Home Depot shares are up about 26% year to date as of Monday's market close.įind the full earnings press release from Home Depot here.Ĭorrection: An earlier version had the wrong date for the end of Home Depot's fiscal second quarter. "Housing remains strong, and we see a supportive environment for home improvement spending as we look out over the next several years." "Customer engagement and demand for home improvement is healthy," he said. have been in line with trends in the second quarter. While Home Depot didn't offer a complete outlook for 2021, CFO Richard McPhail said during an earnings conference call that during the first two weeks of August, same-store sales in the U.S. Home Depot recently added to its pro business with the acquisition of HD Supply, a large distributor of appliances, plumbing and electrical equipment. In the coming quarters, Home Depot and Lowe's are vying for the business of home professionals, such as electricians - who typically place orders in bulk. Home Depot's revenue growth is expected to slow in 2021. Home Depot faces tough comparisons with a year earlier, when its brick-and-mortar stores remained open during the pandemic, and many Americans invested in remodeling projects. Unease about the rising number of Covid cases could curtail consumer spending. But analysts are watching to see how long this trend continues, with the delta variant forming the latest headwind for retail businesses. Although Home Depot's second-quarter same-store sales disappointed, Fadem said he still expects the chain's profits for the year to move higher.Ī strong housing market, with increasing home prices and low mortgage rates, has aided home improvement chains Home Depot and Lowe's. Wells Fargo retail analyst Zachary Fadem noted that Home Depot shares have outperformed both Lowe's and the S&P 500 index in the past two months. Shares Lowe's fell more than 4% Tuesday, a day before the Home Depot rival reports earnings. And that's what we're seeing in these numbers now." "But I've got to believe that as the economy opens up, as people start to move around again, there's going to be less of a focus on spending on the home. "Home improvement was a big Covid winner, and Home Depot performed masterfully through the crisis," Oppenheimer Senior Analyst Brian Nagel told CNBC. Inflation from core commodity categories positively impacted Home Depot's average ticket growth by roughly 420 basis points, he said. President and COO Ted Decker said lumber prices peaked during the latest quarter, but some types of lumber have since seen prices plummet. Sales per retail square foot grew 5.3% year over year to $663.05. The company reported a 5.8% drop in customer transactions compared with a year earlier, but the average ticket was 11.3% larger. The company said kitchen and bath and lumber were its two strongest departments, while sales in paint, hardware, and indoor and outdoor garden were negative on a year-over-year basis. That was short of the more than 5% growth anticipated from analysts polled by StreetAccount. Analysts had been looking for $4.44 per share, according to a Refinitiv survey. 1, net income grew to $4.81 billion, or $4.53 per share, from $4.33 billion, or $4.02 per share, a year earlier. $40.79 billion expectedįor the three months ended Aug. Here's how the company did for its fiscal second quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, according to a survey of analysts by Refinitiv: same-store sales were up just 3.4% in the latest quarter, compared with a 25% jump in the year-ago period. Sales from the professional customer, though, outpaced those of the DIY customer for the second quarter in a row. While Home Depot's quarterly profit and revenue beat Wall Street estimates, same-store sales came in slightly below expectations as the company lapped a period a year earlier when customers flocked to its stores to buy paint, wood, gardening supplies and other materials for home remodeling projects.ĬEO Craig Menear said that while consumers are returning to pre-pandemic activities outside of their homes, the company still sees people engaged in house improvement projects, and increasingly larger projects. Personal Loans for 670 Credit Score or Lower Personal Loans for 580 Credit Score or Lower Best Debt Consolidation Loans for Bad Credit
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There’s less time and less money for lots of important things: creativity, the arts, reading for pleasure, play - or simply doing nothing, something today’s kids rarely get to experience.Bee part of the buzz Sunday, March 6 at 2:00 pm Doors open at 1:30 pm Ithaca High School Wellness Center Teachers, as well, are more strapped than ever before, sometimes barely able to fit all the required standards into their day. She has more to learn and more to do, both during and after school. In a typical day, more is expected of Clara than it was of me 32 years ago. More than likely, neither do yours.įor me, what it really boils down to is this: We just can’t do it all. Of course, none of my kids have the kind of focus, drive, attention span and spelling talent to compete at that level, either. Opinion This school's parental dress code teaches kids sexism and elitism, not respectīut while the savant-level competitors who can make it to the national stage are impressive, to say the least, I can’t say I’d encourage any of my kids to take on that level of stress - especially considering all the free time they’d be giving up to make it. Memorization may be a useful skill, but in the world in which our kids are growing up, is a competition that puts rote memorization above all else relevant enough to our daily lives to make the spectacle worthwhile? But as I walked away from Clara’s spelling bee, feeling just as rotten for the kids who won as for the kids who lost (the winners would be advancing to the district level, so they were going to have to do it all over again!), I reflected on the fact that I held a device in my hand, a “smartphone,” that would literally not allow me to misspell a word. Yes, these are all important, character-developing things to learn. That it’s not always enough to be “naturally” good at something. The comments on my Instagram post about Clara’s spelling bee loss illustrate this: 20, 30, 40 years later, we still remember the moment we learned that you can study really hard at something and still fail. Just ask any room full of adults if they remember their school spelling bee, and I bet you that most, if not all, can recall not just the experience, but also the very word that brought them down. As it turns out, in a high-stakes, high-stress situation like a spelling bee, “knowing” doesn’t always save you.Īnd I’m hardly alone. There I was defeated by the word “trapeze,” one I’d seen dozens of times and really knew how to spell, I swear. Thirty-two years earlier, I’d snagged one of the top two spots in my school to advance to the district bee. I still remember excruciatingly well the moment I was ousted from my own fourth-grade spelling bee. But memorization is not the same as communication, and spelling word after word (that she’d rather be inserting in a juicy story) didn’t exactly light her up.īut that was a lie. She loves words, as anyone who has held a conversation with her knows. A dreamy child, Clara spends her after-school hours sketching and painting, writing stories and talking to friends. Her dad and I did our best to prepare her, but it wasn’t easy for our daughter to stay focused. In the weeks leading up to the contest, Clara had come home with study lists and strategies for success. But that was nothing compared to the tension in the audience: We parents squirmed in our seats, sighing and gasping and holding our breaths as our kids slowly spelled their words. Most of the fourth- and fifth-grade competitors surrounding her in the combination gym/cafeteria/auditorium sat rigidly, their faces set in grim concentration. My 10-year-old daughter Clara shifted nervously as she sat on stage waiting her turn in her elementary school’s spelling bee this January. However, evidence for this is very limited, while trace amounts of metals are constantly removed from our bodies by our kidneys. Some concern has been raised about its use in antiperspirants and a possible link with cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. Aluminium is used in many items that we have close contact with, including food containers. Is There a Styptic Pencil Danger?Īlum is crystallised hydrated potassium aluminium sulphate, which causes some people to worry about the health impact of aluminium. Like preventing shaving rash, the key is to prepare properly with a hot towel and minimise the chance of having to use a styptic stick. Choose your razor carefully, take your time, and make sure you have a sharp razor blade so you don’t resort to unnecessary force. Of course the first step to curing shaving cuts is prevention in the first place a they can still be quite nasty. It can burn a little bit just like applying aftershave. Simply dab the pencil on a shaving cut and the bleeding should stop very quickly. While it’s always worth keeping a styptic stick to hand, it could be especially useful if you are trying out a new safety razor. By shrinking a cut down the bleeding is more likely to stop and tissue can repair itself faster. This is great for shaving cuts and shaving rash when you inflammation and the threat of bacteria – which in turn can cause more inflammation. While an alum block for shaving cuts can be bulky and cumbersome to apply, a stypic pencil is a much smaller and more convenient way to stop shaving cuts bleeding.Īlum is an antiseptic and astringent – meaning it literally causes skin to tighten up. Get Latest Deal What is a styptic pencil and what is it made of?Ī styptic pencil is made of the potassium alum that you find in an alum block that is crushed and bonded with wax to create a lipstick-like stypic pencil. But similar descriptions of near-death experiences have existed long before that, like in Hieronymus Bosch’s painting The Ascent of the Blessed from 1505. In 1975, a doctor Raymond Moody collected reports of NDEs from 150 coma survivors, finding that NDEs can include out of body experiences, feelings of peacefulness, entering a gateway or tunnel, and seeing a bright light. NDEs often have the same characteristics, and people remember them extremely vividly. But proving that hypothesis, on the other hand, would be difficult. Chawla said that it can be a valid hypothesis that this brain activity is connected to a near-death experience (NDE), or reliving memories, given the timing and kind of brain activity. Similarly, we can’t know what the man in the newly published case report was feeling, or if he saw memories from his past. “I don’t know what the rat was experiencing, if it was experiencing anything, because in our study we had the animals anesthetized,” Mashour said. Intriguing as all of this is, there’s still a huge gap between what exactly is going on from a phenomenological perspective, meaning how this surge is experienced. “I don’t think there’s anyone who can argue that this is not happening,” he said. Chawla gets phone calls from doctors all over the country who report the same. This part of the story is consistent, Chawla said: Some portion of people after cardiac death display cohesive gamma wave activity. “They were able to identify very similar findings, and these studies mutually complement and support one another,” he said. Mashour said that the new case report is interesting because it continues to connect the work done in rats to what’s been observed repeatedly in humans. In the moment just after cardiac death, there was a surge of high-frequency brain activity. They implanted electrodes into the brains of nine anesthetized rats, and then killed them. In a study from 2013, George Mashour, an anesthesiologist at the University of Michigan, and first author Jimo Borjigin looked for this brain activity in rats. Jan Claassen, the senior author on that paper and a neurologist at Columbia University, said that they had one patient out of 19 who showed EEG activity briefly after blood flow to the brain stopped. Of 19 patients who died a cardiac death, 11 had EEG activity following permanent cessation of the electrical or pump function of the heart, they reported. Most recently, in 2021, a study looked at data from patients that died from heart attacks, who had also been undergoing standard EEG monitoring in an ICU. They, too, saw increases in higher-frequency brain waves similar to those described in the new paper in two of the four patients just before cardiac death, but didn’t see any gamma activity after death. In Norton’s 2017 study, she and her colleagues measured EEG activity 30 minutes prior to death until 30 minutes after death in four patients. While the recent paper boasts about being “first”-and this was technically the first time the specific type of EEG measurement here was done-it’s not the first to measure the brain as someone died. For now, what this finding might be most effective at teaching us is how data is filtered through our own personal beliefs: What people think of the surge often tells us less about a still-mysterious phenomenon than it does about their own worldviews. But what it means, and how it’s experienced, is still unknown. It’s a topic that deserves investigation, because it could have important implications for end of life care, organ donation, or understanding the exact process of death. The past studies, in combination with this one, show there can be a surge of electrical activity in the brain right as people-or animals-die, which sometimes continues after the heart stops. Though the authors of the new paper wrote that this was the “first-ever” continuous recording by EEG of a person as they died, this exact phenomenon has actually been noticed and published about for over a decade. Could what was observed here be the neural signature of the near-death experience, or our lives flashing before our eyes as we die? It’s a provocative speculation, but that’s all it is: a speculation. The visuals get the job done, and the aforementioned ‘Trek trappings’ go a long way toward smoothing things over that is to say, the art design is stellar from start to finish. Star Trek: Resurgence isn’t exactly the prettiest game around, either, but it’s never ugly. At times, Resurgence tasks you with scanning areas with your high-tech tricorder gadget, which is peak Trek and I’m here for it… except, that is, when I have to replay half a stage five times before the tricorder gameplay quits glitching on me and locking me out of crucial controls. Most of Jara’s non-dialogue stuff fares far better, but she also bears the burden of something that was downright busted for me, and I can only hope it’s tidied up for the game’s launch. Again, I applaud the creators for showcasing how hard a job iconic characters like Miles O’Brien must have - if Carter’s tasks are anything to by, that poor TNG/DS9 fan-favorite never knows a moment’s peace - but there is a marked difference between thought-provoking puzzles and - for one example - waiting an astoundingly long time for bars to fill so that you can press something at just the right instant, or else you’ve failed and it’s time to wait all over again.Īlas, it’s not just Carter who gets the short end of the stick, though he does get the worst of it. Needlessly finicky mechanics are not fun. I played on Xbox Series X, and I really love that console’s controller, and even still I felt like Star Trek: Resurgence was actively fighting my every effort to press the buttons it asked of me at times. It’s admirable that Dramatic Labs worked so hard to make players feel like they’re engaging in the countless activities of an engineer, but many of Carter’s gameplay sequences are, in a word, annoying. I might have preferred a solid hour or so less here. In fact, this is where the trouble begins. Being the nerd that I am, I kind of looked for breaking points that felt like natural endings if Resurgence was delivered in TV episodes, and I counted about ten ‘episodes’ worth, so no complaints there. The size of its script matters far more than the square footage of its settings. That may not sound like much in comparison to ‘content-filled’ video games that proudly tout a ton of time-per-dollar, but this is a nonstop story. Speaking of the campaign, I finished Star Trek: Resurgence in a bit over 12 hours. His closest allies, including a Trill best friend and a possible romantic interest, both develop in meaningful ways alongside him across the campaign. At the start of the journey, she’s newly assigned to the USS Resolute, the ‘hero ship’ of Resurgence.Ĭarter Diaz is your doorway into the Resolute’s ‘lower decks’ lifestyle, and early scenes involve him behaving with far less pressure on his shoulders relative to Jara. It mirrors things that Jara herself is familiar with, anchoring her and granting players keen insight into the goings-on. This gives Jara an important perspective when the story gets going, as it involves a worker uprising against some rather arrogant overlords. They’re an important race in the Trek pantheon. Jara Rydek’s other genetic half is from an alien race that’s nearly extinct and suffered harshly at the hands of Cardassian oppressors in the past. It took me a little while to embrace the game’s rough edges and get comfortable portraying its dual protagonists, the half-human First Officer Jara Rydek and engineering crewperson Carter Diaz, but once I did, I never stopped feeling like I was living through a serialized season of Star Trek. On the other hand, Star Trek: Resurgence tells a pretty excellent tale with ample intrigue, challenging plot-altering choices, and all of Trek’s familiar trappings. Sure, Star Trek: 25th Anniversary was far from flawless in that regard, but that doesn’t mean Resurgence circumvents any well-founded side-eye when a few particularly nasty bugs stifle progress and irritate to no end. On one hand, stiff controls and some undeniable jank is impossible to ignore. Star Trek: Resurgence, the brand-new story-centric adventure game from numerous former Telltale personnel, can be a tale of two worlds - though I’m pleased to say the good outweighs the not-so-much. That’s why I had high hopes that developer Dramatic Labs’ turn at the helm would reverse course and deliver the goods. That’s not to say they’re all bad - far from it - but it’s frustratingly rare for one of them to offer that smart, narrative-driven experience. Tragically, precious few gaming takes on Trek have hit remotely close to the mark, since. Educational experiences (classes, field trips, guest speakers, etc.).When you look for a summer camp or daycare, look for ones that emphasize: Summer camp activities keep children on a schedule that is fun and engaging. Enroll your kids in a summer camp program or summer daycare program How do you incorporate structure into the summer?ġ. Structure helps your children channel their energy into productive, engaging activities that boost their confidence, limit learning loss, and encourage healthy habits. This sedentary lifestyle has proven to negatively impact kids as they grow, and often leads to higher rates of obesity. They often spend more time indoors in front of the TV or computer and consume unhealthy snacks. The lack of structure during the summer even encourages children to develop unhealthy habits. On average, students lose 2 months of reading and mathematics learning over the summer because they are not regularly learning. Summer learning loss is also a huge issue for children during these vacation months. These lead to behavior problems at home and a headache for parents. While children look forward to the lazy days of summer, the lack of predictability and irregular routines plague kids with anxiety and boredom. Why do children still need structure in the summer? But can too much relaxation be harmful for their growing minds and bodies (as well as your growing impatience)? Summer-it’s a time for your kids to relax and play in the sun. Upon closer inspection, the cosmetics seem to be pulled from other popular Ubisoft titles, like Assassin's Creed and Watch Dogs, so they may join as a class, too. Ubisoft has mentioned that more new factions will join post-launch and consist of more Tom Clancy crossovers as well as "beyond," which suggests that game may branch out into other Ubisoft series. Anyone who participated in the Closed Beta in April can log in a day early to participate in a special Early Access phase of the Open Session starting on June 20. XDefiant's main draw is that it's pulling from many of the Tom Clancy games in Ubisoft's catalog, so we can expect classes inspired by Rainbow Six, and maybe even more obscure games like Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. Announced at Ubisoft Forward, XDefiant will be running an Open Session for all players on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series XS from June 21-23 sign up by going to. The Closed Beta for XDefiant is coming April 11th Lets check out the conditions to get you into the XDefiant beta. Want to increase your chances of getting a key Preinstall GG before April 11th. They have increased health and can deploy shields to help their teammates. The beta key will give you access on your choice of: PC, Playstation 5, or Xbox Series XS. Wolves: The Wolves from Ghost Recon are the Tanks of XDefiant.Outcasts: Also from The Division, the Outcasts act as healers.Cleaners: The Division's Cleaners are the main aggressors, and feature high damage abilities. Echelon: Pulled from Splinter Cell (remember that game?), the Echelon are Support characters that can be used to provide intel to teammates and deny intel to enemies.XDefiant is currently in development for Amazon Luna, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Only time will tell if this proves to be a hit and if Ubisoft's multiplayer shooter can carve out a spot for itself in an already crowded space. The April 2023 beta was among Twitch's most popular titles streamed that month, even outperforming Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2 streams. While it remains to be seen the full impact XDefiant will have, the game has already made a positive impression on players following the last closed beta. Cuando se haya completado la descarga, selecciona Jugar para iniciar el juego. As with the launch factions, the new factions will be inspired by Ubisoft's own IPs such as the launch factions of Libertad and DedSec. Inicia sesión con la misma cuenta de Ubisoft que utilizaste para comprar el juego. The game will then shift into a three-month seasonal model where players can expect a new faction, three weapons, and three maps to be added along with seasonal events. XDefiant's final release date will be revealed shortly after the Open Session, and will be preceded by a six-week "preseason" which will feature all the content available during the betas and Session. The session will begin at 1 PM EST/10 AM PST on Wednesday, June 21, and will end at 2 PM EST/11 AM PST on Saturday, June 24, and will be available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. As of this writing, an "Open Session" will be taking place in June to allow general audiences to get hands-on with the shooter in the lead-up to its full release later in 2023. RELATED: Ubisoft's XDefiant Game Seemingly Drops Tom Clancy's Name from TitleĪdditional information about the game's immediate future and launch plans were shared as part of the Ubisoft Forward 2023 event. An initial closed insider test took place in 2021 and a second wouldn't happen until 2023, which saw the first closed beta take place involving several Twitch streamers showcasing the game in April 2023. The game was initially to fall under Ubisoft's Tom Clancy banner, but this was later dropped to allow for the use of other franchises to produce additional content. XDefiant was originally announced in July 2021, where it was revealed to be a free-to-play multiplayer shooter pitting players against each other in various game modes as factions based on series such as Far Cry and Splinter Cell. It is set to continue into the summer with additional open betas, giving more players the chance to experience what they have only been able to watch on Twitch to this point. Tom Clancys XDefiant Release Date, Beta, Platforms & More. The game's previous betas has seen roughly 1.5 million players jump into its chaotic gunplay, pitting factions from Ubisoft's biggest franchises against each other in team-driven multiplayer matches. XDefiant Beta Code Xbox Xbox owners can also get their hands on an XDefiant beta code. Ubisoft's upcoming multiplayer shooter XDefiant has proven to be a hit with players and viewers, and it appears the studio isn't going to slow down with news on its next open betas and what is in store for the game's full release later in 2023. Their foundation is decidedly Celtic, but there is no mistaking the complimentary influences of Rock, Folk, Bluegrass, Jazz, and World music. With an ever expanding set of original creations, as well as contemporary and traditional tunes plucked from the panoply of the genre, these five lads put on a live show that is second to none. The Fenians have delivered their potent mix of traditional Irish folk and good old rock n roll all across the USA and Ireland. Patrick’s Day pub crawl kit includes drink coupons, free welcome shot vouchers, St Paddys Day necklaces, free entry to pub crawl after parties, and a map of all participating Huntington Beach bars. Patrick’s Day Pub Crawl in Huntington Beach with access and drink discounts at 10+ participating venues. Huntington Beach St Patrick’s Day Pub Crawl Beer and wine bar will be available plus a whiskey tasting. For the better part of two decades, the Ploughboys have regaled the Los Angeles Celtic community with modern and traditional music from the British Isles, with a dash of bluegrass, country, and American folk thrown in. Patrick’s celebration early with a sing-and-stomp-along evening of music by the Ploughboys. This free event will have live music, 40 plus vendors, photo opps, drinks and family-friendly fun. Hangar 24 |17877 Von Karman Ave, Irvine, CA, 92614 Newport Beach Baja Sharkeez and various venues are hosting a weekend bar crawl. Newport Luck Of The Irish St Patrick’s Day Weekend Bar Crawl Patrick’s Fun Fest themed street market with food, vendors, games, live music and a beer garden. Pine Street 10902 Pine St, Los Alamitos, CA 90720Įnjoy a family-friendly St. Festival of Arts – Pageant of the Masters.Orange County Great Park Sports Complex.Everything You Need to Know About South Coast Plaza. Memento, for example, employs a black and white color to communicate a separate timeline while Schindler’s List uses no color on screen. The absence of color is an equally capable mechanism employed to convey different emotions. Some directors like Wes Anderson have embraced the entire spectrum of color, making their work a visual treat and an easily recognisable trademark while others like Fincher depict their work in grittier tones. The colors used in films are also designed to enhance or define the characters and their dramatic needs.Ī color wheel is a visual representation of colors arranged according to their chromatic relationship.Īlthough music and onscreen action have long been considered the more powerful components of the cinematic experience, the use of color to depict characters and film sets is an equally compelling, if not more nuanced, tool in the right hands. It reflects the underlying emotional undercurrents that run beneath the surface of the narrative. While not a new concept - the ancient Egyptians studied the effect of colors on human mood and emotion - it wasn’t long before filmmakers were using color psychology in movies to aid storytelling.Ĭolor psychology in films is the exploration of the world of images and how it affects human perception. I follow this by adding contrast with a curves adjustment layer, and sometimes use the different curves color channels to further manipulate the colors if I think it may be needed.The introduction of color in motion films in the early 20th century was set to enthrall audiences like never before. I find that the whites, neutrals and blacks have the most effect on mood, and the red and yellow channels affect skin tones the most. When I grade my images, my usual approach is to make exposure and white balance corrections in the Camera RAW photoshop plugin, and then take the converted TIFF image file into Photoshop and use a selective color adjustment layer and make adjustments in each of the different color channels. I think another important aspect of color grading as well is to practice restraint and subtlety it's very easy to "over-cook" an image by applying too much of an effect on it. I agree that color grading is very important in conveying mood and feeling, alongside lighting and composition. This is coming from the perspective of a still-shooter, not a moving film creator. Thanks for the article! Always glad to see an fstoppers write-up that doesn't alienate any particular group of the site members. Why do we want to start with a lifeless image? We want to spend time really being able to affect a particular look in post production, where we have dedicated tools (hardware and software) that allows us to do so much more (an analogy might be playing with a Raw file, compared to just accepting what your JPEG looks like, straight out of camera). Often, a 'flat' image that comes out of the camera looks lifeless - but this is the intent. This is just as true for a still image as for a moving one. Aspects like sharpness, contrast and color saturation are typically elements we don’t want to define too strongly ‘in camera’ and there is a good reason for this, but let’s look at color specifically.Ĭolor is so important because, like lighting, it affects a mood and feel of a piece, and therefore how we interpret the final image. By 'flat', we mean we shoot with a profile type that tries to avoid 'baking in' too much information into the compressed video file. For years, DSLR videographers have been 'shooting flat'. If you're in any doubt over the power that properly grading your work can have, you have to check this out.Ĭolor grading in motion is nothing new. The film was graded by Taylre Jones at Grade, and he's demonstrated brilliantly how the original footage stacks up against the color graded footage looks compared to it. This little-over-two-minute-long video shows excerpts of the independent movie, 'The House On Pine Street'. |
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