Jackass is an American television series showing irresponsible, dangerous, self-harming stunts such as kicking oneself in the head. Despite or perhaps because of it's adults-only classification, the Jackass television series and film (Jackass: The Movie) The television series inspired a world-wide teenage phenomena known as 'Jackass' in which bored, attention-seeking teenagers video themselves and their friends as they carryout dangerous and stupid stunts, and then publish the footage on web sites. A notorious British group of Jackass boys are known as 'Live Now Die Later', a group from the north West of England who formed around 2003, and soon afterwards lost one ten-year old member after he quit after he received major burns to almost his entire body. The type of stunts performed include spraying the hair with aftershave and then igniting it, having a large fishing hook placed through the ear lobe and then ripped out, setting light to oneself and then cycling into a river, and most popular leaping from tall buildings into a nearby tree - or not. Research Jackass
Bacteria are a diverse group of ubiquitous micro organisms all of which consist of only a single cell that lacks a distinct nuclear membrane and has a cell wall of a unique composition.
Bacteria are usually classified by means of Gram's stain, whether or not they require oxygen, and on the basis of shape. A bacterial cell may be spherical, rod-like, spiral, comma-shaped, corkscrew-shaped, or filamentous, resembling a fungal cell. The majority of bacteria range in size from 0.5 to 5 mm. Many are motile, bearing flagella, possess an outer slimy capsule, and produce resistant spores. In general bacteria reproduce only asexually, by simple division of cells, but a few groups undergo a form of sexual reproduction. Bacteria are largely responsible for decay and decomposition of organic matter, producing a cycling of such chemicals as carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulphur. A few bacteria obtain their food by means of photosynthesis, some are saprophytes, and others are parasites, causing disease. The symptoms of bacterial infections are produced by toxins. Research Bacteria
AutoDesk Animator is an animation program that lets you create desktop videos for promotion and training. The program includes a number of animation techniques, painting functions, text effects, and file-import capabilities that provide a workbench for creating impressive diskette-based presentations. AutoDesk Animator incorporates five types of animation. Each is specifically designed to make creating and displaying animation sequences as impressive and easy as possible. The program provides traditional cell-by-cell animation capabilities. This technique displays a sequence of individual cells or images in rapid succession resulting in movement. Optical animation is best suited for animations where objects swoop across the screen. This technique uses complex combinations of spline paths and full 3D transformations along with other optical functions to maximise this type of effect.
Polymorphic tweening is an animation technique used to blend between two completely different shapes. It can be combined with optical animation to
add three-dimensional effects. Colour cycling transforms the colour of various screen locations. Titling provides full text animation for incorporating text in any part of a desktop video. Titling effects include multiple-direction scrolling and type-on, where each letter of words appears in rapid succession. Paint functions combine image processing inks with over 20 tools for detailed image creation and editing. The image processing inks affect the dispersion and quality of onscreen colours. The inks can be applied to saturate, strengthen, and define colours and create effects such as opaque, soften, gloss, glaze, emboss, scrape-through, sheen, and highlight. The combination of Animator's painting tools and image processing inks lets you control the sharpness, illumination, intensity, and glow of on-screen presentation colours more effectively than with any other PC product. Research AutoDesk Animator
Cycle Ball is an amateur cycling ball-game derived from Association Football in which the ball is trapped, driven forward, and shot at goal by the rider manipulating the front wheel of his bicycle. It is played indoors between teams of two riders, and as a field game between teams of six. World championships are held annually. Research Cycle Ball
Cycling is a sport and also leisure pursuit whereby a cycle, formerly also known as a velocipede, which is a light vehicle, is impelled by the person or persons whom it carries, and in its most common form is a bicycle ,being two-wheeled.
The forerunner of the bicycle; dating from about 1817, had two wheels of nearly equal size, one before the other, and connected by a beam on which the driver sat, and was propelled by the thrust of the rider's feet on the ground. The 'dandy horse' was a name given to this kind of cycle, which never came into very common use.
About 1861 a superior vehicle was introduced, having treadles operating cranks on the axle of the front wheel, and soon many forms of the machine became popular; but for a time the bicycle was a clumsy article requiring much labour to get any speed out of it, and the derisive name of ' boneshaker' was not undeserved. It formed the basis, nevertheless, for the various kinds of cycle now so common, which, were originally constructed almost entirely of steel (or, in some cases, of aluminium), with the greatest economy of material, and furnished with improvements that gradually came into use.
The bicycle is kept in an upright position by the action of the rider's body and legs, by the steering power, and also by its own momentum. The tricycle followed the bicycle, and "sociables', tandems, and other forms of cycle have also been introduced.
At first the wheels of the bicycle were of the same size later the front or driving wheel was made very much larger than the hinder wheel, by 1905 the front or steering wheel and the hinder or driving wheel were generally made nearly or quite the same size. One great improvement in early cycles was in the use of india-rubber tyres to the wheels, which greatly reduced the jolting, and a further improvement was the introduction of 'pneumatic' or hollow tyres of india-rubber, which have to be pumped quite full of air and kept so when the vehicle is in use.
The usual diameter of the wheels of early cycles was 28 inches, but in some early machines the steering-wheel was made about two inches larger. Ball-bearings are used in the hubs, the pedals, and other parts of the machine where it is desirable to diminish as much as possible the friction of rotation; brakes of more than one kind have been in use, but the most common for many years comprised the brake power being gained by a block of india-rubber made to press against one or both wheels (both in the case of the 'free-wheel' cycle common since about 1900); and the general appearance and structure of the ordinary bicycle is familiar to all.
Multi-cycles of various kinds, ranging from tandems, through triplets and quadruplets to quintuplets, and even higher forms, were also fairly common at the start of the 20th century.
Motorcycles, in which the main driving power is a small petrol motor, were first constructed about 1900, and by 1905 were becoming quite common. In the early motorcyles the rider could take a companion along with him in a 'trailer' or in a 'fore-car', or 'side-car', by the later half of the 20th century such passengers were almost solely carried pillion on a double saddle.
Since 1900 the speed attained by an expert rider has been very great with the cycles then in use, by 1905 a speed of 40 mph having been recorded for a one milesprint and 10 miles at an average of 52 mph; 50 miles in a similar average speed also. Coming to longer distances, it was record
ded that 100 miles have been covered in about 2 hours 26 minutes; and 634 miles 774 yards in 24 hours recorded in 1899; while the 874 miles from Land's End to John O'Groats had been accomplished in 3 days 5 minutes 49 seconds before 1905. A remarkable cycling feat was the journey of 12,000 miles by Thomas Stevens across the continents of America, Europe, and Asia on a bicycle, commencing in April, 1884, at San Francisco. Many longer rides of a similar kind have since been done, an early one being that carried out by by Foster Fraser and two companions in 1896 to 1898, covering 19,237 miles in 774 days.
The tricycle offers a safer seat to its occupant, but owing to the friction and weight of the vehicle the same rate of speed has not been got out of it. Cycling had become exceedingly common by the start of the 20th century, almost wherever there are roads that allowed it. The manufacture of cycles had also become important industry, the chief seats of it in England traditionally being Coventry, Birmingham, London, Nottingham, and Wolverhampton.
Since its invention, the cycle has been recognised not only as affording a healthy exercise and enabling the cyclist to enjoy natural scenery and to travel from place to place with cheapness and facility, but was very commonly used for business purposes, as by tradesmen in distributing goods, workmen going to and from their work, post-office employees, and others, while it was also adopted for various military purposes.
Cycling clubs quickly became very numerous in Britian. The early Cyclists' Touring Club (CTC) and the National Cyclists' Union (NCU) were the more comprehensive early organizations, the former indeed having an international character. Both were of great service to the early cycling public in various ways. In the United Kingdom, bicycles, tricycles, and similar machines are by law declared to be carriages within the meaning of the acts relating to roads and highways, and special enactments have been in force. Early laws governing cycling in the Uk included:
'During the period between one hour after sunset and one hour before sunrise, every person riding or being upon such a carriage shall carry attached to the carriage a lamp, which shall be so constructed and placed as to exhibit a light in the direction in which he is proceeding, and so lighted and kept lighted as to afford adequate means of signalling the approach or position of the carriage.'
'Upon overtaking any foot-passenger or cart or carriage, or any horse, mule, or other beast of burden, the rider must, by sounding a bell or otherwise, give audible and sufficient warning of the approach of the carriage. Any person summarily convicted of offending against these regulations is liable to a fine of not more than forty shillings.'.
By the late 20th century cycling had become a diverse sport with such distinct disciplines as BMX, Cycle Speedway, Road Racing, Time Trialling, Cytclo-Cross, Mountain Biking, Cross-Country Cycling, Downhill Racing, Track Racing and of course leisure cycling and commuting. Research Cycling
Fallowfield Stadium is the oldest cycle track extant in the north of England. It was built at Manchester in 1892 of concrete. It is 509 yards in circumference and has thirty degree bankings. Its major annual event is the Manchester Wheelers' meeting on the second Saturday in July. In addition to cycling, the track has athletic and other facilities, and hosted the 1893 FACup Final. Research Fallowfield Stadium
The Scottish Milk Race is an international amateur cycling stage race modelled on the Tour of Britain. It started in 1963 as a one-day race and soon developed into a five-day race covering about 800 km. Research Scottish Milk Race
The Tourist Trophy (TT) are motor-cycling races held in the Isle of Man. The races are held over the public roads (closed at the time) making the races fast, and dangerous requiring excellent handling of the bikes at high speed. Research Tourist Trophy
Abbreviations
Research Jackass
