How to pick a good avocado: A good avocado, ripe or unripe, has skin of uniform appearance, with no bruises, scars, or mushy spots. A healthy Haas avocado's color is dark green to dark purple.
How to pick a ripe avocado: Ripe avocados have firm flesh, but give a little when you squeeze. Unripe avocados don't give under pressure. Overly-ripe avocados do not have firm flesh. Handle a bunch of avocados at the market and you will feel the difference. Select avocados based on this tactile test and not color. Your best bet is to buy ripe avocados the day you need them
How to ripen an avocado: Let the avocado sit in a cool place, such as a kitchen counter not in sunlight. Depending on when in the avocado's life it was picked, it will ripen in anywhere from one to eight days. To expedite the ripening process, place the avocado in a brown paper bag, loosely shut. The bag traps ethylene from the ripening avocado, speeding the process. To ripen even faster, place an ethylene-heavy fruit, such as an apple, in the bag along with the avocado. Be careful, however—the avocado could be ripe before you know it.
How to prevent oxidation: Once you cut open an avocado, time is your enemy. You should always prepare the avocado as close to consumption as possible. To slow oxidation, coat the flesh in lemon or lime juice. When preparing guacamole, for example, make mixing the avocado and lime the first step. To store avocado flesh, tightly seal your container with plastic wrap and push the plastic down right against the avocado.
What doesn't work: Until science tells me otherwise, placing the avocado pit in your guacamole does not keep it from browning. What I suspect it does, if anything, is prevent oxidation by consuming more space in the bowl and minimizing air-facing guacamole. A tight seal of plastic wrap accomplishes the same thing, with better success. Also, eat faster.
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