Have you made a PCB or are you using a breadboard?
perfboard.
Serial or USB connection to the computer? Did you select
serial.
the correct serial device from the Tools > Serial Port menu?
yes.
Do you know if the computer can program other >Arduino boards?
I don't have any others, but this board can be programmed by bascom avr
and I get data to/from the serial port in the bascom terminal.
Are you using a 16 MHz clock?
I am using a 16MHz resonator.
Also, recheck the instructions at: >http://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/StandaloneAssembly as they were recently corrected.
will do !