The "shoe thing" people were referring to is the camera's hot-show. This is where powered attachments (usually a flash) is mounted on the camera. The metal plate on top of the camera is the hot-shoe. It should look something like this:
http://a.img-dpreview.com/reviews/CanonEOS450D/images/hotshoe.jpg
However, it is likely not an issue with the actual hot-shoe. It is most likely an issue of your camera's mechanical mechanism for releasing the flash being out of alignment. Try wiggling the "manual release" button for the flash to the left and right and see if it will catch on the mechanism. Then try pushing the button to see if the flash pops up.
You can try gently opening the flash manually with your finger, sometimes it is simply a buildup of dirt and grim blocking the mechanism and once this is cleared, it should work normally.
If you get the flash to pop up but it still will not fire, try the below method:
Sometimes the camera can be confused into thinking that an external flash is attached to the body, thus making it ignore the internal flash. This can be resolved by moving the
microswitch under the rails of your hot-shoe into the up position (it should be down when you see it) using a toothpick. You can access this after opening the flash up manual, as described in the previous paragraph. Here is an image showing where to find the switch:
http://www.business-improvement.org/fixes/canon_350d_rebelXT_flash.htm
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