining
a) As far as apps go i stumbled across this one "Guiminer" https://github.com/Kiv/poclbm seems pretty simple to use, and the site i saw it on said it was slanted towards new users. I havent used it as yet should i avoid it? I want to do a bit of solo mining until i read more on how pools work and get my head around them (yes i have read that solo is not worth the time and effort but i feel i need to get into this slowly so i can take in what im reading and i seriously dont mind going solo for a little bit)
b) if the above miner is no good what should i use for solo use for the short term?
c) Once i get more knowledge about what im doing is there a lexicon or list of terminology somewhere (yes i have tried the search feature but i dont think it likes me).
d) once i get a lot more knowledge about what im doing, im thinking a hardware investment might be the go. Ive seen usb sticks right up to set ups that cost thousands. Since I will be a smaller than small time operator I figured something like this https://products.butterflylabs.com/homepage/5-gh-s-bitcoin-miner.html would be a good bang per buck investment. (currenly 1 btc is worth $142 AUD I would be happy if i broke even on hardware costs with in 12-18 months) Thoughts? Im very open to opinions.
e) Pools is there a n00b sauce friendly one out there? and for example if 50 people are in the pool and the pool mines a bitcoin(s) is it time spent mining = your cut or is it more involved. What should I look to avoid in a pool?
So thanks in advance for the help and this list was much longer but search for the win. :-)
OK so here goes. (yes i have tried the search feature, it did trim my list of questions down some)
1) Software
a) Im currently using the Bitcoin QT software and as I said in my opening post im happy to be a part of the back bone and run the software thats fine with me, but should i look at something else? I want easy to use and I seem to be stumbling my way through this software ok
b) I see alot of pages about backing up but what are users doing in regards to this? Should I do it weekly and keep a copy on a USB stick that stays in the desk draw? If someone did get that USB sick how hard would it be for them to take what i have?
c) The encryption option in Bitcoin QT seems self explanatory but does that effect me making payments when i eventually get coins? or is it like loggin into a webpage once the key/password is in it just works as normal?
d) Is port forwarding required for any wallet/mining software?
2) Mining
a) As far as apps go i stumbled across this one "Guiminer" https://github.com/Kiv/poclbm seems pretty simple to use, and the site i saw it on said it was slanted towards new users. I havent used it as yet should i avoid it? I want to do a bit of solo mining until i read more on how pools work and get my head around them (yes i have read that solo is not worth the time and effort but i feel i need to get into this slowly so i can take in what im reading and i seriously dont mind going solo for a little bit)
b) if the above miner is no good what should i use for solo use for the short term?
c) Once i get more knowledge about what im doing is there a lexicon or list of terminology somewhere (yes i have tried the search feature but i dont think it likes me).
d) once i get a lot more knowledge about what im doing, im thinking a hardware investment might be the go. Ive seen usb sticks right up to set ups that cost thousands. Since I will be a smaller than small time operator I figured something like this https://products.butterflylabs.com/homepage/5-gh-s-bitcoin-miner.html would be a good bang per buck investment. (currenly 1 btc is worth $142 AUD I would be happy if i broke even on hardware costs with in 12-18 months) Thoughts? Im very open to opinions.
e) Pools is there a n00b sauce friendly one out there? and for example if 50 people are in the pool and the pool mines a bitcoin(s) is it time spent mining = your cut or is it more involved. What should I look to avoid in a pool?
So thanks in advance for the help and this list was much longer but search for the win. :-)