I don't know where to find the Dubious Strategy Guide, and I rather doubt it's been updated in a long time, so much of its information may be out of date.
Here is a thread from a while back containing quite a lot of advice and answers to questions from a new player. He was asking for a multiplayer game and medium starting tech level, but advice that's good for multiplayer should be many times more effective against the AI than it is against human opponents, and medium tech start doesn't actually give all that much. The main difference the starting tech option makes is that going directly for Physics 2 and Phased Polaron Beams immediately is much less practical on a low tech start (Projectile Weapons are a good early alternative), and you'll have to research Construction before the critical Mines tech will become available.