looking for some advice

[nndiro]

Hello everybody,
i'm writing to seek some advice from all the programmers/developers and basically all the tecno nerds in the forum :P
i've always wanted to learn about programming, but i've ended up studing something completly unrelated. So, as i am approaching the end of my college education, i find myself with more spare time to read about things that puzzle me... in this sense, i wanted to ask you if you can recommend some sort of "begginers book" or "understanding programming for dummies" if you would, or any kind of tutorial, so i can start getting a better grasp about this intriguing yet totally unknown world for me.
any help, reccomendations, links, etc in this regard would be very appreciated!