I'm not sure if it's in the FAQ, and I fully expect Tony to beat me to this ansewer, but the lock ups are easily fixed by installing the hijack kernel (Do a search for "stuck jiffies" if you want an explanation). Get yourself a network card, and you'll have fixed both of your poblems for under $20. There's a also thread on how to eliminate the plays counter text, but it's fairly involved, and won't kill the actual number.

Matthew