"Raytrace Shadows" is in the light properties box. You can click it on or off.

I think Richardson means a Raytrace Blur 'between'  0.3 to 0.5 and Bias 'between' 0.8 and 1.0..this is also found in the propteries box for lights

Richardson is saying, in the material room, set the specular properties of the light to the color black.

45 to 90 means... set the light intensity (found in properties as well) to 45% strength for interior scenes and 90% strength for exterior/outside scenes (like sunlight outside)...you'll find intensity on the light parameters box.

Not totally sure about the last distance part

To Blackhearted or other pros: I've heard you can set texture sizes to match your render size and won't lose quality. So if rendering at 1024 the textures can be set at 1024 and no quality will be lost...do you all agree/disagree with this?

Fin