Kelly:
[Security 101] I don't need to know your real name and I certainly don't need to know your email address to be able to converse with you through AO. It's those "silly" little "details" that compromise your personal security which, of all the kinds of security required out there, is the most basic..... Don't tell anyone on the internet who you are unless you are prepared to deal with them face to face or go to "battle" in the virtual world on a non-gaming, (read: malicious), basis.
[/Security 101]
My post above refers to the potential for abuse of your IP address...... Fortunately the admins of the forums are smart enough to withhold that from common users.... It might still be a good idea to use a proxy to visit the forums.... Not to play the game... It would slow you down too much.... ;)
As to your current practices on your computer.... I wish the entire base of users of the internet were as smart as you.... Well done... Keep it up and tighten it up wherever you can.....
As to your wish to learn..... Start at the very beginning - or at the point where your current knowledge becomes "fuzzy" - and learn _how_ a network and therefore the internet works.... It's the most valuable set of knowledge you can glean... after that, it's all "details" and many of the other "issues" you will be faced with daily can be thought through with that knowledge....