Has MrSID saved your bacon? We’d like to hear about that. The industry standard MrSID file format turns 20 years old this year, and one of the ways we’re celebrating is with a contest.

MrSID debuts in the ’90s, lookin’ sharp.

We’re asking you to send us your story about how MrSID has enabled you to get stuff done (or kept you out of trouble), or about your involvement with any MrSID workflow. In return, you’ll get your name entered for a chance to win an iPad.

Another old MrSID avatar.

Send your anecdote, story, homage, five-act play or other MrSID tribute to “celebrate@lizardtech.com” by July 10th, 2012. Three winners will be selected at random, the first receiving an iPad and the two runner ups each receiving a $50 Amazon.com gift card.

MG4 stands for “MrSID Generation 4″, the latest version.

We’ll announce the winners via Twitter at the Esri Conference in San Diego on July 24th. Our thanks to the geospatial industry for two decades of support!

We like talking with our customers (and our potential customers), which is why we go to a number of trade shows and other industry events throughout the year.  We’ll be exhibiting at the following shows this month:

• May 8 – 9 in Bloomington, Ind., at the 2012 Indiana GIS Conference.

• May 15 – 16 in Syracuse, N.Y., partnering with GIS Services at the New York State Geographic Information Conference in booth #20.

• May 22 – 23 in Grantville, Pa., at the 2012 Pennsylvania GIS Conference in booth #24.

• May 29 – 31 in São Paolo, Brazil, partnering with Engesat International at the MundoGeo Connect Latin America Conference in booth #28.

Oh, we’ll be there. São Paulo, Brazil. Image by Heitor CJ licensed through Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

As always, LizardTech representatives will be available for product demonstrations, to talk shop with you and to answer any questions you have. Stop by and say hello!

To see a complete list of LizardTech’s upcoming shows, visit www.lizardtech.com/events.

I can hardly keep up with developments to talk about here. A few weeks ago we released version 8.5 of our MrSID SDK, an update that adds support for per-band decoding. Per-band decoding means that LizardTech’s partners and customers now have the ability to decode only the bands that they need from multi- and hyperspectral imagery, which can greatly improve decode and viewing performance.

The new version also supports several additional platforms, including iOS 4.0, both 32- and 64-bit versions. I had it on my list to blog about that, but now ClearTrust, a Reston-Va.-based company that develops geospatial tools for the Macintosh and iOS devices, has already used our SDK to integrate support for the latest version of MrSID (MG4) into version 1.2 of its CartoMobile® field data entry and visualization application, so that CartoMobile users can now view MrSID imagery on devices such as iPhone and iPad. That’s bound to make iOS loyalists happy.

There’s good news particularly for Linux users, too. The new version of the MrSID SDK supports Red Hat 6, both 32- and 64-bit versions. For more information about the MrSID SDK go to www.lizardtech.com and log in to our Developer website at the bottom of the page.

Last month we introduced you to our new inside sales support rep Travis, and this month we’ve got another addition to our small and tight-knit outfit we’d like you to meet. Dani (pictured below moments before dipping into a cauldron of java) is now our sales support lizard and will contribute to the efforts of both the marketing and sales teams. She’ll be processing orders, assisting with marketing projects and performing various administrative duties.

Dani keeps herself coffee’d up so she can support two different departments here at LizardTech.

Dani has held marketing internships in several different industries and has worked for the Port of San Diego, the San Diego Regional Airport Authority and MountainWest Real Estate. Dani graduated from Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego with a B.A. in business administration and a minor in public relations. Dani lives in Shoreline and tells us she loves to travel, run and read any book she can get her hands on. A big welcome to Dani!

The Associaton of American Geographers has just published the book Practicing Geography: Careers for Enhancing Society and the Environment, a “comprehensive new resource…designed to prepare students for careers in business, government, and non-profit organizations”. And hey! our own business development manager Jeff Young is profiled in it.

One of the authors, Janice Monk, writes about how Jeff makes working from home work for him in his business role, which he describes as being “something like a diplomat” for LizardTech (it’s true, we rely on Jeff to build and nurture positive relationships with leaders in the industry we serve).

Jeff’s in the book.

Learn about the factors that made him decide to become a permanent telecommuter and what that really looks like. Oh, and even though we skipped right to the profile of Jeff, there are 263 other pages that will be of interest to students eyeing careers in the geospatial industry.

The book is available now from Pearson and from Amazon.