The Golden Age of Piracy 1700-1725

Piracy, or thievery on the high seas, is a problem that has popped up on several different occasions in history, including the present. Certain conditions must be met for piracy to thrive, and these conditions were never more evident than during the so-called Golden Age of Piracy, which lasted roughly from 1700 to 1725. This era produced many of the most famous pirates of all time, including Blackbeard, Calico Jack Rackham, Edward Low and Henry Avery. Conditions for Piracy to Thrive Conditions have to be just right for piracy to boom. First, there must be many able-bodied young men (preferably sailors) out of work and desperate to make a living. There must be shipping and commerce lanes nearby, full of ships that carry either wealthy passengers or valuable cargo. There must be little or no law or government control. The pirates must have access to weapons and ships. If these conditions are met, as they were in 1700 (and as they are in present-day Somalia), piracy may become common. Pirate or Privateer? A privateer is a ship or individual who is licensed by a government to attack enemy towns or shipping during times of war as a private enterprise. Perhaps the most famous privateer was Sir Henry Morgan, who was given a royal license to attack Spanish interests in the 1660s and 1670s. There was a great need for privateers from 1701 to 1713 during the War of Spanish Succession when Holland and Britain were at war with Spain and France. After the war, privateering commissions were no longer given out and hundreds of experienced sea rogues were suddenly put out of work. Many of these men turned to piracy as a way of life. Merchant and Navy Ships Sailors in the 18th century had a choice: they could join the navy, work on a merchant ship, or become a pirate or privateer. Conditions on board the naval and merchant vessels were abominable. The men were routinely underpaid or even cheated of their wages completely, the officers were strict and harsh, and the ships were often filthy or unsafe. Many served against their will. Navy press gangs roamed the streets when sailors were needed, beating able-bodied men into unconsciousness and putting them on board a ship until it sailed. Comparatively, life on board a pirate ship was more democratic and often more profitable. Pirates were extremely diligent about sharing the loot fairly, and although punishments could be severe, they were rarely needless or capricious. Perhaps Black Bart Roberts said it best, In an honest service there is thin commons, low wages, and hard labor; in this, plenty and satiety, pleasure and ease, liberty and power; and who would not balance creditor on this side, when all the hazard that is run for it, at worst, is only a sour look or two at choking. No, a merry life and a short one shall be my motto. (Johnson, 244) (Translation: In honest work, the food is bad, the wages are low and the work is hard. In piracy, there is plenty of loot, its fun and easy and we are free and powerful. Who, when presented with this choice, would not choose piracy? The worst that can happen is you can be hanged. No, a merry life and a short one shall be my motto.) Safe Havens for Pirates For pirates to prosper there must be a safe haven where they can go to restock, sell their loot, repair their ships and recruit more men. In the early 1700s, the British Caribbean was just such a place. Towns like Port Royal and Nassau thrived as pirates brought in stolen goods to sell. There was no royal presence, in the form of governors or Royal Navy ships in the area. The pirates, possessed of weapons and men, essentially ruled the towns. Even on those occasions when the towns were off-limits to them, there are enough secluded bays and harbors in the Caribbean that finding a pirate who did not want to be found was nearly impossible. The End of the Golden Age Around 1717 or so, England decided to put an end to the pirate plague. More Royal Navy ships were sent and pirate hunters commissioned. Woodes Rogers, a tough former privateer, was made governor of Jamaica. The most effective weapon, however, was the pardon. A royal pardon was offered for pirates who wanted out of the life, and many pirates took it. Some, like Benjamin Hornigold, stayed legit, while others who took the pardon, like Blackbeard or Charles Vane, soon returned to piracy. Although piracy would continue, it was not nearly as bad a problem by 1725 or so. Sources: Cawthorne, Nigel. A History of Pirates: Blood and Thunder on the High Seas. Edison: Chartwell Books, 2005.Cordingly, David. New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 1996Defoe, Daniel (Captain Charles Johnson). A General History of the Pyrates. Edited by Manuel Schonhorn. Mineola: Dover Publications, 1972/1999.Konstam, Angus. The World Atlas of Pirates. Guilford: The Lyons Press, 2009Rediker, Marcus. Villains of All Nations: Atlantic Pirates in the Golden Age. Boston: Beacon Press, 2004.Woodard, Colin. The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down. Mariner Books, 2008.

The Code of Hammurabi Essay - 1110 Words

Throughout history, many civilizations have endured through a system of social, political, religious, and economic laws and rituals. Most of these laws and rituals were set up as procedures for moral behavior, family life, education, government, and business. These basic values were set forth by an early civilization known as the Babylonians. There is a lot about Babylonian society that can be learned through reading the Code of Hammurabi. In the very least, the document itself and the materials used to produce it tell a lot about how advanced the empire was. In some cases, punishment was left to the gods to determine. The code is interpreted by beginning and ending addressing the gods . Law codes were regarded as a subject for†¦show more content†¦These codes might have become laws to deal with a crime or situation that occurred frequently in Babylonian society. The code of clay tablets provided details on every function, including how to clean the irrigation canals. Babylon was the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Some civilians were educated and can best be seen in their advanced irrigation system development. They invented the number 0 in the metric system because it was easy to write and understand. This led to measurements of time such as 60 seconds, 60 minutes, and 360 degrees in a circle. They knew mathematics, science, and astrology. They created the first calendar, the lunar calendar, based on the moon. The first real mechanical device was created, known as the potter’s wheel. King Hammurabi was the first ruler of the Babylonian empire from the 1792 B.C. to 1750 B.C. era. He was a simple ruler in his early years of reign. It was only after thirty years that he became involved in many military campaigns and gain control over most of Mesopotamia and the surrounding areas. These invasions gained Hammurabi tremendous political control which led to the establishment of a centralized government in Babylon. Babylon reached a height in its cultural civilization and political power. His government managed national defense, justice policies, agricultural production, and collection of taxes. Hammurabi’s laws ranged fromShow MoreRelatedThe Code Of Hammurabi Code896 Words   |  4 Pagesof Hammurabi. He continued his reign up until 1792 B.C. but most importantly his reign did not go unforgotten. During his reign he was in charge of giving punishments to the wrongdoings of his citizens. As he conquered other cities and his empire grew he saw the need to un ify groups he controlled, he was concerned about keeping order in his kingdom. In order to achieve this goal, he needed one universal set of laws for all the people he conquered thus he created the Hammurabi code. The code of HammurabiRead MoreHammurabi Code4163 Words   |  17 PagesTable of Contents: I. Introduction: 1.1 Who is Hammurabi?†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦2 3 1.2 Where did he live? †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.3 4 1.3 The beginning of the Code†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦.4 5 II. Cultural Analysis: 2.1 Social Layers†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦5 6 7 2.2 Existed Laws .............................†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...7 2.3 Different Cultures†¦.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..8 III. Explanation of the Laws: 3.1 Examples of Laws†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦9Read MoreComparison Between The Code Of Hammurabi And Hammurabi1045 Words   |  5 Pagesquestion arises. Those two laws are The Code of Hammurabi and the Bibles laws. Hammurabi’s legal code (The Code of Hammurabi) was established between 1894 and 1595 B.C. (Barratt et al., 2017). The Code of Hammurabi was a set of 282 laws dealing with a wide variety of interactions, and an epilogue filled with curses applying to anyone in the future who may change, efface, or subvent Hammurabi’s divinely ordained legislation (Cook 3). The Code of Hammurabi may have shown fairness to a degree, butRead MoreLaw Code of Hammurabi966 Words   |  4 PagesLaw Code of Hammurabi Formerly a region of much conflict, the Babylonian Kingdom unified Sumerian and Akkadian city-states under King Hammurabi. King Hammurabi was the first king of Babylon, he reigned from 1792-1750 B.C.E. (Arts and Culture).During his reign Babylon became a great metropolis. Hammurabi’s code was a legal document that is today considered not only the earliest known written body of laws, but also historic art. The law codes are inscribed on to a stele, which is a slab of stoneRead MoreEssay on The Code of Hammurabi1144 Words   |  5 PagesThe Code of Hammurabi An eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth. That is what the Code of Hammurabi is trying to get across. After reading the Code, all I could think about was What if that is what the laws were like now in the United States? I dont think that the people would act in the manner that they do now. I believe that the codes would be useful in a way but they are also not very realistic if u really think about it. If we used the codes today in the United States I think that thereRead MoreHammurabi and Law Codes895 Words   |  4 PagesLaw codes serve two major functions, to promote order and enforce stability. Not all law codes are the same. They differ depending on the influences acting upon the ruler, and the region the laws are created to work for. Even so, the laws all serve the same purpose. Like Ashoka’s Pillars and Hammurabi’s code. Asoka’s laws and Hammurabi’s laws differ on the grounds of social systems, yet relate on the idea of technology. The social aspects of the law codes of Hammurabi and Ashoka differ greatlyRead MoreThe Law Of The Code Of Hammurabi825 Words   |  4 PagesAs seen in both of the above mentioned law codes, different crimes have different punishments. It is more implicated than just saying severe crimes receive increasingly severe punishments. It involves the law maker’s moral principles. Looking at the Code of Hammurabi again, it can be seen that cultivated land was extremely important to life. That one tangible crop could make the difference between a healthy life and starvation. The sheer number of laws regarding farm land should be point enough toRead MoreEssay on The Code of Hammurabi951 Words   |  4 PagesThe â€Å"Code of Hammurabi† is considered to be one of the most valuable finds of human existence. In fact its very existence created the basis for the justice system we have come to rely on today. The creation of â€Å"the Code† was a tremendous achievement for not o nly Babylonian society but for the entire Mesopotamian region as King Hammurabi was ruler over all of that area. Its conception can be considered to be the first culmination of the laws of different regions into a single, logical text. HammurabiRead MoreLaw Code of Hammurabi1491 Words   |  6 Pages| Code of Hammurabi | The United States Constitution | | | Everything and everyone has a history. Things and materials do not just appear on this earth. They all have beginning. It’s very interesting to see where things got started. How we came to evolve to the way we are today. Everything is so interesting, but the thing that has caught my attention more is The Code of Hammurabi. According to Judith Levin, The Code of Hammurabi was discovered in the winter of 1902 and 1903 while diggingRead MoreBabylon: The Code of Hammurabi645 Words   |  3 PagesHammurabi ruled as king of the Babylonian Empire from 1795-1750 BCE. Hammurabi is best known for his code of law, known simply as Hammurabis Code, which outlines the basic philosophy of Babylonian criminal justice. Most notably, the eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth mentality was codified in Hammurabis doctrine. This doctrine would go on to influence the Hebrew culture and criminal justice system. It is possible that Hebraic codes of law were derived from those of Babylon during the capt ivity

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks free essay sample

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Indeed Henrietta Lacks’ life is immortal. Henrietta Lacks was an African American woman of the 1950’s. She suffered from cervical cancer and eventually passed away at age 31. Because of her gender and race, she was treated unfairly and unable to receive proper treatment for cancer. A doctor by the name of Howard Jones was responsible for Henrietta’s diagnosis. As he examined the tumor in her cervix, he discovered it’s unusual size and color. Henrietta was then scheduled for treatment. The surgeon on duty was responsible for her treatment. His name was Lawrence Wharton. Because of Richard TeLinde’s theory, for research purposes, Wharton helped himself to a few samples of her cervix without the consent of Henrietta Lacks or her family. He then sent the tissues to a specialist by the name of George Gey. George Gey and his wife Margaret had been studying and growing cell cultures for years. With that being said, Gey and his wife grew Henrietta’s samples in a test tube in a lab at Johns Hopkins hospital. He eventually realized that these cells were not normal. They were immortal. And even now, fives decades after her death, HeLa cells are still being used for scientific research. A curious biology student known as Rebecca Skloot wrote The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. When Skloot was 16, she was taking a biology course at a community college for high school credit because the alternative school she went to didn’t offer it. Sitting in this biology lecture at 16, she was learning words like mitosis and kinase inhibitors (Skloot 2). At this particular time in her studies, she was learning about cells, including cell functions and cell parts. Her instructor explained to her that cells were amazing things. And to help the students understand how scientists have researched cells in previous years, he wrote a name on the board. The name read, â€Å"HENRIETTA LACKS† (Skloot 3). She wanted to know what was behind HeLa cells, and she wanted to know what they stood for. She began doing research and interviewing people who had any knowledge of the story. And as a result of her research, interviews, investigations, notes, and book, society knows more now than they ever did before. As I read the book, Skloot sparked my interest because the story she told is not only about the immortal cells, but also about the life of Henrietta’s struggling family after her death. I was sitting in my room trying to comprehend the story. Not that I didn’t understand what was going on, but I didn’t understand why. The most captivating part of this book is the controversy in it all. At one end of the spectrum there is a black woman in the 1950’s with cervical cancer, and at the other end, there is white male doctor treating her for free yet, stealing from her for research. I thought about it for a while and eventually came to the conclusion that TeLinde, Wharton and Gey were wrong for doing so. Still to this day, HeLa’s family has never been repaid for their unknown contribution to scientific research. Henrietta’s family didn’t learn of her immortality until scientists began investigating the cells and using her husband and children as research subjects without their consent. Once they understood what was happening to them, they were outraged. They felt violated in a way that scientists have been studying their family for years and making billions of dollars while they’re struggling to make ends meet. Her son, Lawrence Lack’s states, â€Å"If our mother is so important to science, why can’t we get health insurance. † The story begins when Henrietta started to feel pain after the birth of her daughter Deborah. She was with her family and told her cousins that sex was painful and it felt like there was a â€Å"knot in her womb†. A week later she found out she was pregnant with her son Joe. Her cousins assumed and proceeded to tell her that the pain was probably caused by the pregnancy. But Henrietta didn’t believe so. Four and a half months after Joe was born, Henrietta began spotting. She examined herself and realized it was something more than just giving birth to five children. She discovered a large and hard lump. As soon as she got her clothes on, she told her husband she needed to go to the doctor. She then went to her local doctor’s office. He figured that the lump was caused by syphilis. When the syphilis tested negative, the doctor said she should go to Johns Hopkins. Johns Hopkins was a hospital that specialized in gynecology. At this day and age, it was hard to get proper care because of her race. Johns Hopkins was the only hospital that the Lacks’ could go to because it was the only hospital for twenty miles that accepted black patients. Most of the public wards were filled with blacks that were unable to pay their medical bills. When Henrietta arrived at the hospital, a doctor by the name of Howard Jones examined her. He began by reviewing her medical history like most doctors would. Then he began examining the cervix. The tissues were so unusual that he sent a sample to pathology. It didn’t look like any tumor or lesion that he had ever seen before. Less than a week later, Jones got the results of her biopsy. Henrietta tested positive for cervical cancer. She was then referred to treatment. Richard TeLinde was one of the top gynecologist’s at Johns Hopkins. He believed that noninvasive cancer was just an early stage of evasive cancer. He wanted to prove his theory so he began taking cultures from his patients and growing them in a lab just as he instructed Wharton to do to Henrietta. But Henrietta’s cells were unique. They were the only cells that survived out of the many that Gey had researched. Henrietta’s cells were doubling in numbers by the day. Gey had been the first to discover immortal human cells. He then began giving samples of these immortal cells to colleagues. After all, I don’t believe Gey is to blame for the removal without consent. It was TeLinde’s theory and practice that influence the culture. He had been removing cells from his patients without consent for a while. Gey just studied them. Unfortunately treatment wasn’t enough to save Henrietta and she eventually died in 1951. The research of her immortal cells was more important to the staff at Johns Hopkins than saving her life. After her death, her family then moved on with their lives and was never informed about the immortal cells and never learned the results of her autopsy. The cells taken from her were still growing and multiplying daily. Dr. Gey continued to study them. He named the cells HeLa. Unlike the research he had done on the cells of the patients before Henrietta, he couldn’t figure out why these her cells were still actively reproducing. He hired help from other scientists. As I said before, he was giving then giving cells to colleagues for almost nothing, making no profit. The cells were growing out of control and almost anyone could get their hands on them. And the people that studied the cells and put them to good use made millions and were set for life. It just seems unfair. People at the time were searching for a cure for polio. Jonas Salk heard of the immortal cells and demanded that he have some for his research. He then created a polio vaccine using HeLa cells. To test the vaccine, the cells were being mass-produced in a cell production factory. Henrietta’s cells were also used for the research of cancer, AIDS, gene mapping, the parvovirus. I believe they’ve even been to space. Henrietta’s cells were such a contribution to the world, which makes her story more controversial than it seems. In a way, George Gey did the right thing by dispersing the cells. They’ve saved so many lives and helped so many people. But on the other hand, the Lacks family was uninformed of the discovery, and didn’t receive what was rightfully theirs. I truly believe that they weren’t informed and didn’t get compensation because they were poor black people. When Rebecca Skloot began her research to write the book, her first plan of action was to interview the ones closest to Henrietta Lacks. She tried getting a hold of her children, but before any member of the family met with her, she had to go through Lawrence Lacks, Henrietta’s son. At first, Lawrence was angry. He said, â€Å"But I have always thought it was strange, if our mother cells done so much for medicine, how come her family can’t afford to see no doctors? Don’t make no sense. People got rich off my mother without us even knowin about them takin her cells, now we don’t get a dime†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (preface to Ch. 1). It goes to show the heartache that her family must’ve felt once they knew of the profits that people were making off of their genes. I know that I keep reiterating this, but it just isn’t right. Once Skloot was able to interview most of the family, she assured them that as long as they cooperated she would do anything to help them learn more about their mother and her immortal cells. She befriended Deborah Lacks and was constantly working with her to get the most truthful story. Unfortunately when I was five years old, my mother died of astrocytoma. Astrocytoma is a tumor of mutated star-shaped cells. Astrocytoma is a pretty rare brain tumor. I believe rare cancer is valuable to scientific research. If a sample of my mother’s tumor was used for scientific research without her consent, my family would’ve been outraged. Even more outraged if my mother’s cancer cells were profiting everyone but my family. We also as a family struggle to hold onto jobs and find health insurance. Put yourself in that situation. It’s not about how much money you should receive for your family member’s cells, but it’s about the truth. It’s about knowing who, what, when, where, and why they were taken. Susan Hsu, the director of medical genetics at the American Red Cross believed that the Lacks family should be proud of their mother’s contribution to science. Because Hsu explains that Henrietta Lacks, in a way, will never really die. Her cells have now been living longer outside of her body than they had inside. In the 1950’s it was unethical to question doctors. I recently had a discussion with my grandma about her experience with doctors around that same time. My grandma was a successful white woman. And even then, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, she just did what the doctors told her to do. She said, â€Å"It was unheard of to question someone with a higher education than you. Henrietta Lacks and the rest of the Lacks family were very little educated if educated at all. Deborah, Henrietta’s youngest daughter states that, â€Å"Education is everything. If I’d had more of it, maybe this whole thing about my mother wouldn’t have been so hard†(page 251). It’s very understandable to be frustrated when you don’t understand what your doctor is talking about if they tell you what the y’re talking about at all. Now, at this day and age, doctors ask you if you have any questions. You’re also required to consent to everything before you even talk to the doctor. Things have changed. Many cases of uninformed consent have caused devalued creditability to even the best doctors. Doctor’s can now be sued for leaving out the finest detail. In part 3 of Skloot’s book, she mentions that Deborah and Zakariyya go to Hopkins to see the cells for the first time. Deborah was very pleased at the site of her mother’s cells. She was able to see how they were stored and she got to use a high-tech microscope to examine them. She felt fulfilled. Deborah felt relieved. She didn’t want any money. She just wanted to know. Lawrence on the other hand was too busy concocting a plan to sue Hopkins. He wanted to hire a lawyer to get what was rightfully theirs. Although, the supreme court of California ruled that when tissues are removed from your body, with or without consent, any claim that you own them vanishes. When you leave tissues behind in a doctor’s office or lab, it is considered abandoning waste and anyone can use them to their benefit. This didn’t necessarily apply to the Lacks because they weren’t from California, but it just goes to show that your opinions don’t matter to the ones above you. I find it hard to believe that Lawrence would’ve actually won the case. Not only because it has been so long since they were taken, but also because the cells helped society. In a judge’s eye, Johns Hopkins was helping the world rather than doing any harm. I’m not 100% sure that this would’ve been the outcome, but it’s a logical hypothesis. It took most of the family a long time to accept what had happened. Deborah was probably the most positive one of all. She said, â€Å"Like I’m always telling my brothers, if you gonna go into history, you can’t do it with a hate attitude. You got to remember, times was different†(page 276). In conclusion, Skloot writes that the Lacks family has a few legal options. Unfortunately, they are unable to sue Johns Hopkins. Although, they can file a lawsuit to stop HeLa research because it does contain their DNA. But most lawyers say that such an argument wouldn’t hold up in a courtroom. I personally don’t think the Lacks family wants to stop HeLa research. I believe that they just want people to honor their mother for her contribution. But come on now, at least one of the hundreds of medical researchers and companies using HeLa cells for their benefit could provide the family with health insurance. After all, her cells have changed the world.

Analysis of Infinity Games

Questions: You are to complete the following task in the order given: Task A: Carry out user and task analysis. You must have a clear view of the users of this system. Consider that not everyone is comfortable with the technology. For example, you need to deal with user variation such as age or language skills. Perform a user analysis, i.e. characterise the users and identify your potential users. Clearly identify the tasks the potential users perform, and in what order. These are all user interface design considerations that you should take into account. Task B: Propose design and system requirements. Consolidate your findings from your user and task analysis with the given specifications into a design and system requirements. For example, the number of items to display, the screen size, what colours, how many different screens to display etc. Task C: Develop a low-fidelity prototype using Storyboard (a minimum of 4 screens). Based on the above requirements, develop a preliminary design of the web user interface. At this stage, the prototype is basically a medium to support your initial concept and ideas. For example, the prototype should show where the Business Hour button is located or would it be possible to fit 20 images aesthetically on a single page, etc? You can use paper-based (e.g. paper and colour pencils etc.) or screen based (e.g. painting software) to sketch your design. Low- fidelity prototyping is mainly to allow designers to produce alternative designs expediently without having to go into depth or functionality. Think of low-fidelity prototyping as the 5D tool for: design, draft, decide, discard and do-over. Task D: Obtain user feedback. Invite 3 4 potential users (e.g. friends, family members, classmates, etc.) to provide you with feedback of your low-fidelity prototype (your storyboard). Carry out the evaluation according to prescribed methods as in Chapter 4 of your textbook (Shneiderman Plaisant, 2010) or from other scholarly source. Use appropriate survey techniques. Analyse the data you have collected from the user evaluation and refine and improve on your initial design. Task E: Develop high-fidelity prototype based on the user test feedback and recommendations from Task D. The high-fidelity prototype should be a reasonably complete version for the Infinity Games website and does not need to work as a complete website. A minimum of 4 screens should be produced in correspondence to your Task C storyboard. High-fidelity prototype must be computer-drawn and any drawing software is acceptable. Task F: Write a report. Produce a report to document the tasks and the outcome of your efforts undertaken for the project. Remember, this report is intended for your employers. You need to document and support the viability of your website that is, to convince your employer that your webpage design is satisfactory and that it meets user acceptance test. Answers: Introduction The analysis has been done for the website which is related to infinity games. The website is just a simple and static website which describes the shop layout and the products present in the shop. So, the analysis has been done so that improvements may be done in the website. Different opinions have been taken from different types of users belonging to different age groups, different occupations. It has been analyzed whether the design of the website is adhered to the principles of design or not as bad design is always unpleasant and disturbs the visitors on the website. User Analysis The website has been designed to help the customers who have interest in the games, toys or playing cards. This website is designed for gaming business and users who like to visit the website lie in the age group of 15-60 years. The website has been designed with so much simplicity and it is user friendly as anyone can access or understand it easily. All of the design principles for a website are followed in this website. The pages of the website are similar to each other in terms of the background. According to the principles of design, any copyright notice should be kept at the bottom of the website. In this website, copyright notice has been kept at the bottom only as per the design principles. The color of the content should be proper and clear so that user does not find difficulty to read the content of the website. So, color chosen for the website is simple and good which does not affect the user to create complexity. According to the principles, navigation layout must work pro perly i.e. the links should navigate to the proper webpage. Navigation has been done properly in this website. The website has been designed with the use of high quality images and efficient textual description (Wirtz, Jakobs Ziefle, 2009). Task Analysis Tasks in a particular sequence that are usually performed by the users are as follows: Loading the website: This is the first task which is performed by any user. User loads the website by typing the url in address bar or by searching the website on any search engine. This is a very simple task and sometimes varies in terms of duration. Reading: Next task to the loading is Reading as user reads the information he sees after loading and checks whether he/she is surfing the right website or not. By reading the information on the loaded main page user is able to understand about the type of website he/she is surfing. This task is also much simple. Browsing: This is the third task followed by reading in which user actually starts browsing what they are looking for. For e.g., for this website user looks at the different products on different WebPages and start comparing them on the terms of price, features or compatibility. This task may be performed by the user as many times user wants. Navigation: This task of navigation gets automatically started once the browsing gets started. Navigation is basically done through links, buttons, menus, actionable items etc. Navigation is easy for those who keep on visiting various websites daily but difficult to understand for those who have little knowledge about computers. Design Requirements The website should adhere to the following design principles: Browser Windows Features: It should be ensured that the window of the browser should not contain scroll bars, instead only one window should be displayed. It should be kept in mind that all kinds of advertisements, pop-ups and multi level windows should not be opened, their use should be avoided. Navigation: Navigation to any page should be displayed in bold letters. It should be understandable by the visitor that where he/she is at presently. So, use of navigation must be proper. Menus having drop down hierarchies should be avoided. Usage of Graphics: It is important that the relevant types of graphics must be used. Animations in the website should be used when it is needed, else it should be avoided. Images should be put in the website with the alt tags. Icons used in the website should have a specific meaning and can be identified easily. Content Layout: The content written for the website should be simple and understandable to every visitor. Important information should be highlighted with bolded letters. Use of Links: There should be a clear difference between the links which have been visited and the links which have never been visited. The links which have been visited must be displayed with some other color than the actual color of the link so that it can be identified that it is a visited link. It is to ensure that there should be proper spacing between the names of the links so that they do not over-clutter with each other. Usage of Color an Background: It should be kept in mind that the colors which are dark and loud should be avoided for background purpose as there are so many kinds of visitors, the old aged visitor may feel difficulty to read content on the dark colored background. Similarly, the content of color should be kept sound to the background i.e. there should be a good contrast between the color of background and the color of the content so that content might remain readable for all visitors. Feedback form: A good website always must have a feedback form in the contact us page so that visitor may leave their feedback and the improvements must be made in the website accordingly. System Requirements All users should be able to access the system. The system should have good and understandable interfaces which are readable by the users. The interface must follow all the design principles for a website. The interface should be designed in a way that it should look same on all types of screens. Proper fonts and colors should be used. There should be proper pop-ups for displaying any error. User Acceptance Test User Acceptance Test has to be done for the website so that designers must know how can be website accepted by the users and if there are any issues, how those issues are to be solved. One of the efficient methods to perform User Acceptance Test is to take feedback from the different users and accordingly bringing up the news ideas and thoughts for the website. So, for this website Users Feedback has been taken by asking them different questions which are as follows: Please tell your age, income and current occupation. Do you have knowledge about computers? If yes, then how much? Did you feel any difficulty in accessing this website? What is your opinion for the website? What would you rate on a scale of 1-10 for this website? Therefore, on the basis of the above questions, feedback has been taken from three different users which is described in the next section. Users Feedback Feedback has been taken from three persons who belong to different occupations and different age groups. Feedback of those three visitors has been described as follows: Person1: Person 1 is a 62-years retired professor who is living his life on the pension income. He hardly has knowledge about the computer use. He hardly uses internet, if he does so, he uses it for news and Wikipedia purpose. Since he has little knowledge, so he can also access the simple websites, complex kind of website confuses him. His experience with this website is good as the website has been designed with so much simplicity. So, he did not feel difficulty and could easily surf the site. He rates the website as 8 on the scale of 1-10. Person2: Person 2 is a 19 year old college going boy and usually completes his assignments by surfing on the internet. Therefore, he has a good knowledge about computer and so internet. He may handle even the complex sites as he is aware of navigating the links and browsing the website. When this website was given to him for review, he could easily point out that the website is about gaming business as he has a lot of interest in gaming and all. He told that the website looked so simple and understandable that he got to know about every webpage so easily. He felt that the website should have more of multimedia things and content to make the website look more attractive and catchy. He rates the website as 7 on 10. Person3: Person 3 is a 45 year old homemaker who is graduated but does not earn money. She did not have much knowledge about the computers, but her son taught her the basics of computers and Smartphone. So, now she used to access many of the health related websites, recipe related websites, social networking websites such as facebook or instagram. She used to access the internet daily for 2-3 hours. When the website was given to her, she understood clearly that the website is about playing cards, boards games or toys but she was confused that these products can be bought online or not. She felt the site looks like ecommerce site. So, she recommended that if the website would contain ecommerce features, she would have taken the help from her son or someone else to buy some games. She said that website might look more beautiful and innovative if it becomes more colorful (Darejeh Singh, 2013). Walkthrough Scenarios Three walkthrough scenarios have been taken for the website considering the home page, contact page, and product pages. Walkthrough scenarios are as follows: HomePage: Loading the website. Read the mainpage i.e. homepage. Click on the navigation map. Navigate to other page. Return to home page. As person 1 has little knowledge about computers, so probably he might not make use of navigational menu. But person 2 and 3 used the navigation map to navigate to other webpage while person 1 just used the navigational menus on the top to navigate to the other webpage. Person 2 has also little knowledge of computers but she used to increase her pace as if she is adapted to the websites. Contact Page: Loading the website. Navigating to the contact page. Read the content on the contact page. Using the contact form and typing in the query. Exit or Return to the home page. This is a simple walkthrough that might take time from 40 seconds to 1minute. Person1 did not complete this walkthrough while person2 hardly took 25 seconds to complete the walkthrough and person 3 could complete it but took time of around 1 and half minutes. Product Page: Loading the website. Navigating to the product WebPages. Reading the details of a product one by one. Return to the home page. Exit This walkthrough scenario is bit different from the previous scenario and usually takes 1 minute to get complete. Person2 took around 40 seconds to get this walkthrough done while person 1 took around 3 minutes to get this done as he was not aware of going back to the homepage. Person 3 completed this walkthrough in around 2 minutes but she had to reload the entire session for returning to the homepage as she was also not aware of going back to the homepage (Axelsson, 2012). Conclusion In this report, principles of the design play a great role in determining the efficiency of the website. It is considered that if website follows the design principles, then the website has good interface else the bad interface leads to the unpleasant impression on the website. This analysis has been done by taking various feedbacks from various visitors so that designers might know where the improvement is required in the website. References Axelsson, A. (2012). Consistency in Web Design from a User Perspective. Bhaskar, N., Naidu, P., Babu, S. and Govindarajulu, P. (2011). General principles of user interface design and websites.Int J Softw Eng, pp.45--60. Darejeh, A. and Singh, D. (2013). A review on user interface design principles to increase software usability for users with less computer literacy.Journal of Computer Science, 9(11), p.1443. Wirtz, S., Jakobs, E. and Ziefle, M. (2009). Age-specific usability issues of software interfaces.