2
You will have to go to the module appearing on your first page, and select Notifcation options not to appear.
Then also check in you Block Admin section, there is a notification block for the System Block. You control it's appearance via the block manager.
The second question is easy.
Just create your own block. Also in the System Block section of Sys Admin. It's that simple! Set it to appear on the top page only, when setting block preferences, and your done.