Summer’s Not Over Until Last Firework Lights Up Night Sky
“No Dad, I have to go for the team.”
When I suggested to my son, Casey, he could bypass the weekly “Team Trivia” competition he gave me a very matter-of-fact reply of “No Dad, I have to go for the team.” So off we went to the Village Inn to meet up with “Casey’s Team” for an evening of burgers and “I’ve got that one, it’s The Matrix” or “Luxembourg” as “the northern most country beginning with the letter “L” to not play in the last winter Olympics.” Luckily the Coopers were on hand to offer up “entropy” for “the science of boiling and cooling water,” and “Baltimore” as the “location of John Hopkins Medical Center and University.” Another round of high fives and beaming smiles as the points began adding up.
“Who makes up these questions?”
In the past I’ve shared comments with you that while listening to Casey I sometimes ask myself, “Who knows this stuff?” While listening to the trivia questions I kept asking myself, “Who makes up these questions?” And then I realized it didn’t matter, because teams were coming together, joining in hushed huddles to come up with their own answers. What mattered was the feeling of community with friends and neighbors in spite of the competitive atmosphere. The timing of one song between each round of questions and answers is enough time spaced out across the evening to catch up on recent events, upcoming activities, and to discover something new about friends and swap summer stories. It’s also enough time to lean back, relax and share a few laughs at our own expense.
We talked about what a great summer it’s been in Suttons Bay, how the Visitor Center continues to be swamped even though Labor Day weekend is fast approaching. We all agreed it’s been a “Chamber of Commerce” summer in northern Michigan.
Spike’s busy summer
During this summer many clients and friends spending time at summer cottages stopped by The Depot to say hello, and some even stopped in just to see Spike, The Depot’s resident cat.
A few weeks ago I also had the chance to discover something far more effective than advertising to attract attention to The Depot and draw a crowd – put on a t-shirt, a pair of khaki shorts and grab some lawn tools and begin trimming bushes, edging and weeding garden beds. Honking horns, whistles, yelps and cat calls were just a few of the sounds (that I can share here) I endured while standing in the hot sun, attached to my tools, smiling and waving. Spike didn’t want to have anything to do with any of this and somehow was able to grab a nap during the ruckus and activity (yes, that’s Spike in the photo).
A “thank you” to our community
Each and every one of us will have our own memories of this great northern Michigan summer. I hope you and your family will add one more special and local event to your calendar. I would like to invite you to be our guest to attend the annual Fireworks Display at the Suttons Bay Marina Park on Saturday, September 4th of Labor Day Weekend. 
This is a very special evening when business owners come together to sponsor an event for “locals” to say “thank you” to our community for a great summer. We are proud to be one of three senior sponsors, along with Hansen Foods and Bahle’s of Suttons Bay.
So gather together a picnic basket filled with summer snacks, blankets and lawn chairs and join us along with your friends and neighbors to enjoy an evening of “Oohs and Aaahs” as fireworks light up the night sky over Suttons Bay. You too will discover that fireworks aren’t just for kids!
[ Suttons Bay Fireworks Update: Due to rain and high winds in northern Michigan the Suttons Bay Fireworks have been rescheduled for Saturday, September 11th. ]
Dan A. Penning
The software involved in the New York case is titled BusyBox. It is described as a series of small utility-type programs that are tailored for and embedded in various products, such as wireless routers, firewalls, modems, internet radios, PDAs, media players, and HDTVs. Various manufacturers use the BusyBox software and its source code to make their products work. Although BusyBox and its source code are available without charge, the use of BusyBox is subject to the GNU General Public License (or “GPL”). GPL is an open-source copyright license. Although the software is free, the license places requirements on further distribution of the licensed software. For example, if a product is embedded with BusyBox software, the product’s manufacturer/distributor must provide the source code and any upgrades or modifications available on the same terms, i.e. without charge. The GPL also prohibits licensees from distributing the software under a license that is more restrictive than the GPL. Gartner, Inc., a leading international IT firm, estimates that 85% of companies use open-source software in some fashion (Source: www.groklaw.net).
BusyBox claimed that Westinghouse, in addition to 13 other distributors, infringed the copyright license in the software. Westinghouse distributed HDTVs that were embedded with the BusyBox software while, at the same time, imposing more restrictive licensing terms than those in the GPL. The more restrictive licensing terms included a limitation for “personal, non-commercial purposes only.”
