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4chan (四葉, Yotsuba^?, four leaves) is an English language imageboard, based on the Japanese imageboard Futaba Channel. On 4chan, many pictures (generally related to anime, manga and popular media) are posted and discussed. Image File history File links Information_icon. ... Image File history File links 4chan. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 772 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (923 × 717 pixel, file size: 155 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) This is a screenshot of a copyrighted web page, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by owner of the website. ... // Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is a technical, Web-related term used in two distinct meanings: In popular usage, it is a widespread synonym for Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) — many popular and technical texts will use the term URL when referring to URI; Strictly, the idea of a uniform syntax for... 3 major imageboards: Futaba Channel, 4chan, and iichan, along with the Overchan index. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... October 1 is the 274th day of the year (275th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 3 major imageboards: Futaba Channel, 4chan, and iichan, along with the Overchan index. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The main cast of the anime Cowboy Bebop (1998) (L to R: Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, Ed Tivrusky, Faye Valentine, and Ein the dog) For the oleo-resin, see Animé (oleo-resin). ... Manga )   (pl. ... Forum, originally a Latin word, currently refers in English to a place or a space for meeting or for trading. ...

Site description

4chan was founded as a project by "moot", a member of several anime forums. The site soon attracted anime fans from around the world and has grown greatly since its creation^[1], eventually surpassing Futaba Channel in traffic.^[2] The main cast of the anime Cowboy Bebop (1998) (L to R: Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, Ed Tivrusky, Faye Valentine, and Ein the dog) For the oleo-resin, see Animé (oleo-resin). ...

The site is divided into discussion boards, image and upload boards, and drawing boards. Currently, there are 35 different image boards, with topics ranging from anime, weapons, and photography to real and animated pornography. Eight of these were "trial boards" until January 9, 2007, when all but one, Sports, were upgraded to permanent boards, with Sports being discarded.^[3] On February 15, 2007 the site added two new trial boards, Paranormal, and Traditional Games.^[4] The site's other boards include an oekaki board, an Artwork/Critique board, an upload board that is used for the uploading and discussion of Flash movies, and 19 text-based discussion boards. The discussion boards were once hosted on a separate site called "world4ch" (pronounced world four channel) until they were integrated into 4chan using the subdomain dis.4chan.org. The discussion boards were initially created by 4chan's administrators and hosted on world4ch as an homage to the defunct world2ch, which itself was a site created during as an earlier attempt to create an English version of 2channel, a popular anonymous Japanese BBS. January 9 is the 9th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the CE era. ... February 15 is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the CE era. ... Paranormal is an umbrella term used to describe a wide variety of reported anomalous phenomena. ... Tug of war is an easily organized, impromptu game that requires little equipment. ... For Oekaki number puzzles, see Nonograms. ... A critic (derived from the ancient Greek word krites meaning a judge) is a person who offers a value judgement or an interpretation. ... // == Macromedia Flash == ==]] Using Macromedia Flash 8 (bundled in Studio 8) in Windows XP. Maintainer: Adobe Systems (formerly Macromedia) Latest release: 8 / September 30th, 2005 OS: Windows (no native Windows XP Professional x64 Edition support), Mac OS X, Linux (i386 only, via wine [1]) Use: Multimedia Content Creator License: Proprietary Website... 2channel , 2ch for short) is a Japanese Internet forum, thought to be the largest in the world. ...

Because 4chan is provided to its users free of charge and consumes such a large amount of bandwidth, the site's financing often becomes an issue. To avoid long periods of downtime caused by a severe lack of funds, such as the four "deaths" that plagued the site during its first year of existence, the 4chan staff regularly requests donations.^[3] However, there have been numerous problems relating to the receipt of funds through several different online payment services. ^[3] These services include: PayPal, YowCow, and the Authorize.net payment gateway. Historically, a large contributing factor to these problems had been the presence of pornographic imageboards on 4chan, since such content violated many service providers' Terms and Conditions agreements.^[3] eBay North First Street satellite office campus (home to PayPal) PayPal is an e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. ... Authorize. ... A Payment Gateway is an e-commerce ASP service that authorizes payments for e-businesses, online retailers, bricks and clicks or traditional brick and mortar. ...

Controversy

Blocks in the UK

Access to /b/ was blocked to customers of NTL, BT Broadband and UK Online in early June of 2006.^[5] For some users, access to /r/, /s/ and /t/ was also affected. While moderators act to remove instances of posted illegal content as soon as possible, as well as ban the individuals who submit it, the prevalence of such content has led systems like Cleanfeed to blacklist the site. The 4chan TOS and FAQ also state that illegal content (e.g. child pornography, posting of personal information, invasions of other internet communities, etc.) will not be tolerated, and will be punished appropriately.^[6][7] Moderators have also recently taken stronger measures against such content. For example, on 2006-07-12, a reporting system was implemented on all of 4chan's various image, upload, and oekaki boards, allowing any user to 'report' a post that contains illegal material, or material that violates 4chan's terms of use; and on August 23, 2006, the moderators of /b/ began enforcing previously neglected rules regarding sexually suggestive pictures of under-age teenagers, invasions of other websites, and posting of personal information. Infractions would now result in bans on the original poster and on anyone posting in the thread, whether they supported the content or not. Many users of /b/ responded by attacking /b/ with automatic floods and spam. Shortly afterwards there was a hard disk failure on one of 4chan's servers, causing most of the boards to go down^{[citation needed]}. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Virgin Media, Telewest and Virgin. ... BT Group plc (also known as British Telecommunications plc) which trades as BT (and previously as British Telecom) is the privatised UK state telecommunications operator. ... UK Online is a consumer ISP that operate within the UK. Initially launching in November 2004 with a 1mb service, they did not appear to be offering anything out of the ordinary. ... Cleanfeed is a content blocking system implemented in the UK by BT, claimed to be targeted only at illegal content identified by the Internet Watch Foundation, and which all UK ISPs will be obliged to implement a version of by the end of 2007. ... TOS may refer to: Terms of Service TOSLINK a standardized optical fibre connection system. ... FAQ is an abbreviation for Frequently Asked Question(s). The term refers to listed questions and answers, all supposed to be frequently asked in some context, and pertaining to a particular topic. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... July 12 is the 193rd day (194th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 172 days remaining. ... August 23 is the 235th day of the year (236th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...

It is worth noting, however, that the "IWF-led block" theory has several discrepancies. Firstly, the ISPs still to have /b/ blocked are BT Internet and NTL, with UKOnline appearing to have removed the block after a few weeks. Secondly, the Internet Watch Foundation themselves confirmed that "no part of the URL for the site 4chan.org is included in our live database."^[8] Investigations by other 4chan users have revealed that BT's support teams claim to have no knowledge of a block on any part of the URL 4chan.org.^[9] Finally, the BT 'block' on /b/ has evolved continuously over time, with new workarounds redirected to the ban page or a nondescript 404 within mere hours of being discovered.^[10] These blocks also have an erratic nature, as blocks have been said to have been suddenly lifted, but reinstated days later, only to be lifted again within an equally short time period.^[5] However, some of the perceived inconsistencies in this theory are directly contradicted by claims made by 4chan's staff and other sources. For example, on August 5, 2006, while being filmed during a 4chan panel at Otakon in which he was fielding questions from the audience, moot, the owner of 4chan, said that the blockings of /b/ and some of the other boards have indeed been a result of the Cleanfeed system. /b/'s front page has also been removed from Google search results due to a notice sent by the IWF to Google.^[11][12] August 5 is the 217th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (218th in leap years), with 148 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Otakon is a fan convention focusing on the art of anime and manga, East Asian culture, and its fandom. ... Cleanfeed is a content blocking system implemented in the UK by BT, claimed to be targeted only at illegal content identified by the Internet Watch Foundation, and which all UK ISPs will be obliged to implement a version of by the end of 2007. ...

NFL bomb threat hoax

The original threat posted on September 18, 2006 by Brahm.

On October 18, 2006 the Department of Homeland Security warned NFL officials in Miami, New York City, Atlanta, Seattle, Houston, Oakland, and Cleveland about a possible threat, which involved the simultaneous use of dirty bombs at stadiums in those cities.^[13] The threat claimed that the attack would be carried out on October 22, the final day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.^[14] Both the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security expressed doubt concerning the credibility of the threats. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (800x621, 77 KB) Summary Screenshot of original threat posted by Jake Brahm on the 4chan website. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (800x621, 77 KB) Summary Screenshot of original threat posted by Jake Brahm on the 4chan website. ... September 18 is the 261st day of the year (262nd in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... October 18 is the 291st day of the year (292nd in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is a Cabinet department of the federal government of the United States that is concerned with protecting the American homeland and the safety of American citizens. ... The National Football League (NFL) is the largest and most prestigious professional American football league, consisting of thirty-two teams from American cities and regions. ... Nickname: Location in Miami-Dade County and the state of Florida. ... Nickname: Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island Settled 1625 Government  - Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area  - City  468. ... Hotlanta redirects here. ... Nickname: Location of Seattle in King County and Washington Coordinates: Country United States State Washington County King County Incorporated December 2 1869 Government  - Type Mayor-council  - Mayor Greg Nickels (NP) Area  - City  142. ... Nickname: Location in the state of Texas Coordinates: Country United States State Texas Counties Harris County Fort Bend County Montgomery County Incorporated June 5, 1837 Government  - Mayor Bill White Area  - City  601. ... Oakland, founded in 1852, is the eighth-largest city in California[1] and the county seat of Alameda County. ... This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ... The term dirty bomb is primarily used to refer to a radiological dispersal device (RDD), a radiological weapon which combines radioactive material with conventional explosives. ... October 22 is the 295th day of the year (296th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 70 days remaining. ... Islam (Arabic:  ) is a monotheistic religion based upon the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. ... The fourth pillar of Islam, which is fasting, is practiced during the month of Ramadan. ... The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the primary investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), serving as both a federal criminal investigative body and a domestic intelligence agency. ... The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), commonly known as Homeland Security, is a Cabinet department of the Federal Government of the United States with the responsibility of protecting the territory of the United States from terrorist attacks and responding to natural disasters. ...

On October 20, 2006, Jake Brahm turned himself in to federal authorities. He was charged with making a terrorist threat and was taken into custody by police. If convicted, he could face up to 5 years in prison, and a fine of up to $250,000.^[15] The threats came to light in the national media after they were repeatedly reposted on 4chan's /b/ more than 40 times by Brahm between September 18, 2006 and October 19, 2006.^[16] October 20 is the 293rd day of the year (294th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Jake Joseph Brahm (born 1986) is an American grocery store clerk, and blogger. ... This article is becoming very long. ... September 18 is the 261st day of the year (262nd in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... October 19 is the 292nd day of the year (293rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...

This threat was actually originally posted on a website called The Friend Society and was even linked to by CNN, causing its servers to crash and the website to go down due to all the traffic. It was reposted on 4chan for reasons unknown and they quickly snatched up notoriety for it by linking numerous people there instead. ^[17]

Hal Turner

In December of 2006 and January of 2007, individuals who identified themselves as /b/tards "raided" Hal Turner, taking his site offline and costing thousands of dollars of bandwidth bills according to Turner himself. ^[18][19] For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the CE era. ... Harold Turner is an Internet radio talk show host from North Bergen, New Jersey, USA sometimes labeled a white supremacist [1] and supporter of violence against minorities and government officials. ...

Anonymity

4chan is an anonymous BBS that does not require the user to supply any personal information, such as a name or email address, before being able to post messages. Unlike most web forums, 4chan does not have any kind of registration system (for the boards within 4chan that use nicknames). Any person can use any nickname to his or her liking, making it possible to post under the name of someone else by simply entering their name into the posting form, however most users post anonymously and without a username. In place of registration, 4chan has provided tripcodes as an optional form of authenticating a poster's identity.^[7] As the concept of anonymous posting is a defining feature of Futaba-like imageboards, the use of tripcodes generates controversy amongst 4chan users. Many posters who use them risk being singled out and ridiculed, often with the use of derogatory terms such as "tripfag". As anonymous posting causes posts to be attributed to "Anonymous", a running gag on 4chan is the idea that Anonymous is in fact a single person, or the true name of the posters. Tripcodes are a method of authentication that does not require registration. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The running gag is a popular hallmark of comic and serious forms of entertainment. ...

Moderators will generally post without a name even when performing bannings or posting information. In this case, the post is attributed to "Anonymous ## Mod" (though even mods are sometimes known to simply post as "Anonymous"). The primary exception is when 4chan's founder "moot" posts information relating to changes in the site, though it is also possible for "moot" to post anonymously.

Memes

4chan has given birth to a number of Internet memes, a select few of which have become popular enough to spread outside of 4chan and become widely recognized Internet phenomena. For example, some memes have affected the work of several webcomic artists. Notable examples of webcomic artists that have been influenced by such memes include Josh Lesnick of the webcomic Girly,^[20] Ghastly of Ghastly's Ghastly Comic,^[21][22] and Dave Cheung of Chugworth Academy.^[23] These cases of influence also serve to demonstrate 4chan's broader impact on the online community. A detailed list of these abundant catchphrases, memes and wordfilters can be found at the CHANCHAN wiki, or through WIKICHAN wiki. In 1976, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins coined the term meme to describe cultural information that is passed from one mind to another, such as songs, catch phrases, or clothes fashions. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Girly is a webcomic created by Josh Lesnick which generally centers around the romantic relationship between two girls named Otra and Winter, as well as other citizens of the city of Cute-Town. ... Ghastlys Ghastly Comic is a webcomic by Chris Cracknell, A.K.A. Ghastly, dealing with anime fetish and paraphilias. ... Chugworth Academy is a webcomic that was started by Dave Cheung on June 19, 2000. ... An Internet phenomenon occurs when something becomes extremely popular, often quite suddenly, through the word-of-mouth and self-publishing made feasible by the Internet. ... Wordfilters are scripts that change one word or phrase into another. ...

Many of these memes have taken the form of image macros; a user posts a picture, and others add text or edit the picture in other ways.^{[citation needed]}. Due to an overwhelming proliferation of image macros inside of 4chan's imageboards, they were banned from use on 4chan in early 2005 - though this does not apply to the Random board, /b/.^[6] An image macro stating that there is a Rofl on my waffle An image macro, also known as a thread bomb, is a picture with text superimposed, typically through the use of graphics software such as Photoshop or Microsoft Paint. ...

Another popular form of meme is "copypasta" (a variation on copy and paste, originally found on 2channel as "kopipe")^{[citation needed]}. This meme consists of the text of a previous post, usually a rant or boastful claim, continually reposted by users other than the original author. Variations on this theme involve edits to the original text to make it conform to any of a number of textual memes. In computing, cut and paste is a user-interface paradigm for a means of moving text (typically plain text) or other data from a source to a destination. ... 2channel , 2ch for short) is a Japanese Internet forum, thought to be the largest in the world. ...

See also

• Imageboard
• Futaba Channel
• 2channel
• Image macro
• List of Internet phenomena
• Internet meme
• Yotsuba, 4chan's unofficial mascot.

3 major imageboards: Futaba Channel, 4chan, and iichan, along with the Overchan index. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... 2channel , 2ch for short) is a Japanese Internet forum, thought to be the largest in the world. ... An image macro stating that there is a Rofl on my waffle An image macro, also known as a thread bomb, is a picture with text superimposed, typically through the use of graphics software such as Photoshop or Microsoft Paint. ... An Internet phenomenon occurs when something becomes extremely popular, often quite suddenly, through the word-of-mouth and self-publishing made feasible by the Internet. ... In 1976, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins coined the term meme to describe cultural information that is passed from one mind to another, such as songs, catch phrases, or clothes fashions. ... Yotsuba&! ) is an ongoing comedy manga series by Kiyohiko Azuma, the creator of Azumanga Daioh. ...

References

2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the CE era. ... February 28 is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the CE era. ... May 2 is the 122nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (123rd in leap years). ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the CE era. ... January 10 is the 10th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the CE era. ... February 16 is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 18 is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 18 is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 18 is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 18 is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 18 is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... October 14 is the 287th day of the year (288th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... October 13 is the 286th day of the year (287th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... October 20 is the 293rd day of the year (294th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... October 20 is the 293rd day of the year (294th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... October 20 is the 293rd day of the year (294th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... October 20 is the 293rd day of the year (294th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the CE era. ... February 28 is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 18 is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 23 is the 235th day of the year (236th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 18 is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 18 is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• 4chan
• A LURK MORE wiki page on 4chan and its memes
• Wikichan - A wiki covering 4chan and similar "-chan" boards with information about famous posters, memes and drama.