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With iOS 6 likely to be announced in a few weeks, I thought I’d explain my wish list from an education/enterprise perspective. Apple has quietly beefed up what mobile device management systems can do with each version of iOS and I don’t expect that to change with the next iteration.

1. The ability to disable automatic Software Update (or require passcode to download)
While I love the ability to do OTA iOS updates, I also want to control when it happens. I don’t want a student or faculty to be able to install an update that I have not tested with our mission critical applications. More and more it seems developers are having a hard time keeping up with iOS updates, despite Apple making dev. builds available months ahead of time. This isn’t Apple’s fault, but the enterprise side should have management concerns consumers don’t have to worry about. This is one of them.

2. Install apps wirelessly with volume purchase program codes with no interaction from end user
While a lot of MDM providers have the ability to push apps to devices, they still require the end user to enter an iTunes password. I want to be able to silently install (and update) applications without an end user having to do anything. This is a long shot, as a big part of iOS’ stability and security relies on the fact that end users must authenticate before accepting software installs or updates – but the ability to bypass this with an admin code would be a godsend from an enterprise/education perspective. I’m not holding my breath though.

3. Google Apps style iCloud account creation
While I love iCloud for personal use, it is tough use to use in an education/enterprise setup. The users either have to create their own account (most won’t do it) or I have to do it and then I will be responsible for keeping up with their information. Google Apps gives me all the benefits of a Google account while also being able to have control (set permissions, reset passwords, etc). I would love to be able to do this for iCloud.

4. Require pass code to enter Settings.app (or a toggle switch to turn off each setting individually)
This has become an issue with students using school owned iPads in the lab I manage. Some of the students have found their way into the universal access section and changed some of those settings. I’d prefer to be able to lock them out of Settings.app in general for lab use iOS devices.

Four items, two of which I think are pretty reasonable, two of which I know are shots in the dark.

I’m an IT professional. I spend a lot of time putting out fires and “saving the day” when users forget their password, unplug their printer, or have a corrupted font that’s preventing InDesign from opening. It’s a fun and rewarding gig – but just like any job there’s a downside. Sometimes an IT emergency sends a customer off the deep end, and they don’t care how you fix something – they just need. it. fixed. now.

Understandable.

What isn’t understandable is how this desire to have something sorted out quickly translates into the need to abuse those trying to help them. It has always astonished me that even though someone spends 8 hours a day using a tool they never take the time to learning anything about it. The tinest bit of education on the part of the end user could be the difference between a quick phone call to IT for a solution, or being blacklisted and annexed to the bottom of the callback list.

Let’s take computers out of this, and replace them with something else and see if you can better understand where I’m coming from.

Customer: My car isn’t working and I need you to fix it immediately, this is an emergency

Mechanic: Alright sir what seems to be the problem?

Customer: I don’t know, I tried to use my car on friday and it didn’t work, now it’s monday and I need to get to work and I can’t and this needs to be fixed right now.

Mechanic: Can you start the car? Can you even get into your car? Does it make any sounds when you try to start it? Are all 4 tires there?

Customer: I don’t know, I don’t know what any of that stuff means, I tried to get to work and it wouldn’t let me and you need to fix it now because you changed my oil 6 months ago.

Mechanic: Alright well what kind of car are you driving?

Customer: I don’t know, a green one, why does that matter?

Mechanic: Please take a look at the back of your car and see if there are any letters or numbers that would indicate a vehicle model or manufacturer

Customer: Ok, my car is a SV2 87K.

Mechanic: No sir that’s your license plate. My records indicate that you drive a Nissan Altima, can you confirm that the key you’re using to try and get into this car says Nissan on it?

Customer: My key says Lexus but I don’t see how that makes a difference, I’ve been using this key on this car for years and it’s always worked, what did you do to my car?

Please take a moment to breathe when working with your support professional. We really do want to help you.

Mobile users: Please click here to watch the video, as YouTube has disabled mobile sharing.

Spent the week putting together a quick short to promote my appearance in the Kansas City Karaoke Championships this weekend. Watch the video, then RSVP to the Facebook event.

The project was shot on a new iPad and edited in Final Cut X.

As a follow up to Friday’s post, I thought I’d offer some tips on how to protect your Mac from infections. While I still maintain that the threat posed by Flashback is overblown, it never hurts to protect yourself in the event of a future outbreak which could actually be dangerous.

The recent spread of the Flashback trojan to an alleged 600,000 OS X systems has brought a lot of attention to potential viruses and trojans hitting the Mac platform. A lot of what you’ll read is overblown fear mongering hype, and practically all Mac malware has come through third party utilities and applications. What that means for the average user is that it’s very easy to completely prevent infections and attacks from occurring in the first place, especially when combined with some general security tips.

Here are eight simple ways to secure a Mac to help prevent viruses, trojans, and malware from effecting you:

1) Disable Java
Flashback and other malware has installed through Java security breaches. Apple has already released several updates to patch the Java security holes that allowed Flashback to spread (you should install those OS X 10.7, OS X 10.6), but you can also go a step further and completely disable Java on the Mac. Frankly, the average person doesn’t need Java installed on their Mac let alone active in their web browser, disable it and you don’t have to worry about security holes in older versions of the software impacting your Mac. Keep in mind some websites use Java for their security protocols, so if you run into errors after doing this, just turn it back on and then off again once you’ve done your taxes or logged time in Peoplesoft (just two examples).

1a) Disable Java in Safari
• Open Safari and pull down the Safari menu, selecting “Preferences”
• Click on the “Security” tab and uncheck the box next to “Enable Java”

1b) Disable Java System-Wide in Mac OS X
• Open the Applications folder and then open the Utilities folder
• Launch the “Java Preferences” application
• Uncheck the box next to “Enable applet plug-in and Web Start applications”
• Uncheck all the boxes next to “Java SE #” in the list below

2) Update Apps and OS X Software Regularly
Apple regularly issues Security Updates and many third party apps do as well, therefore regularly updating both your OS X System Software and OS X apps are one of the single best preventative measures you can take to keep a Mac secure.

• Open Software Update from the  Apple menu and install updates when available
• Open the App Store and download available updates
• For third party Applications not purchased through the App Store, there’s generally an update prompt the first time you launch a program or you can check for updates under the “Help” menu. In most of these applications, you can enable the application to self check for updates at startup.

3) Disable or Remove Adobe Acrobat Reader
Adobe Acrobat Reader has had multiple security breaches recently, therefore you’ll be safer without it in your web browser. There’s little reason to have Reader installed on a Mac anyway, OS X includes Preview for viewing PDF’s. Uninstall Adobe Acrobat Reader by running the bundled uninstaller app, or locate the following file and remove it to uninstall the Acrobat browser plugin:

/Library/Internet Plug-ins/AdobePDFViewer.plugin

4) Install Anti-Virus Software for Mac OS X
Using anti-virus software on the Mac is likely overkill, but it’s worth mentioning. Though you probably won’t ever need it, I suggest using Sophos – it’s a free and effective way to fight viruses that may end up on the Mac. If you’re the cautious type and you’d rather be safe than sorry there isn’t much harm to using it as a preventative measure.Keep in mind some users report their Macs run a little slower with A/V software installed – so it’s up to you if you want to make that tradeoff.

Download Sophos for Mac here.

5) Disable Adobe Flash / Use a Flash Block Plugin
Flash has been used as an attack vector in the past, and Macs stopped shipping with Flash installed for a reason; basically it’s a crash-prone battery hog that has occasional security breaches. Many sites use Flash for video and games though, so instead of uninstalling Flash completely I’ll recommend using a Flash block plugin for your web browser. This causes all Flash to be disabled by default until you click to allow individual plugins and instances of the Flash plugin to run, preventing unauthorized Flash from running in a web browser completely. These plugins are free and available for every major browser:

Click to Flash for Safari
Flashblock for Google Chrome
Flashblock for Firefox

6) Disable Automatic File Opening After Download
This is a big one. One of the reasons OS X has stayed so secure is the system doesn’t rely on .exe files, which are self-launching files that can do basically whatever they like in the Windows environment. Safari defaults to automatically opening “safe” files after they’re downloaded – which opens a door that has previously been shut tight in OS X. For added security, disable this feature and manage the opening of downloads yourself:

• Open Safari preferences and click the General tab
• Uncheck the box next to “Open ‘safe’ files after downloading”

7) Double-Check Anti-Malware Definitions are Enabled
OS X automatically downloads and maintains a malware definition list which is actively used to combat potential threats and attacks. This is enabled by default, but you can double-check to make sure you’re getting the updates as they arrive by insuring the feature is turned on:

• Open System Preferences and click on “Security & Privacy”
• Under the General tab look for “Automatically update safe downloads list” and make sure it is checked

8 ) Don’t Install Random Software You Didn’t Ask For
If you see a random pop-up window asking you to install random software you didn’t request, don’t install it! This may sound like common sense, but it’s actually how some Mac malware propagated in the past. Apple patched the hole that allowed for that to happen a while ago, but the overall message is still relevant: if you didn’t download or request an app to be installed and you’re suddenly confronted with an installation dialog, don’t install it.

That wraps it up. As always, feel free to comment with any additional suggestions or reach out if you require any help with your Apple technology.

Cheers,
jpar

Here’s a blog entry I wrote at work detailing information on the “huge threat” OS X faces from the Flashback malware. ::yawn:: Thought it might be good to post it here as well for any friends and clients who were worried.

Trojans and viruses are generally something Mac users don’t have to worry about, but there’s a lot of hubub about the so-called Flashback trojan that has apparently infected a several hundred thousand Macs worldwide.

The trojan reportedly takes advantage of a vulnerability in an older version of Java that allows it to download malware which then “modifies targeted webpages displayed in the web browser.”

The vulnerability has already been patched by Apple and end users should be advised to download the latest version of Java for OS X through Software Update.

Go to Software Update and install the Java for OS X Lion 2012-001 or Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 7, depending on your version of Mac OS. That will prevent future infections from occurring, but you’ll also want to review if a Mac is infected.

I haven’t heard of or seen a single case of the Flashback infection on any of the nearly 300 Macs I supervise (at my job or freelance), but for the sake of optimal security here’s how to quickly check if a Mac is afflicted by Flashback trojan and remove it if so:

1. Run the following command in Terminal:

defaults read /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info LSEnvironment

2. Take note of the value, DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES
3. Proceed to step 8 if you got the following error message indead:

“The domain/default pair of (/Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info, LSEnvironment) does not exist”

4. Otherwise, run the following command in Terminal:

grep -a -o ‘__ldpath__[ -~]*’ %path_obtained_in_step2%

5. Take note of the value after “__ldpath__”
6. Run the following commands in Terminal (first make sure there is only one entry, from step 2):

sudo defaults delete /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info LSEnvironment

sudo chmod 644 /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info.plist

7. Delete the files obtained in steps 2 and 5
8. Run the following command in Terminal:

defaults read ~/.MacOSX/environment DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES

9. Take note of the result. Your system is already clean of this variant if you got an error message similar to the following:

“The domain/default pair of (/Users/joe/.MacOSX/environment, DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES) does not exist”

10. Otherwise, run the following command in Terminal:

grep -a -o ‘__ldpath__[ -~]*’ %path_obtained_in_step9%

11. Take note of the value after “__ldpath__”
12. Run the following commands in Terminal:

defaults delete ~/.MacOSX/environment DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES

launchctl unsetenv DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES

13. Finally, delete the files obtained in steps 9 and 11.

I question how serious the issue actually is. The only real source for this spread of infection is from a Russian anti-virus vendor named Dr. Web – and it doesn’t really say what the end effects are after infection other than “The botnet could run code.”

There are tons of reports of this, all sourcing Dr. Web, but I can’t find any reports of people actually being infected and having something bad happen.

About once every six months someone writes a post like this that spreads like a virus (snark) through the blogosphere, and about once every six months we have to check under our beds for the boogyman that isn’t there… This is nothing to freak out about, but it does serve as another reminder as to why it’s important to update system software as part of a general maintenance routine.

As some of you may know, I spent some time in the political trenches of Kansas during “the aughts.” During that time I saw firsthand the stranglehold fear has on the electorate and what a disturbingly powerful tool it is for those willing to exploit these fears for their own political gain.

As the Republican clucsterfuck of a primary season rolls on, the rise of Newt to the forefront surprises me. Perhaps it’s because I’m a student of political science, or maybe it’s because I was awake in the 90s – or maybe it’s because I’m not irrationally frightened of President Obama. Whatever the reason, I’m hoping that Newt ends up the GOP’s man because of the sheer fun I’ll have watching him flap in the wind as his past hangs him.

NPR’s got a fantastic op/ed piece this morning discussing how Mitt is attempting to appeal to a rational group of the GOP by outlining his plan for recovery while Newt is playing to the Tea Party crowd by trekking the tried and true route so well traveled by the GOP in the aughts of fear mongering.

Click here and check it out, then please come back and leave a comment with your thoughts.

You’re also welcome to take this conversation to my Facebook page if we’re friends. If we aren’t, then why aren’t we?

Spent some time this morning chatting with my pal Dustin on KCUR’s Up to Date with Steve Kraske about ditching cable for internet-based content. It’s a big topic, and one that generated a ton of phone calls, emails, Tweets and Facebook posts. While we didn’t have time to get to everyone, we sure had fun chatting with folks like Heather who has recently cut the cable and is excited about her new Smart TV.

So how do you do join the 9% of U.S. customers who have ditched their cable for a streaming online content?

It’s not as simple as just snipping a cable. There’s some set up and a few things to take into consideration before sitting down for your Netflix-fueled DOCTOR WHO marathon.

I’ve put together a few links which will help you get ready to cut the cable and ditch (insert name of your evil, oppressive provider here) once and for all…

Like I said at the close of the broadcast, there are three important things to consider before sending your cable box to Davie Jones’ locker.

1) Connection Speed — If you’re on a dial up connection or paying for the bare minimum broadband connection from your Internet Service Provider (ISP), upgrade. If you don’t, you’ll be very disappointed with your streaming experience. Speak with your ISP and find out what package will work best for you. If you’re lucky enough to be in an area that will (maybe, possibly) one day have Google Fiber, see if you can upgrade your connection without a contract so you can jump ship to a much faster connection once Google gets its act together and brings the unicorn-powered internet to Kansas City. How fast is my connection?

2) Home Network Speed — So now you’re set up with a truly high-speed internet connection – awesome! Now its time to replace that router AT&T gave you for free when you signed up for DSL during Bush II’s first term. Why? Because older routers simply can’t broadcast information quick enough to take advantage of your newly hopped up internet connection. To put it simply, if you’re driving a Pinto it doesn’t matter what the speed limit is on the road. You can’t drive 55 – because you’re stuck at 30. I’d go with the Buffalo Airstation N600. It won’t break the bank and offers terrific speed over wireless and wired connections.

I’m going to get fairly technical for a minute. I will block quote it so those who aren’t interested in how the sausage is made can easily skip down.

The Most common video resolutions used on the internet today are 240p and 480p. 240p video would require a 512Kbps (Kilobit per second) or half a Mbps connection. It’s fairly low quality but widely used for speedy video. Much of Youtube is in 240p quality. 480p video requires a 1 Mbps Connection. It is the second most commonly used video quality and is generally what we think of as “Standard Quality” video. Most of Netflix is streamed in 480p.

When we watch something in HD or “High Definition” on the internet we are usually watching something in 720p. All HD on Netflix at the time of this writing is 720p. For 720p resolution at 30 frames per second you’re going to need a guaranteed 1.5-2Mbps bandwidth as a bare minimum. I generally suggest 3 Mbps connections for DSL users as DSL tends to commonly vary in speed during use.

In comparison, 1080p HD requires for a bare minimum 6Mbps bandwidth connection. It is easy to see why 1080p Streaming video is not the norm and is not being heavily used as the demand for bandwidth is much higher than 720p.

Many people are new to wireless. They plug in the router, maybe configure a name for the connection and possibly setup basic security for the connection. They rarely have any understanding of what it is and how it works.

802.11b and 802.11g use the 2.4 GHz ISM band which is divided into 11 channels in the US. Because of the use of 2.4 GHz, B and G wireless devices often suffer interference from microwave ovens, cordless and cellular telephones as well as Bluetooth wireless devices.

Each of the 11 channels is 22Mhz wide, and offset by 5Mhz to the next channel. Because of this, there is overlap on neighboring channels. Channels 1, 6 and 11 are advisable to set your b/g router to as they have no overlapping frequencies. A good illustration of this can be found here.

B and g devices have an effective indoor range of 125 feet or less. 802.11b has a maximum bandwidth of 11 Mbps and 802.11g a maximum bandwidth of 54 Mbps each only allow one stream of Bandwidth.

802.11n comes in both 2.4 GHZ and 5 GHZ both have an effective indoor range of 230 feet. It adds multiple-input multiple-output antennas (MIMO) which adds additional bandwidth streams and tends to overcome interference caused by many modern consumer electronics.

The 5 GHZ 802.11 has a maximum bandwidth of 150 Mbps per stream but has 4 allowable streams which can allow up to 600 Mbps. Most Wireless N consumer routers come with 2 antenna and allow up to 300 Mbps. The downside to 5GHZ is that its signal degrades very fast when passing through walls. More walls, more degradation, until the 2.4 GHZ signal will actually be the stronger choice.

When we speak of a Dual Band 802.11n device, we are talking about a device that is both 2.4 and 5 GHZ capable and can connect to Routers running at 2.4 or 5 GHZ.

Having a Dual Band Router is like running 2 routers at once. One at 2.4Ghz for all your older equipment (especially anything 802.11b/g) and one at 5Ghz which is clean and incredibly fast!

Still with me? All that technobabble basically says “buying a duel band wireless N router would be a good investment.”

3) Find the Right Box — AppleTV, Roku, Boxee, Western Digital, Sony… There are so many options here you really should take a little time to research which devices will:
A) Connect to your TV. If you have an older TV, you may want to upgrade to a television with HDMI connections for the best experience.
B) Provide the content you desire. Roku has Hulu, AppleTV doesn’t. Roku can’t access your iTunes purchases. AppleTV can. There are some differences between devices, so read product reviews from both customers and professional reviewers before buying.
C) Fits within your budget. Players start off as low as $50 and go up to $200+. Stay within your budget, but make sure you still get the player with the features and content you’ll be happy with. There’s no point in canceling cable if you’re unhappy with the replacement you choose!

Personally, I’m not a fan of the “complete solution” when it comes to entertainment centers. I won’t buy a TV with a built in DVD player, and I’m hesitant to get a TV with built in streaming capabilities.

The market is still so new changes are being made on a monthly basis, so until the dust settles I’d get an external device that connects to your TV via and HDMI cable so you can replace it when and if a device which meets even more of your needs inevitably comes out.

There are some terrific Blu Ray players on the market which will connect to Hulu, Netflix, YouTube, and other streaming services and work as an excellent stopgap for those not quite willing to completely jump into a pure streaming environment.

One question Steve asked (and Becky on Facebook echoed) was how folks keep up with sports once they ditch cable. As Dustin said, it’s not perfect, but there are ways.

Cancelcable.com has some great resources for sports fans. It’s not quite 24/7 ESPN coverage, but with a few different subscription packages you can get close.

1. Football – Watch games being aired over standard broadcast networks using free high definition over-the-air broadcast TV. Good for college and professional football and bowl game coverage (including of course the Superbowl). Unless I missed it, NFL.com doesn’t currently offer the ability the watch live games (unless you live outside the US), but they do offer a number of options here.

2. NBA.com offers a service called NBA League Pass which lets you watch live games via broadband or mobile device. They currently have two options – Choice, $24.95/year, lets you to watch live games for up to 7 teams and Premium, $49.95 for all 30 teams. In addition all games can be accessed via a DVR-like full season on demand archive.

3. Major League Baseball games can be watched on your normal TV by buying a MLB.tv subscription and watching on a set top device like the Roku. As of today, pricing is $119/year which includes home and away broadcasts, full game archives, multi-game view (PIP, Split Screen or Quad) and Live DVR Controls. They also include a bunch of other extras (listed here).

4. ESPN3 via broadband (select college football, NBA, MLB, The Masters and US Golf Open and all 4 Grand Slam tennis tournaments). Free access via TV via XBOX for Xbox Live Gold members or streaming via web site.

5. Hockey: NHL GameCenterLive offers live broadcasts (watch up to 40 out of market games each week, full length DVR like archives and the ability to watch up to 4 games at a time (using split screen mode). As of today, pricing is $79 for the season.

Read the full article here.

Remember how much of an asshole you were in your 20s? How you’d flop your knowledge cock out wherever you were so you could show everyone how well informed you were?

I’m sitting in the Westport Coffeeshop trying to enjoy a conversation with my friend Erica when this loudmouth tub of awesome (who has been discussing the importance of going to high school plays to recruit new talent for improv troupes) starts discussing (loudly) politics with this poor 16 year old who seems to idolize this self-proclaimed modern day Socrates.

He’s bemoaning the South Carolina GOP primaries and is on a roll, just absolutely on fire filling the entire room with his voice so we all can hear just how clever he thinks he is. As he enters his twelfth minute of this monolog, I lean over to my friend and say:

“Listen to this thing I heard Jon Stewart say on The Daily Show last night. Look how clever I am as I regurgitate his material as my own! I also have a deeper understanding of world events because I read the op/ed section of The Economist last night at Barnes and Noble while I was shopping for anime.”

Dude, you’re young. You’re in your 20s and right now you feel like you’re the king of the world – like you’re the biggest brightest bulb to ever illuminate the darkness of irrationality, but let me tell you a secret: you’re not the first person to realize corporate personhood is a crock of shit, and everyone else in the coffee shop conversing at a respectable volume trying to relax on a Saturday morning doesn’t want to hear your thoughts (or what you’ve read and are passing off as your thoughts) on assassinating Iranian nuclear scientists.

“I don’t like Fox – or MSNBC. I actually get my news from the BBC. I get my news about America from the Brits!”

How fucking clever of you! I guess that really makes you an enlightened individual. Congratulations on working out how intellectually bankrupt the mainstream media is. Here’s your cardigan, horn rimmed glasses, and a punch in the fucking jaw you loud mouthed piece of shit.

It’s that time of year again…

The party kicks off at 9pm at Hurricane Allies, one of my favorite karaoke spots in the city with my dear friend Jason’s group Ultimate DJ and Karaoke running the show. Their entire songbook is online, so check it out before ya come down. You’ll be impressed.

Prior to Allies, those who wish to join my family and I for dinner are welcome to meet up at 7pm at ABC Cafe, my favorite Chinese restaurant in all the world. My parents will be in town from Connecticut, and I’m sure they’d love to meet you.

Please, no gifts are needed. If you feel the need to mark another year passing with a present of some sort, I encourage you to donate to those struggling to free Tibet from the Chinese occupation instead. Or just get me a beer.

Coming from Topeka or Lawrence? Here’s a handy map to get you to Allies.

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Here’s a map to ABC Cafe from Topeka.

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Here’s a map from ABC Cafe to Allies.

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Google couldn’t calculate directions from Paris, France to Allies.

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As of this writing we’re halfway through season 2 of Dead Wait. Episode 10 goes live tomorrow leaving us two weeks to finish up the big digital effects sequence in the season finale and have it ready for air on November 9th.

Holy crap. That’s no time at all. Nervous? Not really. I’m working with a crack team of professionals and have absolute faith in their ability to deliver a product by the assigned deadline. Hell, I’m more nervous about me competing the credits in time to be rendered. Making things really interesting is our screening at the IFC on November 2nd. Part of me would love to be able to show them a finished product a week ahead of the rest of the world, but honestly I don’t think that’s going to happen. That’s probably for the best though — maybe they’ll tune in for the season finale a week later?

I thought it might be fun to offer some commentary on the episodes we’ve released so far as a way to kill some time while I’m waiting for the final sound mix to come in for episode 10 and as motivation to update this blog for once.

Chapter 7 – Zombies?

We pick up exactly where we left poor Adam at the end of the first season — having killed his only friend and wondering what the Hell is going on. Wheeling Jared’s body down to the basement (it’s not safe to keep a body in your hideout after all) we can tell Adam’s still not quite sure what’s going on as he hasn’t taken the time to remove the murder weapon from Jared’s body and rather than warning his fellow Mitchell Park residents of the impending danger he’s avoiding them hoping the body on the cart goes un-noticed. Which of course, it doesn’t. As Adam nears the elevators you can spot my co-director for this season Justin Gardner making a cameo. I loved directing Dan in the track sequence as he’s chased down by the amazing Demian Vela. We had so many good takes to chose from with him looking at the door then back to the zed and finally deciding to book it — which of course leads him out of the frying pan and into the frier when he encounters even MORE of his freshly reanimated neighbors. This sequence wasn’t in the original script, but once we found the playground while location scouting Gardner, myself, and director of photography Brandon Cummins acted out the sequence and added it in the next day. We close the episode with one of Adam’s rare lines of dialog this season, breathlessly admitting to himself that maybe this wasn’t the apocalypse he prepared for.

Chapter 8 – Empty Rooms

Behind the scenes goings-on facilitated a complete change of plans for Zoe’s character, but she was so important to the series we couldn’t just pretend she never existed or leave her out of the story altogether. So what to do? Easy. Make her the MacGuffin. As a plot element we can maintain her important presence in the series and do some really cool stuff with her character to motivate Adam in his hero’s quest after (if?) he makes it out of the apartment building. It also played into the overall story which will eventually explain where the zombies came from and why Adam feels compelled to keep himself safe. But perhaps I’ve said too much… Fun fact: The audio on the radio was provided by KCUR’s very own Stephen Steigman, who produces the award winning Up To Date with Steve Kraske, a show on which I make regular appearances to discuss technology. What’s really fun is you can hear him very faintly in the background before Adam enters Zoe’s bathroom doing a faux underwriting break in which he lets listeners know NPR is underwritten by the George A. Romero Fund. One day I’ll release the audio for that — it’s hilarious (if you’re an NPR junkie like I am). I should also note that the streets mentioned in the newscast (Troost and Emanuel Cleaver) were chosen not because those are bad neighborhoods, but because I live on one and work on the other.

Chapter 9 – 528

Things are getting good now! We reveal the map, the fact that Zoe was keeping tabs on Adam (which is why she was so dismissive in the first season — she doesn’t hate Adam, she just can’t get close to him), but clearly she wants to… Otherwise why go on the date with him? I spent a lot of time making that damn book, only for it to get a few seconds of screen time. The page with the handwriting is clearly an essay on Angry Birds, not a log of Adam’s daily activities. Do keep in mind the symbols on the map and the cover of the book… That’ll come in handy later. I’ve also been asked about the return of Jared in this episode. Clearly we’re doing something a little different with our zombies, merely damaging the brain isn’t enough to kill them — but what is? I guess you’ll just have to tune into this week’s episode to find out, won’t you?

Please let me know if you enjoyed this. If so, I’ll do another round up when the final three episodes have aired.

Be good to each other,
jpar