Toolkit Case Study: The Transmedia Conspiracy of Vladan Nikolic's 'Zenith' - indieWIRE

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Excerpt from article by Eric Kohn (January 18, 2011):

"With the Sundance Film Festival set to begin Thursday, filmmakers must decide the best approach for standing out in the crowd. A strategy worth considering is found in “Zenith,” a film that has had virtually no festival exposure but begins its theatrical release Jan. 19.

Directed by Serbian-American filmmaker Vladan Nikolic, science-fiction thriller “Zenith” alternately takes place in the year 2044 and the present day. Nikolic imagines a bleak future in which science’s attempt to genetically modify the human race and make everyone feel eternally happy instead turns people into cold, alienated creatures in search of physical stimuli — mainly in the form of drugs. Ed (Jason Robards III), a young dealer, discovers a series of 10 tapes recorded by his missing father, Jack (Peter Scanavino). Seen as a crazed conspiracy theorist in his own time, Jack’s ramblings about a vast scheme by unseen forces to unravel the foundations of society strike Ed as eerily prescient. Under constant scrutiny, he embarks on an ominous mission to unearth more of his father’s research...."

Today is a Day I'm Playing with Tweets: Wear Your Tweets on Your Ring Finger RT @mashable

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From Mashable:

"Ever composed a tweet so poignant, so incisive, that you’ve wanted to carve it into titanium, wear it on your ring finger and lovingly call it “My Precious”? Well, now you can, thanks to Tweet Rings.

Tweet Rings is a brand-new service from Amsterdam-based startup Alphabeth.com, whose motto is: “Some Tweets should last forever!” (To be fair, they all do, as they are housed in the Library of Congress, but nevermind.)....

Very interesting: John Thackara: The Service Ecology of a City: Observers Room

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Excerpt from the site:

"Milan has approved a new Territorial Government Plan (Piano di Governo del Territorio) in which public services, and the way they are planned, are at the centre of the whole project.

Since 2008, Id-lab has worked alongside the City Administration to change the way Milan thinks about urban development. Each of the city's 88 existing quarters, with its own characteristics and identity, is treated as a core element in the new approach. An ongoing conversation with citizens has elicited an understanding of which services are considered important for daily life — such as schools, kindergartens, libraries, health and social services...."