David Acevedo's Blog

I've been doing a lot of research lately and have been getting a ton of ebooks in the process. My eyes sometimes get tired from reading on a computer and it's not as nice as reading a book, but carrying around a whole bunch of book is not great either. So when I heard Google was coming out with a new tablet I was excited. I was convinced after reading Ars Technica's glowing review . Figuring it would pay for itself in two to three years at the rate I buy books, I ordered it and received it yesterday. And in one day I already saw all I needed to see. Design Flawless. But in the days of iPhones and iPads, it has to be flawless. Anything less is not even considered. The Nexus 7 resembles the first few iPhones with a glass surface bordered with a metal bevel. The back is rubberized and curves nicely in the hand. The dimples in the rubber give it a nice look and also make it pleasing to the touch, giving it a nice solid feel. There are three physical buttons: power and volum...

In technology innovation is key. Innovation tends to run contrary to typical business behavior which is still based on the industrial model of create and replicate. Innovation is about discovery, research, on-going creation. Fail to do that and you'll be in trouble. The second key is execution. Innovate but fail to deliver and you'll be in just a bad a position. New is not better than good. Deliver good even if not new and people will love you, but it has to be good. Blackberry's company, Research in Motion (RIM) is in deep trouble right now due to both of these issues. It had a good product, so it failed to innovate. Because good is better than new, it still did well, until the competition got better. A failed tablet, a sclerotic operating system and lack of a viable app stores have seriously wounded this once titan of the industry. Now to add insult to injury they've lost a multi-million dollar case . RIM will be a study for business schools now, but not just as...

Dear Apple, Why should you reconsider your green registry pull out . I know that innovation and the “wants of the customers” are business pressures that are hard to ignore. They want it faster, lighter, cheaper. And you so want to satisfy all that. The designers want it sleeker, cooler, svelte.  Now is not the time to pick short term over long term. While it may seem that having products that aren’t easy to repair, recycle and take apart is what people want, like Henry Ford said: “If I’d asked people what they wanted. They would have asked for faster horses.” It’s easy to forget the big picture. Apple had its start catering to that tinkering vision and recently providing a mesh of engineering and design unparalleled in the world. It’s not design alone. It’s not engineering alone. It’s that alchemical combination that when it’s right it’s magical. The computer, the tool, melts away and the crafters of words, images, music, presentations, code, see only their cr...

1. Where do you see yourself in five years? 2. What are your weaknesses? 3. What did you not like about your previous job? 4. So you live in [insert here] . That's far. Do you think you can make it here? Funny stuff indeed. But it's probably karmic, apparently when I was giving interviews, I was tough.

Steam has released its first movie through its digital distribution network. Netflix streams movies directly to your computer. Hulu is the new cable. Is there a place for physical distribution? Is Bluray dead? The short answer is: yes it is. I used to work in the DVD industry and after getting laid-off a few years back I've been looking to re-invent myself as a writer, as a programmer and as a leader. Things easier said than done in this economy. The sad part of this is that this digital transition was inevitable and foreseeable. Yet the studios and the vendors (I worked for a vendor) and even the retail stores all pretended that it wasn't happening, until it did. Blockbuster is no more, Hollywood Video is no more. All preventable 'deaths' if they'd moved their assents correctly. The next thing on the chopping block is film canister delivery to movie theaters. With silver jumping in price (I'm not sure but I think it quadrupled) and silver being a huge compo...

Grammar is awesome you have Johanna's Jacob's and its . Because it's is a contraction of it is. But is it Thomas' book or is it Thomas's book? You get through and thru , as in Drive-Thru which in case you're wondering was the first way ever I saw that word spelled, on the Drive-Thru at Burger King. Then there is your and you're . "Your bandanna mean's you're a hippy, Eeyore..." And honestly I had not grasped that these was the plural of this until I was in college. But for all this confusion and cases, (it's weird yet niece, nice, and Nice but Einstein?) it's all good. The flexibility of the language allows for all of it. Until you get the grammar police. Taking perfectly understandable sentences and dubbing them wrong for not being spelled right or following the right grammar. I love that as a writer I can just claim poetic licence whenever I so want. So sanguine and it's bloody name can be in my writing blood-thirsty and not...

I just heard the Science Friday's coverage of Alan Ada's challenge of explaining a flame to an 11 year old. I want to take a gander at this, then I'll look at what the scientist say. What's a flame? A flame is energy. What you see is energy being released in the form of light and heat, from likely a chemical reaction. And the distinct tongues in a flame are plasma , a form of super heated air , that throws off energy (light and heat) as it cools down. In space flames are round, but when there is gravity hot air is less dense (or lighter) and gets pushed up by the colder heavier (denser) air thus the flame licks upwards and dances as different air comes in and gets 'burned' and turned into plasma .  For all the stuff I know: what I just wrote above might actually be wrong. I've never had it explained to me. Now let's see what the scientist say. Edit: 6-8-2012 So now the Science Friday winner has been determined, or at least a cool video w...