I guess you mean the naming/writing convention? Which one is easier to read? I can understand that. My friend also tried explaning with chords and how it would look like cosmetically when writing.

However, it just seems wierd to me that the notes are not continous. You get my point right? The E# and B# is missing in the scales even though it is enharmonic with F and C. Why couldn't they have E E# F, B B# C, each a semitone difference like the other notes?

I'll probably just content myself with "They have ran out of alphabets".

I asked a shop once about mutes. Rubber or metal. Since I'm just a beginner he suggested to just use a clothing peg to press the strings near the bridge to dampen the sound. But I just usually practice before 10 pm so far nobody complained.

Haha, I thought the exact same thing. I also opened my case to find the E string snapped. It is kinda scary to put it so close to the face while playing wondering whether it will snap and hit the face or even cut a finger. Although I can't imagine the G string snapping and even if it does it probably wouldn't do much damage. The little one is the scariest.

On the same note I would like to ask about tightening and loosening the bow hair as well.

Do you loosen the bow hair after playing?

How tight should the bow hair be? How do we know if it is tight enough? We're not supposed to touch our oily fingers on the hair right? My teacher taught me to put a pen in between the hair and bow and tighten it till the pen drop.

I admire your determination.