As Stack Overflow grows, it becomes increasingly ridden with extremely newbie and mediocre questions. It's just natural. The team are fighting hard to keep the crap out, but there are many very basic questions that are okay on their own. They don't deserve to be kicked out* - they are just very, very, very basic and/or localized.
Too much basicness tires users who are interested in discussing more advanced topics.
However, the new users come from different backgrounds and do not always read the FAQ.
Example: A new user enters the 101 stories high-rise (aka Stack Exchange network sites) with a question. Now the challenge is "Which floor/door do I go to?". The friendly receptionists could point to the small print huge table on the wall, or could have a quick interaction by asking few questions (Entry Exam) to determine and direct.
In order to better facilitate new users I would recommend to have some sort of Entry Exam.
That would tell the user where he/she fits best and what to watch out for. Further, by providing a user with a badge (Tag), the moderators can constructively help that user navigate through Stack Exchange.
My question is: Is something like an entry exam feasible?
This could involve something like a popup with yes/no questions like:
What programming language do you use? Java, Python, etc.
Or
On a Mac, what does the Terminal do?