Do you have any experience in a *nix environment? I get the impression that you have, but I want to be sure. I always recommend Mandriva (formerly Mandrake) as the number one hands down best noob distro. All of the Drake tools make setup and installation a breeze and it's a fairly robust environment to learn your way around.
Having said that, choosing a distro is a pretty personal thing. I'm partial to Fedora myself, but it's worth remembering that there are so many distros out there for a reason. Slackware gets good press for the minimalists, Fedora and it's parent are pretty popular, Debian has a pretty good following. Hell, I know a few hardcore BSD guys, although they're less common. My advice? Pick a direction and go; the worst is you won't like it, so you'll choose another distro to try.
Having said that, my personal preferences are definitely either Mandriva or Fedora.
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I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said
- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame
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