Homebrew PSP Newbie questions

[Knightfell]

I just recently became the owner of a psp 2000, and have been enjoying it as a portable media player. Just added CFW to it, thankfully without turning it into a brick.

(Well for the most part, having to convert videos into .avi's is a pain in the ass)
Using PSP-9, if there are any better freeware converters please let me know.

Anyhoo, I used to an old school Palmpilot: Zodiac owner and loved the homebrew scene and was happy to find that psp has a thriving homebrew community.

My question is this, what nifty apps/programs/tools are out there? I've tried searching various forums but as a complete newbie I'm more or less overwhelmed by the amount of choices and was looking for input.

Question 2: I'm also looking into placing some old school games on there it , mainly ps1 and snes, below are what I've thought of, any suggestions beyond what is listed? Mainly looking for RPG's and Action/FPS.

snes: chrono trigger. ff3, SF2 Turbo, super mario rpg , super metroid, secret of mana, secret of evermore, earthworm jim, megaman x, super punch out,

ps1: re2, ff7, gran turismo 2, chrono cross, vagrent story, metal gear solid, symphony of the night, Einhander, Dino Crisis, Dino Crisis 2, Parasite eve 1 and 2, xenogears, FF tactics, brave fencer musashi, colony wars series, suikoden

Also open to any type of old school Arcade games (MAME?)

Question 3: Will I be able to play the newer UMD games without being forced to change the firmware? Currently running CFW 5.50 GEN-D3

Sorry for the super long post, and thanks in advance for any assistance.

[Viserdes]

I wont be able to add much to this considering i dont have a hacked psp. But it is possible to burn your UMDs with a program so you can play it from your memory card, this feature is the only thing i really want from homebrew but i am too scared ill brick mine or mess it up somehow.

[Chicomagiko]

Could probably find the appropriate .iso/.cso files on www.espalpsp.com or www.isohunt.com(you'll need a torrent prog for both sites). Download said files into the ISO folder of your memory stick. Its been a while since i touched my psp so it may be possible that the CFW you use requires that a umd be in the drive in order to play the games.

As for the snes games, I'm sure i recall some emulators that you may need to get but a quick google search will yield better results than I can give. Might want to check http://www.psphacks.com/category/psp-emulators or http://www.qj.net/psp.html .