1246:
356:, where images are posted along a certain theme – examples include "New Software Products", or "The World If It Was Run By Kittens". The entries are posted as normal threads on the message board, but are marked with a "C" icon to differentiate from normal posts. Entries are collected in a central repository that can be browsed any time, with the highest voted images displayed first. Three "special mentions" are chosen by the site mods, and these are posted along with the theme of the new challenge in the Friday newsletter.
27:
372:
questions after the close of the show. A new topic is begun every
Thursday (at which point it becomes impossible to reply to the previous QOTW) and, as with the other areas of the site, Question of the Week attracts regulars known for their characteristic posts. Each post is voted for in the same way as the image challenge.
362:
Image
Challenge suggestions appear to be generally listed in order of posting, with the newest responses first. However, whilst a question is open, other users can click "I like this!" which gives a score of one point to that answer. Once a question is closed answers are listed by the number of users
392:
Posting something which is deemed to be clichéd is not tolerated. These cliché links are often referred to as "glasscock", named after the famous image of a female golfer kissing a glass trophy, which appeared to be a phallic shape due to the camera angle. The best images of the day are displayed on
379:
QOTW Off Topic was invented for those users of QOTW who found they had things in common and liked to talk to each other using the reply system. Over several weeks it became clear that more and more people were preferring to chat to each other through the replies instead of the /talk board which was
371:
Recognizing that "not everyone wants to muck around with
Photoshop", the site asks a question each week hoping to provoke amusing anecdotes. It was originally used as material for the radio show and the newsletter, but realising the popularity of the content, the site owners decided to continue the
388:
The links board is another section of the site that was created in response to an equivalent page on the 4rthur website. This board is a place for b3ta members to share interesting links they have found, in preference to the original practise of posting them on the main board. The links board has
424:
in particular has become known amongst members as a bash hotspot, and has developed from a few B3tards getting together for a drink to a genuine spectacle. On 31 May 2008, the biggest "bash" so far took place in Earls Court, London, although this was mainly a messageboard event.
131:
335:
are the lifeblood of B3ta messageboard. Meme is a name given to a clichéd image that is frequently used in images as a cheap gag. Although many older board members may resent the lack of originality shown by using these clichés, some, such as
375:
The first question was "Worst Record Ever?" posed by Rob Manuel in 2003; examples of questions since include "Why should you be fired from your job?", "Mad Stuff You've Done To Get
Someone To Sleep With You" and "Expensive mistakes".
270:
allows members to post digital images and short animations they have created, the ones considered the best appearing on the front page, along with various announcements. Previously there was a B3ta radio show on the London station
326:" – a new thread should generally not be started unless it contains an image, made by that user and not previously posted to /board. Spamming (promoting a website purely for financial gain) is not tolerated.
559:
for creating something on the theme "What would happen if you said Yes to everything?". Virgin later cancelled the challenge early because they did not like some of the images being created, including
329:
Newly registered users cannot post on the board until the
Tuesday after they register, known as "Newbie Tuesday". This gives an opportunity to discover site etiquette before getting involved.
1219:
445:, a co-owner of the site, and David Stevenson. There were often special guests – sometimes contributors to the site, sometimes semi-famous people, such as the drummer from
363:
who have clicked the "I like this!" on that answer; however, as many answers are submitted each week, most are never clicked on and so are sorted by the time they were posted.
393:
the front page of the site, reaching many more people. The Board members vote by clicking a button labelled "I like this!", then the site moderators pick their favourites.
1158:
266:
featuring the latest work of the B3ta community and other interesting, humorous or perverse things found on the Web. The newsletter has about 100,000 readers. A
401:
The talk board is identical to the main message board except for the fact that it is not possible to post images. It was created in response to the arrival of
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Like the many message boards, the b3ta talk board has developed a clique-like atmosphere, with many users having met one another at so called "B3ta bashes".
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1109:
514:. Similarly to the main B3ta site, Sickipedia site functionality offered an electronic voting system to subject user submissions to a form of
1211:
359:
The challenge topics are alternately chosen by board members, and the "Challenge
Dictator" (basically a site moderator) on a two-week cycle.
540:, along with mobile apps. In February 2016, the Sickipedia website went offline due to a drive failure, resulting in the apps also failing.
525:, was published on 20 October 2006 and was made available from both online and real-world bookshops. It claims to offer an "antidote" to
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itself become a place for particular groups of b3tans ( or "b3tards") to congregate, and for links specific memes to proliferate.
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was published in 2006, containing jokes compiled from B3ta contributors and a spin-off wiki humour website, Sickipedia.
441:, also available via streaming broadcast from the Resonance FM website) between 4pm and 5pm. The show was presented by
611:
caused outrage on
Twitter. In February 2009, the site was criticized as "monstrous" for its jokes about the death of
110:
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The
Sickipedia site was sold in 2012. The new owners released an ebook and a print-on-demand book in 2014 entitled
91:
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707:
63:
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647:
615:, and one of the site's users reported "very real threats of legal action". In October 2012, a 19-year-old from
405:, a (now defunct) talk based offshoot of b3ta which drew a couple of hundred members away, and, more recently,
893:
70:
417:. Also, the site owners wanted a place where people could banter without worrying about creating images.
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The Best Of
Sickipedia: A Collection Of The Sickest, Most Offensive and Politically Incorrect Jokes
864:"B3TA : NEWSLETTER : "THIS SUBJECT LINE HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CONTENT""
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37:
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humour for the book. The site encouraged submission of jokes intended to be bad taste or
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From August 2003 until July 2004, B3ta had its own radio show, which was broadcast from
479:
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593:
353:
1245:
498:, and entries were organised under a categorisation system of topics which included
486:" gathered from B3ta contributors. A public wiki site named "Sickipedia" (a pun on "
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were created by B3ta members (also called "b3tans or "B3tards"). These include the
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threatened the site and its members with legal action over an image challenge.
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1212:"Matthew Woods 'joking' about April Jones on Facebook is sick, not criminal"
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asked B3ta to run an image competition in which board members could win
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are posted by the members. The B3ta message board has a strong code of "
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On 4 June 2007, a b3ta member posted an "alternative logo" for the
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1133:"B3ta served DMCA notice for Photoshop Prince challenge"
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and B3ta launched a venture to publish a collection of "
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then posted this logo on its website and ran it on its
648:"Fire at The Planet takes down thousands of websites"
607:
on the evening of his cardiac arrest on the pitch at
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in London, which referenced an image from the former
245:, described as a "puerile digital arts community" by
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223:
217:
214:
174:
1077:"UPDATED: B3ta hacks the BBC with Olympic goatse"
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589:channel as part of a viewer-submitted contest.
1038:. Sickipedia. 10 February 2016. Archived from
366:
1122:. 5 June 2007. Retrieved on 23 February 2009.
1159:"Internet rages over Sickipedia Muamba joke"
814:. Dictionary.mictoboy.co.uk. Archived from
736:. Dictionary.mictoboy.co.uk. Archived from
1054:"Virgin pulls competition on b3ta website"
380:already set up, so Off Topic was created.
1295:2001 establishments in the United Kingdom
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111:Learn how and when to remove this message
1209:
1305:Internet properties established in 2001
1074:
318:On the main board, images and animated
1287:
1222:from the original on 20 September 2016
922:
792:from the original on 15 November 2012
702:
700:
672:
592:In November 2007, lawyers acting for
143:Digital Arts Community, Message board
1139:from the original on 27 January 2013
949:"The Bumper B3ta Book of Sick Jokes"
708:"2003 BBC interview with Rob Manuel"
20:
1267:Includes archived B3ta radio shows.
1087:from the original on 5 October 2014
752:
685:from the original on 18 August 2006
47:Please improve this b3ta by adding
13:
1135:. The Register. 14 November 2007.
986:from the original on 31 March 2018
925:The bumper b3ta book of sick jokes
874:from the original on 31 March 2018
766:from the original on 10 March 2009
697:
523:The Bumper B3ta Book of Sick Jokes
472:The Bumper B3ta Book of Sick Jokes
347:
303:The Bumper B3ta Book of Sick Jokes
14:
1316:
1237:
1210:Kampfner, John (9 October 2012).
1187:. 7 February 2009. Archived from
844:from the original on 18 June 2009
599:A Sickipedia joke about stricken
308:
298:, and the quizzes by Rob Manuel.
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923:Manuel, compiled by Rob (2006).
654:from the original on 27 May 2013
478:In 2006, independent publishers
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129:
25:
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1165:. 17 March 2012. Archived from
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1075:Johnson, Bobbie (8 June 2007).
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951:. HarperCollins. Archived from
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714:from the original on 2 May 2009
529:. The book is now published by
294:, the surrealist animations by
1270:Homepages of the site owners,
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673:Green, Dave (21 August 2003).
666:
640:
543:
490:") was established to collect
457:and "a chap who once played a
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1:
974:Scaryduck (10 January 2013).
788:. B3ta.com. 6 December 2009.
650:. The Register. 1 June 2008.
634:
428:
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49:secondary or tertiary sources
413:(both also defunct now) and
251:. It was founded in 2001 by
7:
567:, dressed in baby clothes.
367:Question of the Week (QOTW)
10:
1321:
1181:"Sledge death jokes anger"
1163:JOE.ie -- It's man's stuff
710:. Bbc.co.uk. August 2003.
192:Optional, Required to post
734:"B3tan - B3ta Dictionary"
262:B3ta's main feature is a
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1112:13 February 2009 at the
1036:"We have a sick problem"
1006:"Sickipedia for Android"
1300:British comedy websites
812:"CaC - B3ta Dictionary"
36:relies excessively on
1064:on 30 September 2007.
976:"b3ta.com board post"
553:PlayStation Portables
527:political correctness
344:, crop up regularly.
904:on 10 September 2012
572:2012 Summer Olympics
286:cartoons created by
255:, Denise Wilton and
1185:Sheffield Telegraph
1042:on 3 February 2016.
521:The book, entitled
125:
1105:Herrmann, Steve. "
1081:Guardian Unlimited
955:on 23 October 2013
927:. London: Friday.
740:on 29 October 2013
480:The Friday Project
280:Internet phenomena
123:
1169:on 20 March 2012.
934:978-1-905548-28-6
818:on 2 October 2013
613:Francesca Anobile
354:Photoshop contest
352:This is a weekly
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348:Image Challenge
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238:) is a popular
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163:Created by
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1224:. Retrieved
1216:The Guardian
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1193:. Retrieved
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980:www.b3ta.com
979:
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957:. Retrieved
953:the original
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906:. Retrieved
902:the original
897:
894:"Categories"
888:
876:. Retrieved
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846:. Retrieved
840:. B3ta.com.
838:"talk board"
832:
820:. Retrieved
816:the original
806:
794:. Retrieved
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768:. Retrieved
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742:. Retrieved
738:the original
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716:. Retrieved
687:. Retrieved
679:The Guardian
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656:. Retrieved
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189:Registration
139:Type of site
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1226:11 December
822:11 November
796:11 November
744:11 November
675:"Web watch"
625:April Jones
603:midfielder
587:BBC News 24
544:Controversy
516:peer review
504:celebrities
384:Links board
288:Joel Veitch
1289:Categories
1272:Rob Manuel
1265:B3ta Radio
1218:. London.
1083:. London.
1058:vnunet.com
898:Sickipedia
681:. London.
635:References
621:Lancashire
576:shock site
565:Rob Manuel
484:sick jokes
464:Doctor Who
451:Miles Hunt
443:Rob Manuel
429:B3ta Radio
397:Talk board
324:netiquette
314:Main board
264:newsletter
253:Rob Manuel
181:Commercial
152:Rob Manuel
71:newspapers
38:references
34:This b3ta
488:Knowledge
101:July 2007
1220:Archived
1137:Archived
1110:Archived
1091:26 April
1085:Archived
990:30 March
984:Archived
878:30 March
872:Archived
868:b3ta.com
842:Archived
790:Archived
770:22 March
764:Archived
762:. B3TA.
712:Archived
683:Archived
652:Archived
557:Xbox 360
415:c4mbodia
342:The Fear
197:Launched
175:b3ta.com
166:Communal
1020:6 March
959:6 March
908:6 March
786:"links"
617:Chorley
555:and an
411:Dynafoo
338:The Quo
243:website
240:British
85:scholar
1278:&
931:
848:2 July
760:"qotw"
718:2 July
689:4 July
594:Prince
581:. The
579:goatse
549:Virgin
500:racism
439:London
422:Oxford
403:4rthur
87:
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60:"B3ta"
58:
1195:7 May
1143:7 May
658:7 May
496:taboo
459:Dalek
407:cliqr
148:Owner
92:JSTOR
78:books
1228:2016
1197:2013
1145:2013
1093:2010
1022:2012
992:2018
961:2012
929:ISBN
910:2012
880:2018
850:2009
824:2012
798:2012
772:2009
746:2012
720:2009
691:2006
660:2013
627:and
510:and
447:Blur
320:GIFs
290:and
236:b3ta
207:B3ta
200:2001
124:b3ta
64:news
1119:BBC
1116:."
583:BBC
467:".
461:in
453:of
340:or
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171:URL
40:to
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