Scratch

First of all I'd like to say that this is a great project. My kids and I are getting into it and really enjoying it.

My questions are:

1. Is it possible to create sprites at random from a master sprite of type A e.g. a repeated character / thing in a game ?  I guess this may be tricky because of name allocation to the new sprite and what to do with actions involving the non-A sprites on the master sprite.  So, have I answered my own question, and all sprites have to be allocated, albeit hidden, at the start of the program ?

2. Do you compress and uncompress large files in downloads / uploads ? One of kids has a program that does not do much but has lots of backgrounds so is slow to load.

Thanks in advance,
Adnan