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30 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | MARCH 2023 By Steve Benoff There's an app lurking around our neighborhood at night. Okay, lurking isn't a fair description, but I use the word in hopes of getting your attention. I really should say there's an app patrolling our neighborhood at night. Actually, that's not correct either in that an app can do a lot of things but only when enabled by its user. In this case, the user is a member of Securitas, our private guard service. Let me explain. I can't remember the exact time, but early one morning when it was still dark, I was walking to our local mailbox when I noticed a Securitas guard stop in front of the mailbox, get out of his car, and walk to the side of the box. He had some kind of device in his hand which he seemed to wave at the box. Later, in the light of day, I looked at the side of the mailbox and saw a round piece of metal attached to the mailbox. I was all too prepared to assume a smartphone app was involved, but being the ace reporter that I am, I stopped by the guardhouse at the main gate and asked the guard about what I observed. He told me the guards use a special app on their phones which logs the time and location when the phone is in close proximity to the disc. Cool! Isn't it fascinating the variety of uses apps perform in our lives. You can imagine the complexity of creating a system Securitas would have to go through to duplicate the function enabled by just having an app on a smartphone. But…. Stop the presses. Here's an absolute first. I was making a pit stop at the new Stater Bros. in Calimesa. Yes, pit stop. Considering that I start each morning with large glass of water and 18 ounces of coffee (coming up, perhaps in June, you'll learn about my appreciation for the quality of Nespresso coffee) and taking into account that I'm 80 years old, when I'm riding my bike and when, as I was on the day in question, on my weekly CVP (Beaumont Citizen Volunteer Patrol) assignment, I've come to discover suitable pit stops throughout Banning, Beaumont, and Redlands. On this particular day, I noticed an array of side dishes displayed near the Stater's exit. I saw one of my favorite dim sum dishes Pork bao. (I'm not sure pork bao qualifies as a dish, but let's put that issue aside. And if you don't know what dim sum is, I encourage you to find a Chinese restaurant that specializes in it to treat yourself to the variety of small servings of delicious steamed and baked dim sum items.) I decided to buy the package, and I wondered how best to heat them. I later realized I could find this information out just by looking at the bottom of the tray. But that would have negated the reason for this column. There was an employee arranging the items on display so I asked him what was the best way to heat the bao. He signaled, "wait a minute" and pulled out his phone. After he logged in, he opened an app and signaled me to talk into the phone. I asked the question again which translated my request into, I suppose, Chinese displayed on his phone. He spoke into his phone which then translated and displayed what he said. "Microwave for three to five minutes." I think we were using an Android phone, and the app was probably Google Translate. That app will also work on an iPhone. Apple has its own app called Apple Translate, which can translate among 11 languages. I've known about, and referred to, translation apps in prior columns, but I imagined using them on a trip outside the US. This experience demonstrated how shortsighted I've been. If you use an app you'd like to share with others, let me know at steve.benoff@verizon.net. THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT! Apps for security and talking to that guy at Stater's

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