Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with newbie

First-time DSLR buyer looking for advice

kampken — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:46:36 -0800

What camera and lens combinations would you suggest for a DSLR for macro/indoor photography (without flash) for a newbie? Price range around 1200 USD. I'm looking to buy a good DSLR camera (not exactly pro but not too cheap either) but I'm fairly confused as to what to choose. Mostly because i don't know exactly what values i should look for and also lens incompatibilities (really don't wanna be stuck with a model where i can't get any proper lenses) - A fairly easy to use and light camera would be preferred, but i am willing to study the user manual or other instructions for as long as it takes.

I am planning to do macro-photography with it, so i guess i need something with live-view, so i can check the focus before taking the photo. I can't find anything about macro-specific cameras as such, so i guess it's just about finding a good lens?
Also i plan to do much indoor photography without using a flash, so i will need a good light-strong lens of a sort, however these are quite expensive so a wrong buy would be costly.

And what about the new 4/3 cameras? I like their size and design, but would they be any good for my purposes?

So in short, what camera and lens combinations would you suggest for a DSLR for macro/indoor photo for a newbie? Price range around 1200 USD.

How do I learn how to use a Cisco Router?

talkingmuffin — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:26:02 -0800

How do I learn how to use a Cisco Router? I arrived at my new job as a sysadmin for a small non-profit just after they had paid a consultant to upgrade their basic network infrastructure. One of the results of this upgrade is a Cisco 1812 Integrated Services Router that acts as our router/firewall/vpn. The router has been working fine since the install.

The problem is that I don't really understand the device and how to properly configure/troubleshoot it should changes need to be made. Of course I can pay the original consultant to come in any time I need a change but at $100/hour things get expensive very quickly. I have the user manual but it's seems to be written for someone who already knows how to use a Cisco product.

So, on to my question. How do I best go about learning how to use this device and leverage all of its bells and whistles? I'm not interested in learning how to configure an Enterprise Data Center (which seems to be how most Cisco documentation is directed) I just need to make this black box a little more transparent.

Where would a rusty old bike rider like me find a easy and good bike?

jonathanstrange — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 01:34:51 -0800

I'm thinking about getting a bike to ride to work on, but I have no idea where to start, or what to look for. I'm living pretty close by my work, and have been walking to and from work most days. It's not a bad walk, half an hour and I'm there, but if I had a bike it would take 10 minutes or so. Well, half an hour at first, and hopefully 10 minutes after not too long a time!

The thing is, I haven't ridden a bike in about 8 years, and I know that they say that you never forget, but I'm a little nervous about it - as I'll be crossing one of the main roads into Melbourne's CBD, in peak hour, and I'm quite rusty, obviously.

Also - I have no idea what kind of bike to get. I know nothing about bikes, prices, where to get, or what to look for. I'd probably prefer something second hand, I'm not fussed if it's the newest latest thing, I just want a comfortable little bike that will get me from A to B with a minimum of fuss, and if it looks cute and retro so much the better.

Where should a novice like me look for a bike in Melbourne's CBD / Southbank / South Melbourne area? I can travel further, and have heard rumours of places near Carlton / Fitzroy that will have bikes.

Also - What should I look for in a bike? What kind of bike will suit my needs? and how much would I be looking at spending on it?

Management for People Who Hate Management

NemesisVex — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:20:58 -0800

Management books for someone skeptical about becoming a manager? My friend did an astrology reading for me a while back, and he said I should look into taking a management class or reading a book about management to prepare for events developing a number of years from now.

I scoffed at the idea because I worked as an editor at my college newspaper from 1995-1997, and I wasn't very good at it. My writers were afraid of me, and I can't say I enjoyed being the boss. In my professional life, I have not sought any supervisory roles, despite feedback indicating I should.

(Actually, a recent review had some feedback that said I ought to take more leadership roles in department initiatives.)

As dismissive as I am about the prediction, my friend has an annoying history of being right. So I'm allowing myself to be cautiously open about the idea. What management books would you recommend for someone who's not sure about becoming a manager?

I have noted the recommendations in this question. Perhaps there is more?

How much is not enough?

amethysts — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:56:21 -0800

How often should I go to the gym to have it not be a waste of time? My main goal is just to get acclimated to the idea of fitting this into my day so it's something I can continue to do, without going so easy that it's not showing any results after maybe a month or so. I just bought a membership to my school's gym. I've never done anything fitness related before other than the bare minumum to graduate, so this is a big step for me! I'm going to try to go during a long break that I have between work and school in the afternoon.

I don't want to lay out a bunch of money for a trainer yet because I just want to show myself that going to the gym is something that's doable. My plan is to spend about 45 mins each session either in the pool or on the elliptical machine and try to get my heartrate up, see what I can do. I do have plenty of pudge to lose but I'm not like OMG I MUST SHRINK MY MASS NOW.

However if I go too easy and only go once a week or something I'm afraid I won't notice any improvement and I'm not gonna feel like it's worth it. I'm gonna give it a month to show some kind of improvement whether in my stamina/endurance/how much i can do, my energy level during the day, or how i look (i know, unlikely without weight lifting but i'm definitely getting a trainer for that so that's down the road)

So how many sessions should I schedule in a week and does my plan seem reasonable to you?

Also, do I really need to buy new sneakers if I set aside a pair that I won't wear outside anymore?

I don't want to work, I want to bang out the code all day.

TomMelee — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 10:26:34 -0800

Time to stop fooling around and learn to program in earnest. Sources? I've toyed with programming since my early teens. In college, I wrote TI applications to help me with Trig. Since then I've gained a passing understanding of php---that is, I can follow it but not write it from scratch.

I find myself unemployed now, and having lots of time on my hands while I wait for the Next Big Opportunity to come around. I might as well...you know...apply myself.

There are a couple options. I've got ~$4,000 in americorps educational money left, so I *could* go to a real class, which is probably a good idea because I get distracted easily. Such a class would need to probably be in the Pittsburgh area.

In the past I've snagged O'Reilly ebooks, but in flipping back and forth between screens I inevitably get bored or frustrated and drop it.

So then, give me your inputs. PHP, ASP, C# (or any of the .net suite), java, ruby? My end goal is to be able to freelance some (fairly simple) code, but also to give me a really good foothold to expand my abilities. Websites? Interactive tutorials? Communities?

I'm at a point I can dedicate at least a couple hours a day, although a week-or-two long class I can go to wouldn't be bad either.

Lemme have it MeFi!

Also, sidebar: any Americorps Alumni out there who have successfully gotten your grant money to pay for things like computer hardware to further your education?

webhosting blues

ninazer0 — Sun, 03 May 2009 18:35:34 -0800

I need a web-hosting company and I know bugger-all about what to look for. Bonus: I'll need to re-register my domain soon. Can someone please hold my hand and gently point me in the right direction? I am in Australia. I run a small business from home. My current provider isn't working out for me - and, being overseas - they are impossible to contact if there's an emergency (which there is ATM), so I'd prefer one in Australia.

I have a small-ish site (minimal pages, but a fair number of images) and would get only a couple of hundred visitors per day and I don't need anything fancy. I need a few email addresses and that's about it. I have full backups of everything on my site so I just need to migrate to a new host. I think.

I tried Googling but I'm completely overwhelmed by the number of results and I realise that I know bugger all about this business. Even if you can't recommend a specific company, I'd appreciate advice about what to look for and what/who to avoid.

New to video editing, need hardware/software advice

lattiboy — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 23:23:32 -0800

I just purchased a Canon HV20 and am clueless as to the software I should use and the hardware requirements I'm looking at. I've been shooting with dSLRs for about a two years now, but I decided I'd like to experiment with video. I bought a Canon HV20 and am looking to get some suggestions for video-editing software for the PC. I'm not averse to something slightly less "user friendly" if it lets me get better control over the footage. I'm quite interested in color correction and pulldown.

As for hardware:

My current box is custom built with an AMD 5400+ X2 (running at 3 Gigs), 2 Gigs of RAM (will probably go up to 4), a Hitachi 1TB HD with a WD 250GB scratch disk, and a 24" Samsung monitor running XP Pro 32-bit.

This current setup handles my 40MB A900 RAW files pretty well, but I know HDV is a whole other animal.

What are the best resources for computer novices?

contraption — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 23:14:36 -0800

What are the best resources for computer novices? I often find myself in the position of helping friends and family figure out how to operate their computers (typically Windows XP or Vista, but OS X tips are welcome too.) While I realize there's no substitute for face-to-face instruction, my time is not infinite and I'd like to be able to set them up with some bookmarks or documents that will give them guidance when I'm not around. I'm especially interested in a well-structured, non-intimidating quick reference tool with general tips like locating a file in the filesystem, compressing/decompressing files, using the clipboard, and selecting which program is associated with a particular file type. It should not take any knowledge for granted, and wherever possible should offer detailed step-by-step instruction with explanations of any necessary jargon terms. Reliable, regularly updated lists of good free programs for various tasks would also be helpful.

Should I switch from iPhone to Blackberry Bold?

You Should See the Other Guy — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 14:17:45 -0800

iPhone or Blackberry Bold with specific uses... I have an iPhone and quite like it for music and the phone itself (and for Grocery Zen), but I hate hate hate it for making notes to myself, something I do very often. The lack of cut and paste and any advanced note taking software is terrible.

A friend has offered me a new BB for $80 (she won it but already has one). However, I've never touched a Blackberry before and wonder if its better suited to my purposes.

I use my phone for (in this order):

- note taking
- music
- phone / texting
- grocery zen (shopping list / recipe software)
- alarm clock

I do not browse the web on a phone or check my email (something previous askme questions about this topic have been concerned about). I do not use maps or look at youtube or watch videos. In fact, my preferences is to have my provider disable internet features on my iPhone.

So, would the BB be better for what I do?

Also, how do they synch with Macs regarding my contact list and music/cover art? Are playlists exported? Is it painless or painful? How are they for listening to music (is there forward/back/volume on the headphone, etc)?

Are there third party apps for things like shopping lists and recipes?

I'm on Fido in Toronto if that makes a difference.

How can I get started in composing music?

indigo4963 — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:08:56 -0800

I have no music background, but it's been something of a lifelong dream to compose music. How can I create and record industrial music utilizing my PC? Of course there is no typical with regards to industrial, but I listen to say "Father Don't Cry" by Doubting Thomas and I think I can identify drums, keyboards, sound clips from movies, and sound effects. Then again in "Pyromance" by Chemlab, I also hear guitar (and probably bass).

What do I need to get started?
Should I get some kind of keyboard, guitar and/or drum training?
Should I plan on purchasing some kind of physical instruments?
What software can I use?
Would I record each of the instrumental tracks, slowly building the song?
What's involved in taking sound clips from movies?
My lyrics won't be like typical pop songs with rhyming or a chorus, so I'd either do like spoken word (if that's the right term) or some sort of distorted vocals -- what can I use for that?

Please help a finance newbie

annapanna — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 01:20:30 -0800

Can someone help me understand the current financial crisis? Hi,
I am complete ignorant when it comes to finance. I feel bad about it and I feel really dumb that I have no idea of what is currently going on in the world. I don't understand why stock prices are plummeting, why those banks went bankrupt...and how that impacts all the rest. Can anybody recommend a website or a book where I can read up some basics so that I can understand at least the headlines? Please keep in mind that I live in Europe so ideally I would need something not too US-centric.
Thanks!

hello, world (of programming)

papayaninja — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 21:37:27 -0800

What should my first programming language be, if I just want to have fun? And what are good books or websites for learning said language? I am looking to learn how to program. I don't have any ideas as to what I want to program, I just want to learn something for the sake of having a new skill and having fun. I'm sure the ideas of what I could do with any language will come when I have some idea how they work. There are plenty of other questions about which language to learn first, but they all have some purpose in mind, whether a specific program that needs to be created or to become a better employee and so on.

If it matters: I dual-boot Ubuntu and Windows Vista. I have previously used OpenSUSE 9 and 10 and have installed just about every other major distro at least once. I have reasonable competence when it comes to the Linux terminal. I'm a rising senior in high school and I am planning on focusing a lot on academics this year, so something easyish and fun is preferred. I have very limited experience with Visual BASIC. I wrote a text and button based choose-your-own adventure story with it for a school project and also a Twister caller so I could play by myself or with a small group of people. My dad helped with that last one, but I understood it at least. My friends ask me for computer help.

Finally, now that I know which language to learn, how do I learn it? Books? Websites? Podcasts? I'd be willing to spend a maximum of 30 dollars on books, though ten bucks is much appealing...

Thanks.

It's a man's IT world?

I_Love_Bananas — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 07:45:44 -0800

New to IT department- what to expect? I'll soon be joining our company's IT department - the culmination of a series of events in which I saw an opportunity, seized it and impressed enough people that they created the position for me. It's awesome. I'm nervous but excited about the job-specific uncertainties.

Aside from that, my question is- as a non-IT (female) person, what should I know about dealing with IT types? I come from the admin, executive world in which I had reason to interact with IT on occasion, but that's not the same thing.

Will there be more of a "no nonsense, head down, get to work" mentality (which I want) vs. the office politics/brown-nosing/playing favorites that's been the case in my past non-IT positions?

The 25-member department is 80% male. This doesn't necessarily faze me but I just wanted to get some perspective. My plan is to lay low for a while but I'd welcome any advice.

What accessories do I need for a macbook?

donajo — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:52:15 -0800

First-time laptop buyer: What accessories do I need? I'm buying a MacBook in a few months, my very first laptop, and I'm trying to figure out what kind of accessories and peripherals I will need. I know I need a wireless router and a wireless mouse, but what else should I be thinking about/budgeting for? I'll be using it at home 90% of the time, but I'll also be using it occasionally at research libraries and on vacation. I already have a backpack with a built-in laptop sleeve.

Is there anything else a lifetime desktop-user needs to know about owning a laptop?

Please help with an impromptu Nova Scotia/PEI trip

o0dano0o — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 16:45:07 -0800

My girlfriend and I are planning a somewhat impromptu driving trip to PEI and Nova Scotia - maybe involving camping... Last year, we did a similar thing in Scotland and England.

This time the rough itinerary is that starting on Tuesday, we will be driving up to PEI from Boston, then heading towards Cape Breton Island, then we'll begin making our way to Yarmouth for the ferry to Maine and the drive back home next weekend.

To make things a bit more interesting, we decided somewhat on a whim to try perhaps to camp a bit along the way. We're leaning towards doing the sleeping outside thing, but perhaps not the cooking portion. We got a tent, some sleeping bags/mats, and other assorted goodies the other day in preparation for this. I've never gone camping before, and I think my girlfriend may have a few times when she was a kid. Also, we did the dry run of putting the tent together and making it habitable.

So the question I guess boils down to a few things:

1) What are some must see sights and things to do along the route listed above? Which campgrounds should we check out (or any to avoid)?

2) What are some newbie mistakes to avoid while camping? What are some things we should absolutely take if going camping? Is it stupid to avoid the cooking bits?

3) If we do decide to cook while camping, can we bring a camping stove and fuel to Canada with us? This seems to say yes.. Also, is a camping stove what we should be using as a heat source for cooking?

3) I realize that this week is the 4th of July here in the US. I don't know if that will have an impact up there as to crowds etc. In other words, can we just fly by the seat of our pants in regards to finding places to stay for the night? (This was pretty much our M.O. during the UK trip except for a few nights.)

And with that, hivemind, we turn to you for insight and guidance. Thanks!

New iMac owner seeking advice

dougiedd — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 18:14:14 -0800

OK: i know there are tons of posts asking some of the same things, and i have waded through many of them but may i beg your indulgence and ask a couple of relatively straightforward newbie questions? 1) If I need to work with Office documents from a PC environment (mostly word, occasionally PPT and excel) from time to time , can i do so without installing VM Fusion (which most here seem to favor) along with my Windows XP? Will Mac Office work with them? 2) Any discussions on how to best deal with the glare of the new monitor? 3) How good is the mail program: should i abandon gmail, run them both or go back to firebird? 4) Any reason to use safari if i already know firefox? Or consider one of the other choices? Thanks for indulging me. I have a lot to learn about this. ( )

Once I've Already Shot the Video, Can I Crop the Bottom Half of it and/or Zoom in On My Subject?

thewhynotgirl — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 09:26:57 -0800

How can I a) crop off the whole bottom half of a video, b) zoom in on my subject after I've already made the video, or c) hide the face of someone in the video? While I'm asking, how about taking a video made on a Canon (designed for stills, so their video actual size is small, which means it pixilates horribly when you put it on youtube) and making it stay actual size when placed on the web? I'm on a windows notebook and hoping any of this is even possible. Thanks! What's happened is that I've found myself in a position where I will be videoing and publishing daily, and I am no expert on video. That's fine, because I can learn.

But in the meantime, I will be starting with videos that are already made, and I need to get them good enough to publish. In some of the cases, I need to hide the identity of people or locations in the already-made videos (nothing nefarious, just don't have permission for the already made ones for the people/places), and in the canon stuff, just need to make them look decent. I'm sure my ignorance shows here, but I pick up quickly once I know what to do!

I cannot switch to mac or final cut pro at this time cuz those funds aren't in the budget for this not-for-profit thing, but any pointers on windows software/techiniques/common sense would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

VNC on FC4 problem... Can't find libstdc++ dependency!

defenestration — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 13:57:42 -0800

LinuxNewbieFilter: I'm using Fedora Core 4 on a server. I'm SSH'd in. I'm attempting to install VNC (vnc-server). It appears that I'm entering everything in correctly but it can't find the content (specifically the libstdc++ component) to install. None of the mirrors are working either. Help! I'm typing:

yum -y install vnc-server

It starts up correctly, but when it goes to install the libstdc++ dependency, it runs into a problem.

http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/core/updates/4/i386/libstdc%2B%2B-4.0.2-8.fc4.i386.rpm: [Errno 4] IOError: HTTP Error 404: Date: Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:47:40 GMT
Server: Apache/2.0.54 (Debian GNU/Linux) mod_fastcgi/2.4.2
Content-Length: 6113
Content-Type: text/html
Via: 1.0 www.mirrorservice.org
Connection: close
Trying other mirror.

Then it tries a bunch of mirrors that don't work, either.

Eventually it says:

Error: failure: libstdc++-4.0.2-8.fc4.i386.rpm from updates-released: [Errno 256] No more mirrors to try.

What can I do? Can I add more mirrors manually? Can I manually download and setup that dependency? I'm lost here...

A theme for wordpress and google maps mashup?

sethwoodworth — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 15:18:00 -0800

I'm starting a new tourism website for my local area. It's a mash of google maps, with photos and information of a given area featuring some of the neat stuff happening, or that has happened. And now I need some help with the wordpress theme. I'm using Wordpress to manage my stories and some of the photo linking, and I have most of the google-maps configuration for the pop-up photo galleries done. What I need is a nice two or three column layout for the google map on one side, a narrower column on the right for the wordpress content, and possibly a third on the far right (or far left) for a text ad column.

I am pretty new to css and wordpress, but I can do html, and I worked my way through the javascript for the google map. What should I look for in a wordpress theme, where do I look or should I customize one from somewhere else.

I'm sorry this is sort of broad, but I'm looking for someone to point me in a direction, not necessarily solve the problem for me. I've googled and found many resources for google map plugins and google map tools in general, but no themes that can display a big block of google map and my blog.

Help please hive-mind!

MySQL Command Line Client: editing lines of a multiple line statement?

Lentrohamsanin — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 19:14:12 -0800

Very very very stupid MySQL command line client question: how do I edit an earlier line of a multiple line statement? So say I've done this:

mysql> create table CUSTOMER_TBL
-> (
-> CUST_ID VARCHAR(!0) NOT NULL primary key,
-> CUST_NAME VARCHAR(30) NOT NULL,
-> CUST_CITY VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL, etc...

How do I get back to the third line and change "(!0)" to "(10)"? The help files for the tool don't have this level of novice information. The closest thing I've found is using "\c" to cancel the current statement and start over, but there must be something less draconian, right?

Also, is this specifically a MySQL issue or is this some basic command line convention I don't know? If it is, what else am I likely not to know as a newbie, and what's the best way to fill in the gaps?

Macbook Pro Newbie

victorashul — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 08:28:22 -0800

Help a newbie make the transition to Macbook Pro After quite a lot of researching and thinking, i have decided to bite the bullet and order with a discount by using a student developer account as suggested by lostburner . Because this is a big investment for me, ive also decided to bite the bullet again and go with the 17 in MBP with a high-def screen.

Now with my questions:

1. I'm looking for sources to teach me how to use my new MBP. I have used windows all my life and only played with apple products a few times. I am quite knowledgeable with windows (registry tweaks, services etc) and I want to learn the apple equivalent.

2. Source for apps: What are the apps apple computers users love and use most. Sources to get those apps.
Also I must specify that i will use my computer for movie playing (DVD, divx, xvid etc) and what are the best apps for this.

3. Instant-help: I am sure that the apple comunity is like a 'club', and I am looking for a source of quick info and/or troubleshooting. IRC abounds with windows related help channels, but i dont know any good mac related help channels.

4. I ordered the hardware with only 2 GB of RAM (4 GB cost ~700 CAD) and I'm thinking about replacing it with 4 GB. Any drawbacks/risks (warranty issues, compatibilities, installation) if i do it myself (after reading a few how-to guides)? How can i find the right RAM to replace it with?

Guess thats all the questions I have for now....

I'm sure that the wisdom of the Mac crowd will lead me well ;)

How do I get into biking/cycling?

deansfurniture5 — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 18:13:40 -0800

How do I get into biking/cycling? After searching through AskMeFi, it doesn't seem like this question has really been asked before, so here goes.

I'd like to become a "serious" cyclist. I've always enjoyed biking, but it's never been more than a "once in a while" type of thing. So, how should I get into the world of cycling?

A little about me: I'm 19, male, and live about 25 miles out from Boston, MA. I'm not too interested in mountain biking, but rather in road biking. Mostly, I've ridden mountain bikes, but I have tooled around on my dad's old road bike and enjoyed it. I'd like to use that for a while until I really feel that this is something I plan on continuing before I buy myself a bike.

So, with all that being said, how do I get going? (And, yes, I know I should just "get out there," and don't worry, I'll have that covered, but anything beyond that, as far as how often I should be biking, tips, etc. would be real helpful)

Thanks!

LotusNotesNewbieFilter

Alterscape — Mon, 21 May 2007 16:26:47 -0800

Please help me figure out how to learn the basics of db/app development IBM Lotus Notes 7. I've been asked to build a simple Lotus Notes/Domino database. The server and clients are already configured and using existing databases. I need to create a new database including a document template and the required forms/views to add documents, browse documents, and search documents. Regarding search, I specifically need to search for text in specific fields -- the generic "search" button in Notes Client is too generic. I can approximate the behavior I want in an existing database with a "Search by entries in form" query, selecting a "Search Form" that I guess the actual developer built, but if possible I'd like an easier way to get to this (without the "search by form->select form" business -- a bookmark, maybe?).

I am not an experienced Notes developer. I have experience with LAMP web development and the associated SQL business, but from what I've been able to glean from an old copy of Notes for Dummies 6 and QUE's Using Notes and Domino 6, Notes is a totally different world from your standard RDBMS. In fact, looking at those texts, I couldn't really figure out how one would implement something like a query in Notes. I figure that the end result is going to involve a form that passes data to a a bunch of filters in a view (do I have my terms right?) but the how is entirely lost on me. There's no relevant "query," "search," or "find" in the QUE book's index, or in the PDF of the redbook for Domino Designer 6. I presume I'm asking the wrong questions and looking in the wrong places.

I'm not asking for specific advice or how-tos, obviously -- there's too much that needs to be done. Given what I need to learn, where should I start? What keywords should I be looking up? What online resources provide intelligent-newbie-friendly help? Are there any good books that tackle basic Notes application development?

Where can I find really basic tips on how to get started with grilling?

mathowie — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 22:47:58 -0800

I just bought a big grill for my new backyard but I'm feeling bad that my wife does all the grilling (she's an amazing cook). I'd like to help out more but I don't know where to start. Are there any really basic books on how to get started cooking on a gas grill? Everything I find online is a cesspool of ads or nonsense, so I'm asking here. It seems like I should know how to cook meats, fish, and veggies on the grill not just to help out with meal prep, but to pass as "one of the guys" at backyard parties.

Ideally, I'm looking for instructions that are fit for someone that has never touched a grill before. I'd like to be able to cook:

- chicken
- fish (mostly salmon)
- peppers, asparagus, corn
- burgers (most likely turkey)

Like I said, I've never done this before so I'm completely clueless. I don't want to break down and get a "for dummies" book unless I really have to. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.