Great stuff, guys. Richard's reply looked like it came straight out of a polished FAQ. Very useful to someone in my shoes.
I've seen beginner tips sprinkled throughout the existing FAQs like KiXtart Starter's Guide and Best Practices and Methods but I think a more comprehensive beginner's guide is in order. I don't know how that works on here, but basically I was thinking of using Richard's reply as the basis and breaking it into sections like Before You Being Typing and maybe ending with a short style guide for beginners entitled GOTO hell. 
Then I thought I could add my own noob questions and comments, post it in this thread, and you guys could comment. After a few revisions perhaps it would be a worthy new FAQ. Richard? Anyone?
On a side note, I was an arts major but I have been a computer jock for many years. While my geek and nerd friends learned assembly language, I programmed BASIC to animate a 16x16 breakdancer. Somehow I never found my true calling so here I am today managing Active Directory yet still baffled by arrays and that darn OSI layer model. But I bet I could make a mean cheeseburger... 
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Jason
