The Thinking Camera

I have never had a digital camera before. I asked for a basic camera for Christmas and received this wonderful Canon PowerShot A400 with a (slight) zoom lens. It is loads of fun but I can't seem to turn off its brain! I learned to take pictures with an OLD camera - it would make suggestions but it was up to me to use a flash, adjust the speed, or change the F-stop. This little baby is a much faster thinker than me, and it seems to be hiding its brain behind layers of menu options and abbreviations I don't understand. Ah well, back to the owner's manual.