Yea it doesn't seem possible to edit the default dash page, even using ccsm - its a shame, I dont think I've ever or will ever use 3/4 of the huge shortcuts there (view photos, check e-mail, listen to music) since I really only use web services for all of those.

I dont think the dock is editable (if you mean the bar along the top) - you can add applications via ubuntu software center (I added weather), but I don't know if you can add application shortcuts like in previous versions.

When I say the dock I mean the big bar down the left hand side.

for that you can right-click an app once launched and select "keep in launcher", or you can define custom ones by hand. I did that last install, haven't tried it yet for this one, but this was the guide I used: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1578379 (not sure if it still works in this version of unity, but it's worth a shot).

Weird. I have a slight bias to the keyboard - so I think I tried right clicking, and didn't find the option. Anyway - it seems that you can drag and drop on to the dock.

Run the app you want. Right click on it in the dash. Select "leave in dash" ..