Help for newbies to S.L.

Without any shadow of doubt ... the best way for a new person to come into Second Life is with a mentor who already knows the basics.
This first intro may only be an hour or so but will save the newbie a lot of time and pain ... and frustration!
After that first hour there are lots of places in SL designed to walk (or fly) newcomers through many of the basic survival skills.
Many think there are only two Orientation areas ... 'Help Island' and 'Orientation' island but in fact there are several which allow the learning of basics at a pace suitable to individual learners.
A list of these locations (with links to them) is on the 1st Floor of the Information Tower on International Schools Island.
The location (SLURL) is
http://slurl.com/secondlife/International%20Schools/110/56/25