Insulating pins are plastic and are used so power can’t go from one piece of track to the others. Ross sells them. I use nothing but Ross track and they replace the normal metal pins.
By jumping the two outside rails together, he means to connect them together. The reason some people do this is because with Ross track the two outside rails are not tied together, since the ties are wood. I personally did not do this and have no issues. I did not do this so i could use the other rail as an insulated rail to trigger accessories. My layout is around the room, 26x18.
