A few general questions from a Newbie

First of all just want to comment on how great this site is. Its refreshing not to have regulars bite the head of newbies.

Now with that said, I have a few questions, being a newbie myself....

I have a G4 ibook 14 inch....I have been putting it in sleep mode daily, but when I go to use it lately,it sort of reboots..asks for my password twice. I open it, give my info, then screen goes black, and it asks again.Sry for my poor description. :dummy:
Is this normal?Could it be because I leave some windows open instead of quitting everything?

Desktop Pics::: do I right click pics and then save to iphoto library?

Wireless Network:::how would I know if someone was using my connection?When I click on the wireless conncetion on top, sometimes it shows me *default* along with my network name and other. Its not ALWAYS there, so Im figuring its another user. Theres no way of seeing networks in building is there??

Cleaning and Maintenance ::: whats the best way to clean the screen..a damp cloth?
Any maintenance programs I should be running ?

Thanks so much in advance for your help!
Im sure Ill have more questions, and in the meantime I enjoy learning how to use my iBook with this sites informative help.

Ok let me see if I can clear anything up for you...

"sleeping" issue: Have you tried updating everything, and then actually rebooting the machine? I'm not sure of this problem. I normally use 'fast user switching' to show the login window and then sleep, keeping my apps the way they were, but after a week or two, I need to restart.

Desktop Pic: You mean to ask ** to change the desktop background picture, correct? To do this, first find the image you want on the net or wherever. Right click (or control click) and choose "Save Image to XXXXXX". Then, right click (or control click) an empty area of your desktop, and choose "Change Desktop Background" From there, choose the option "Choose Folder" on the left column, and find the folder where you saved your picture. It should then show up and you can select it.

Wireless Network: You should have your wireless network protected by WAP or WEP. This makes it harder for someone to use your network. "default" is someone else's wireless network who never took the time to change the name or probably never even set up a password for their network, the just took the router out or the box and connected it. You may also see "linksys" for owners of linksys brand routers, or even the names of other peoples wireless networks if they are in range. I'm not even in an apartment building, and I can see 3 of my neighbors networks. Be a good sport, and don't snoop in their stuff. Maybe let them know that they are vulnerable if you can find who it is, I helped my neighbors better secure their network.

Maintenance: As long as you leave your Mac on overnight every once in a while, it will automatically run its maintenance tasks. If you sleep your mac at night, or just want to be safe, you can run them manually, as I do. Log in as an administrator user (if you only have one user, it has administrative rights). Open "Terminal" It's in the /Applications/Utilities folder. Then at the command prompt, type:
and press return. It may ask for your password. Nothing will appear to happen, but eventually, you will get back to the command line. this means they have finished succesfully. This runs the maintenance scripts that normally run, as the names suggest, daily, weekly, and monthly.

Thanks claudius, that's helped me out a lot. While I leave my machine on all the time, it good to know that just in case I need it at some point.