Can't you just make an image and put it off to the right? Or just make a whole new banner with both "SSForum.net" and "Download Continuum Now" on it (this will of course sacrifice the ssforum.net link, but who needs it?)
All ships are spawned without proximity by default in subgame, but in ASSS you may toggle which ships start with it. So if you are using subgame, you may have the ships start off with proximity bombs by using a bot to prize the ship proximity whenever it is spawned. moved to General Development.
Are you connecting to the zones in green? Try refreshing your zone/server list by going to your profile and clicking the "Download list" button to retrieve the online zones. Then just add the zones you want by double clicking on the names so that they become bold. If you are connecting through a university or other school, then the ports may be blocked.