Five things on Friday #75

Things of note for the week ending June 6th, 2014.

1. Click bait fixer!
Filed under ‘my favourite new Twitter account of the week’, @SavedYouAClick is here to thwart clickbait headlines and save you time. Examples below –

Yes. RT @TheAtlantic: Can men really be feminists?

— Saved You A Click (@SavedYouAClick) June 6, 2014

Because you’re not enjoying it. A study found they’re linked. RT @NYMag: Why you’re constantly exercising and never losing weight: — Saved You A Click (@SavedYouAClick) June 6, 2014

CBS News got a copy of her upcoming book. RT @HuffingtonPost: Hillary Clinton will HATE this

— Saved You A Click (@SavedYouAClick) June 6, 2014

2. Hercules
I love THE ROCK. There, I said it. I don’t care. Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s latest film, Hercules, is out soon and it looks a suitably special-effects-laden cheese fest that I’ll be seeing at the cinema because that’s the kind of thing I like to do and I don’t have to justify it to anyone. GOT IT? GOOD.

Anyway, here’s the latest trailer –

ROAAAR!

3. The Listserve
The premise is simple: one person a day wins the chance to write to a growing list of subscribers. Add your name to the list and that person could be you. What would you write if you had the chance to speak to 25,000+ people in one go? The Listserve is beautiful, ugly, perfect, dull, exciting, boring, sad, moving, and sometimes utter drivel. It is human.

Sign up today. I read a good one recently called ‘The Girl in my Phone‘ – maybe start with that.

4. The Last Billboard
Speaking of interesting lotteries, The Last Billboard is a 36 foot long rooftop billboard located on the corner of Highland and Baum in Pittsburgh, PA, USA. Each month a different individual is invited to use the billboard and display their own message on the custom designed ad space.

It is quite wonderful.

5. Farewell, Fantastic Four (?)
You can park this one under RUMOURSVILLE however there have been a lot of murmurings of late about Marvel dialling down on the marketing of all things Fantastic Four just as Twentieth Century Fox starts to get going on its latest iteration/reboot of the franchise.

Fantastic Four imagery was apparently taken down at Marvel HQ and an artist claims that they were instructed by Marvel not to use “FF characters or supporting cast such as Dr Doom, Galactus, Surfer, Skrulls etc” when it came to sketches for the 75th anniversary. Another artist backed the claims up, submitting an instruction sheet from Marvel which read, “all Marvel characters related to Fantastic Four are now off limits and will be immediately rejected by Marvel.” It even listed the characters that couldn’t be used. Even Fantastic Four-related assets have been reportedly been taken down by Marvel, so that promotional partners and licensors can’t access them.

The reason? Money, of course. But Screenrant has a great rundown of the conspiracy so far.

If true, comic book fans lose out, as always.

Bonus items:

1. The best Nicolas-Cage-based prank ever.

2. Thinking about The Internet of Things.

3. A happy hello to all the new and lovely Five Things on Friday newsletter subscribers. If you’re on the list, you’ve probably found it via a fancy Twitter Card. Wanna know how you make your own? I got you covered.

See you next week!

Last updated by James WHATLEY at June 6, 2014.