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Screenshot from iichan.net imageboard

An imageboard (also chan, which itself is short for channel) is a specific type of an Internet forum that revolves around the posting of images. The first imageboards were created in Japan, and many English imageboards today are centered around Japanese culture. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... A typical Internet forum discussion, with common elements such as quotes and spoiler brackets A page from a forum showcasing emoticons and Internet slang An Internet forum is a web application for holding discussions and posting user generated content. ... A digital image is a representation of a two-dimensional image as a finite set of digital values, called picture elements or pixels. ... Japanese culture and language Japans isolation until the arrival of the Black Ships and the Meiji era produced a culture distinctively different from any other, and echoes of this uniqueness persist today. ...

Characteristics of imageboards

Imageboards are similar to a bulletin board, though they are focused on picture posts instead of text posts; they share many of the same structures, including separate forums for separate topics, as well as similar audiences. However, imageboards are much more transitory with content—-on some boards (especially highly-trafficked ones), the thread deletion time can be as little as 10 minutes. The most popular English-language imageboards tend to revolve around Japanese culture such as CG artwork of anime. In Japan, where imageboards are more common, topics vary widely, ranging from trains to current news. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... CG is a term most commonly known in the West for its use in Japanese webpages to denote digital artwork. ... Animé redirects here. ... For other uses, see Train (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see News (disambiguation). ...

Imageboards are also different from online galleries in that most of the works posted are not made by the poster, but instead are taken from other online sources: galleries, other imageboards, and edited pictures. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Most imageboards and 2channel-style discussion boards allow (and encourage) anonymous posting and use a system of tripcodes instead of registration. Anonymity is considered to be one of the advantages of an imageboard. Some boards have from time to time instituted a ban on names altogether (known as 'forced anonymous/anonymity'). “DQN” redirects here. ... Tripcodes are a method of authentication that does not require registration. ...

If a user wants to reply to a thread but not bump it, they can put the word sage (Japanese: 下げ) in the email field. "Ageing" can refer to either bumping a post or putting the word age (Japanese: 上げ) into the email field. It is considered polite to sage when replying to your own thread, but this is rarely done. On Western imageboards, "sageing" is often seen as a sign of disapproval, as threads with multiple sages are more likely to be deleted automatically as they fall down the board. Look up BUMP and bump in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

In Japan, the imageboard is a much larger cultural symbol, with one guess putting the total number of posts for Futaba's five /b/ boards (four of which are no longer linked to by the main site) at over 56,000,000 and rising.^[1]

Software

There are currently three imageboard software packages currently in widespread use: Futallaby,^[2] Kusaba,^[3] Wakaba.^[4]

Futallaby is a PHP script based on the Futaba script from Futaba Channel. Although Futallaby is still in use at 1chan,^[5] and the Futallaby source is still freely available, it is no longer in development, and the download page recommends using Wakaba instead, stating that "Wakaba can do everything Futallaby does and so much more."^{[citation needed]} Futallaby started as a translation of Futaba, later retooled to support XHTML and customizable CSS styles. It is mostly notable for being the first English imageboard script. This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Wakaba is written from the ground up in Perl, and a SQL backend to store thread information. Wakaba is very strictly modelled after the Futaba and Futallaby scripts. Wakaba borrows some HTML codes and translated text from Futallaby. It is designed to be more efficient and cleanly written than other scripts that are available, while preserving the same kind of functionality. Wakaba scripts are in use at iichan. Wakaba is one of most popular western imageboard software scripts, used most notably by fchan^[6], and Wakachan.^[7] For other uses, see Perl (disambiguation). ...

kusaba is modular, written from scratch with PHP for server side scripting, JavaScript for some client side scripting, and with ADOdb Lite for database abstraction to a database, MySQL. One of the purposes of kusaba project is to code a faster and more efficient software for image boards. One of its main features is the fact that the software spans over each board without multiple installations, meaning there is no recursive editing, therefore Kusaba supports multiple boards of varying types requiring only one installation for an entire website. It supports modules which can be created and distributed among installations, adding functionality to the already robust software. Kusaba scripts are in use at 7chan, and kusaba.^[8] For other uses, see PHP (disambiguation). ... JavaScript is a scripting language most often used for client-side web development. ... ADOdb Lite is a very small, fast ADOdb-compatible database abstraction library. ... MySQL (pronounced (IPA) , my S-Q-L[1]) is a multithreaded, multi-user SQL database management system (DBMS)[2] which has, according to MySQL AB, more than 10 million installations. ...

Imageboards

Futaba Channel

Main article: Futaba Channel

Futaba Channel (ふたば☆ちゃんねる), or "Futaba" for short, is a popular, anonymous BBS and imageboard system based in Japan. Its imageboards usually do not distinguish between pornographic and "clean" content, but there is a strict barrier between two-dimensional (drawn) and three-dimensional (CG and photographic) pictures that is heavily enforced and debated.^[9] This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article is about the scientific discipline of computer graphics. ...

4chan

Main article: 4chan

4chan is an English language imageboard based on the Japanese imageboard Futaba Channel. This imageboard is based primarily around the posting of pictures (generally related to anime, manga, and popular culture) and their discussion. The Guardian describes it as "at once brilliant, ridiculous and alarming."^[10] This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling. ...

The site and its userbase have received attention from the media for a number of reasons, including posts sporting terrorist threats against schools and sports stadiums,^[11] attacks against Hal Turner on his Internet shows,^[12] and distributed-denial-of-service attacks against eBaum's World^[13][14] and taking part in Project Chanology.^[15]

Many internet memes have originated there, including lolcats^[16][17][18] and rickrolling.

420chan

420chan.org is an imageboard where people discuss drugs, philosophy, pornography, politics, and other topics.^[19]

On July 26, 2007, KTTV Fox 11 News based in Los Angeles, California aired a report on "Anonymous", calling them a group of "hackers on steroids", "domestic terrorists", and collectively an "Internet hate machine". The report focused on several websites including 420chan.^[20] is the 207th day of the year (208th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... KTTV, channel 11, is an owned-and-operated television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in Los Angeles, California. ... Los Angeles and L.A. redirect here. ...

In December 2006 and January 2007, when individuals attacked Hal Turner's website through things such as denial of service attacks, Hal Turner redirected the traffic at one point to 420chan.org, causing its bandwidth to take a hit.^[21][12][22] Harold Hal Turner is an American, self-described white nationalist Internet radio talk show host from North Bergen, New Jersey. ...

On the morning of May 15th, the owner of 420chan was harassed when someone forged the owner's cell phone and made a fake 911 call.^[23]

Also on the morning of May 15th, police arrested a high school student who made a threat against his school on 420chan.^[19]

References

Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 293rd day of the year (294th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 9th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance to the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 20th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 9th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance to the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 19th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, Ontario, a district of Toronto. ... CanWest Global Communications Corp. ... is the 25th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance to the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance to the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 25th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Delaware News-Journal (also known as The News Journal) is a Wilmington, Delaware newspaper. ... is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 318th day of the year (319th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Daily Pennsylvanian is the independent daily student newspaper of the University of Pennsylvania. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance to the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 19th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance to the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Phoenix is an alternative weekly newspaper company based in Boston, Massachusetts that emphasizes arts and entertainment coverage, as well as alternative political viewpoints. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance to the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 41st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... KTTV, channel 11, is an owned-and-operated television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in Los Angeles, California. ... FOX redirects here. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 207th day of the year (208th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 223rd day of the year (224th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Jersey Journal is a newspaper published from Jersey City, New Jersey The paper has its offices at 30 Journal Square, Jersey City, NJ 07306 Current Managers Scott Ring Publisher Judith A. Locorriere Editor Denise Copeland Operations Director Paul Lanaris Advertising Director Tom Pritchard Advertising Sales Manager Mandy Otero Circulation... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 202nd day of the year (203rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• Oekaki

Example of a picture drawn in Shi-Painter PBBS redirects here. ...

External links

• WikiChan (thorough guide to all imageboards)
• Overchan (a directory of English-language imageboards)
• Overchan V.2 (an imageboard portal)
• The Society for the Study of Modern Image Board Culture