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. :-)
1) Bitcoin-QT is so far the best in term of security. I heard a lot online wallet got hacked and scammed.
2) I would advice you not to put any money into mining as it is not worth it. Apart from that, just don't buy anything from Butterflylab. They will take years to ship you anything.