Opening Knight

The University of Miami‘s Knight Center for International Media named its two chairs this morning:

Joe Treaster (left) formerly of The New York Times, and Rich Beckman formerly (right),of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Their appointment comes almost one year after the Knight Foundation announced a $10 million grant to the school.

Here is the UM press release, here is a letter from the NYT’s business editor and below is a video of the press conference:

We’re on our first deadline of the semester, so I’ll add more to this post after we finish. Stay tuned.

UPDATE, Jan. 17 @ 9:58 P.M.: Both of these guys look like great additions to the School of Comm. Their words at press conference were very encouraging.

Check out two of Beckman’s projects from when he was head of visual communications at UNC:

The Ancient Way (about elders in Galicia, Spain)

Chiloé Stories (about language of native people on Chiloe Island, Chile)

It’s potty time!

Ok, so I’m in the mood for posting links tonight.

This story is one that’s not to be missed. I mean, how often does the New York Times write about toilets? It’s a great narrative. And I love the Star Trek references.

While the subject of this article isn’t the Man’s Bathroom (see video clip below), designed by Tim “The Toolman” Taylor, it’s quite a spectacle in it’s own right:

Greetings, Earthlings. Your New Restroom Is Ready.

I know what you’re thinking. Are they low-flow? According to the Times’ City Room blog, absolutely not: A Toilet That Uses 14 Gallons? Oh Gosh!

Dave Barry would have personally killed each one if they were low-flow. Of course, he had the news at 8:19 A.M. this morning, with an update at 2:48 P.M.

Here’s another NYT blog post on the chrome throne: New Yorkers, You May Be Excused: A Pay Toilet Opens

Weigh in: Would you use NYC’s new public potty?

Just for fun: As promised…

A taste of video

Since I’ve been talking about Web site-related topics today, I figured I might as well throw video into the mix.

Here is a video shot primarily by me, with a couple clips from Matt Bunch. Matt also did the editing and voiceover work. The package documents the full-day’s experience for the final Miami Hurricanes home game at the Orange Bowl on Nov. 10. Enjoy!

Check out more videos from The Miami Hurricane on YouTube.