Hi,
I'll just add another comment for what it may be worth. This comes from my experience with a little camera that gets used in auto/program
modes a fair bit (because it isn't a D70 - sobs over his keyboard as he ponders getting a "real" camera).
It seems that if you have a "darker" subject/area in the picture big enough to cover the metering area the camera is using then the flash may fire as even though you see the overall scene as bright enough. Of course if you're using spot metering it can be even easier to cause this effect.
So if you are in a point and shoot
mode you can fool the camera by metering off a brighter area (half press) and then compose and take the shot.
Cheers,
Gordon.