Things I've learned:
Compliment her on how good she looks. Things like "You look good in that dress" or "You have a lovely smile" are good. Things like "I love the way that dress shows off your boobs" ISN'T!
Take things slow at first. In this gotta have it yesterday world of ours people tend to go too fast. Take it slow. Talking about getting married 15 minutes into your first date is going too fast. Take is slow and easy. Get to know each other. Don't expect anything either. If you don't kiss on the first date don't worry. Watch her signals and body language. As guys many of us are pretty blunt and don't see the subliminal stuff unless we are looking very hard for it.
Get her to smile. If you have a halfway decent sense of humor use it, it's always good to see your date smile.
Try to find out what she likes to talk about. For me while my wife is computer literate she doesn't exactly want to hear how great the p4 1.6a overclocks. Find some common things you're both interested in and talk.
Don't feel a need to blather nonstop. There is nothing wrong with a quiet pause to organize your thoughts.
Hmm can't think of much else at the moment.
Remember, the person you're dating doesn't know you. They are looking to get to know you and watching to see how you act. Be on your best behavior. There are things that if your date eventually becomes your wife that she might tolerate, but she will walk when she doesn't know you.
Last of all if you're serious about finding that special one for you it doesn't hurt to read and learn. What you learn may suprise you and help you not make an ass of yourself.
One of my favorites in this is
Mars and Venus on a date by John Gray. This guy is the knowitall on dating in my opinion.
Remember the world needs more geeks, not jerks. So get out there and meet that nice woman, and put some more geeks in the world!
Edit: Oh yeah another thing.
CONFIDENCE!!!!!!! Women can smell fear a mile away. "would..would you...ummm...go out..out on on a dddddate with me?" does not work unless the woman you're asking has seen something special in you before. Practice being confident. Walk up to a girl, start a bit of conversation, talk some. Lines like "I was wondering if you'd like to go out to a dinner and a movie with me Friday night?" aren't too bad. If she's not interested she will politely reject you. (If she is rude just walk away, you don't need to deal with jerks) Be careful what you take for rejection though, sometimes she is testing you or the time you've picked is bad. Something like "Well how about Saturday night then?" She will either accept or reject. If she rejects you can try things like "Hey gimme a try, I promise a night you'll remember." Be a little careful how you say this, you want her to get the feeling you're going to treat her to a really great date that she'll enjoy, not she'll remember it because you tried to get into her pants. If she seems "undecidedish" a little convincing can't hurt. If she firmly tells you no though, wish her a nice day or something similar and walk away. At the very least she'll know you're polite. On the off chance, she may think about it and later decide to take you up on your offer. She's only going to do this if you were polite. If you called her names and walked away she's never going to talk to you again.