Beginner’s DSLR 101: Tips for the (would be) First Time owner

I’ve a number of friends who know that I own a DSLR and think I’m good with using it, which I’m not.  Even so, I get a lot of questions from these friends (who are moving up from P & S cameras) for tips on how to purchase their first DSLR. Like my friend, David Tong, I find myself giving the same answers all the time so I thought that it might be good to put my one-and-a-half cent worth of knowledge inside this here blog of mine.