I know you earn tech points faster and get more food (although I think they eat more too, so I guess it balances out) the faster you run the game, but do the villagers also learn skills faster too? I try to make everyone an elder before they die; so if they're going to get old faster does that give them less time to master skills?

I think that stuff depends on what speed your running it while the game is running and while the game is off. I always run it either normal or 1/2 speed while it's on so people don't age as much, but I turn it up to 2X speed while it's off during the day because then they work faster/master faster. At least, that's my experience. And happy birthday!