I wouldnt say im a noob more of a rookie that needs to learn more and get to grips with coding in general aswell as the arduino language.
any pro got any tips or places to learn?
The Tom Igoe book "Making things talk" was an inspiration even if I didn't make those actual projects.
I did get a C language reference book from the library and work through it but I'm still learning a lot as I go along. I learned the most from doing small projects and asking questions here.
I've read sections of that book and wouldn't recommend it to a newcomer at all. Although I also have "getting started with arduino" and it's an excellent book and good refrence.
As long as you don't believe his wrong explanation of how GPS works then the rest is more or less solid.
However I think the best resource is here with the playground and learning sections. Free one to one advice too. In fact it is normally one to many advice. 