I would like to know if I can hide my IP address from others whenever I am on the internet. The reason why I am asking this question is because I have noticed that people can have access to your computer by simply getting your IP address and remotely connecting to it (This is extremely easy to do in MS windows).

The other reason why I would like to know if this can be done is because I hate sites that show your IP address to the whole world whenever you get on their sites for example some forums do this alot.

I currently use Firefox web browser as my primary browser is there anything that I can do to at least encrypt or cover up my IP address from unwanted viewers???

Note: my operating system is SUSE 9.1

Basically, no. You could find yourself a proxy and run things through the proxy. But in order to connect to something, it needs your IP. How else would packets get back to you? Run a firewall if you're concerned about security, like you should be.

Linux has built in firewalls and they work as a default right?

could you please let me know if this is true

Iptables is more or less built in. The userspace admin tool is not always installed, but the kernel should have iptables support. Run, as root, 'iptables -L -n' and see what pops up.

HOWTO: Surf and IM anonymously using tor and privoxy

You can surf anonymously but it takes a little work.