New tutorial is up on learning the new Blender 2.5. The material takes the reader through the process of making a simple chair object as a means to leanr about the tools within the context of their use, which helps information retention. In six 'chapters' it covers the layout, basic navigation through to modelling, material and UVW maps. Source files are also available (see tutorial pages for link).
Marking seams ^
Once all the appropriate edges are selected press "Ctrl+E" to open the "Edges" menu (shown below) and select "Mark Edges" from the available list of options to mark the them as seams, they will display in the 3D view highlighted red. This isolates the chair legs, creating a separate element in the UVW map, there will eventually be a number of these elements corresponding to the UVW sections we're creating.