A Sky High, Wire Walking Diversion in Sarasota

Nik Wallenda does a high wire walk across US 41 in SarasotaThere are a lot of great reasons to visit Sarasota, Fla., chief among them is LexJet headquarters. There are also white sand beaches with azure waters, a temperate climate, Major League spring training, museums, top-notch restaurants, and so forth.

What also makes Sarasota unique is the unexpected. No, not hurricanes, which are actually fairly rare on the southwest coastline of Florida, but the impromptu odd events that happen here and there.

Today it was high-flying (or walking) acrobat and high-wire artist Nik Wallenda, who describes himself as King of the Wire. Wallenda wowed a crowd with a skywalk across US 41, the main drag through Sarasota.

Suspended about 180 feet in the air, Wallenda made the 500-foot-long walk from the top of a crane to an adjacent building without a tether. The wind picked up more than expected, but Wallenda made it safely across to the cheers of thousands who stopped to watch.

Our man on the scene, LexJet videographer Sean McGettigan, captured the moment in the video embedded below. Sean, by the way, also creates all the handy how-to videos you can find at our YouTube site: www.youtube.com/lexjet. Thanks Sean, and enjoy Wallenda’s daredevil walk Sean captured today…

Warning! Look Before Leaping with Lion

Compatibility issues with Mac Lion OS 10.7The warnings are rolling in from various graphics software developers about incompatibilities with the new Mac operating system, Lion 10.7. As with any new OS release there are legions of detractors and supporters. Either way, it really doesn’t matter, because it’s the new OS and eventually the din of software punditry will die down as Mac users migrate to Lion 10.7.

However, if you’re making the leap you’ll need to check in with your software vendors to find out what the compatibility issues are at this point. For instance, ColorByte, developers of the ImagePrint RIP used primarily for photographic and fine art printing, released a statement that Versions 8 and older of the software are not compatible. A new version, 9 to be exact, is expected to be released next month and will be compatible with Lion. If you purchased Version 8 after April 15 the upgrade to the Lion-compatible version will be free.

Software compatibility issues with Mac Lion OS 10.7Large-format production RIPS – like ONYX and Wasatch – are immune since they only run on a PC. However, if you have a large-format production RIP on a Mac, expect issues and even complete incompatibility. Once again, check with your software vendor for specifics.

If you’re printing through the printer driver, make sure to touch base with the manufacturer of your printer. Canon for instance, has a list of updated driver releases for its line of large-format printers, which you can find here. For Epson, click here, and for HP, click here.

Adobe has issued a list of compatibility issues for its suite of products, including Acrobat, Illustrator, Lightroom and Photoshop. Click here for the full list of issues.

If you run into any problems, contact a LexJet customer specialist at 800-453-9538, and they’ll run down the issue and find an answer for you as quickly as possible.