WaterCal.com

Revolutionizing Irrigation Management for Shared Water Communities

WaterCal.com Introduction

Are you tired of the chaos that comes with managing shared irrigation schedules? Do you dread the confusion of who gets water when, missed turns, and the headache of collecting fees? We’re building WaterCal—a comprehensive solution designed specifically for communities with shared wells and irrigation systems.

The Problem We’re Solving

Managing shared water resources is complex. Traditional methods—phone trees, paper calendars, or basic spreadsheets—lead to miscommunication, missed turns, and administrative nightmares. Property damage from scheduling errors costs communities thousands of dollars annually, not to mention the strain on neighborly relationships.

Introducing WaterCal.com

WaterCal is a purpose-built platform that streamlines shared irrigation management with features designed by people who understand the unique challenges of communal water systems:

Key Features

  • Intelligent Scheduling System
    • Configure property-specific watering rules (North-to-South, East-to-West)
    • Set up advanced recurring schedules (1st and 3rd Mondays, every Thursday, seasonal exclusions)
    • Implement order deadlines and automatic waitlists
    • Prevent scheduling conflicts automatically
  • Financial Management
    • Secure escrow for water fees collected with each order
    • Automated monthly disbursements to well owners/managers
    • Transparent fee tracking for all community members
    • Configurable penalty system for no-shows and unused water times
  • Communication Tools
    • Calendar integration (Google Calendar, Outlook, Apple)
    • SMS alerts before and after your irrigation turn (reminders for Open and Close events)
    • Optional group messaging to coordinate with neighbors
    • Email notifications for schedule changes and confirmations
  • Community Management
    • User-friendly administrative dashboard
    • Detailed water usage reports
    • Maintenance scheduling and notifications
    • Historical data for water usage patterns

Why Communities Need WaterCal

  1. Reduce Conflicts: Clear, transparent scheduling prevents disagreements and confusion.
  2. Save Time: Automated management eliminates hours of administrative work each month.
  3. Prevent Damage: Timely notifications reduce instances of flooding or dry spells.
  4. Improve Efficiency: Optimize water usage through better coordination.
  5. Simplify Finances: Automated collection and distribution of water fees.

Early Access Program

We’re looking for founding communities to help shape the future of WaterCal. As an early adopter, you’ll receive:

  • Priority onboarding and setup assistance
  • Discounted pricing for life
  • Direct input into feature development
  • Dedicated support from our founding team

Interested? Let’s Connect!

We’re building WaterCal to solve real problems for real communities. If this solution sounds like what your shared irrigation system needs, we want to hear from you.

Email: [email protected] to:

  • Express your interest
  • Share your community’s specific challenges
  • Join our early access program
  • Suggest features you’d like to see

Together, we can transform how communities manage shared water resources—making it simpler, more reliable, and conflict-free.

WaterCal: Clear Schedules, Clear Communication, Clear Water Management.

iPhone scan Live Text from keyboard

Today I learned …. In addition to scanning text from photos and using the copy/paste text from photos features, on my iPhone 14 (with iOS 16) I can scan “live text” right from within the keyboard.

Mistakenly, I was looking for an activation icon in the keyboard area.

This feature isn’t very discoverable (at least it wasn’t to me) because this is not activated from the keyboard, it’s activated from the text entry area. Touch the input area or text box you want to type. You may be used to using this area to touch to enable the copy/paste menu or text selection. On the menu now, you’ll also see the scan text icon.

This will swap out the keyboard area with a camera, where you can point at text in your camera lens, then touch to select the text you want to enter and insert.

From here, the feature works the same as when scanning text from a photo and then using copy/paste. The benefit of the keyboard is … you don’t have to pop out to take a picture first. Just scan right into the data entry text field.

I hope this helps!

Microsoft OneDrive vs. DropBox

OneDrive from Microsoft wins over Drop Box, just because of it’s “Make Available Online Only” feature. Drop box has this (sort of) with what they call Selective Sync. The problem with Selective Sync is … it’s folder based, and it’s all or nothing. OneDrive let’s you right click any file, and select online only. You can choose to do this by directory as well. Then All child directories and files are marked online only.

So much better than drop box, because the file APPEARS to still be on your machine. Even images, have their tiny thumbnails. if anything needs that file, it’s downloaded on demand, as if it was there the whole time.

My laptop has a nice little 256GB SSD. and today I rec’d a warning of < 10% available. I had a bunch of Videos, that of course I want to keep, but needed the space. They’ve already been synced to OneDrive, so they are currently on all my machines and phones. Right Click, Online Only, and BOOM the Vid Directory is online only, and I have 35 more GB of available space.

Really nice. Heck for all I know, there is a way to do this with DropBox now, and I just don’t know it. BUT … if they don’t have that … they really need it.

If you’re new to OneDrive, use my referral link and we’ll each get some extra free storage space.

Request ATT to Unlock your Phone

If your mobile provider is ATT, head on over to http://att.com/deviceunlock and request to unlock your phone. This process takes 3-5 days, so do it before you leave if you’re heading international. If successful, you’ll be able to buy any local (compatible) sim card, and have a much cheaper talk/text/data plan that paying the Int’l roaming rates.

You’ll need you phone IMEI number, which you can grab without powering off your device by dialing #*06# (UPDATE: *#06# is correct) and pressing SEND on your phone. TIP : TRICK: Do this for all your devices, even your old unused devices. They are great hand-me-downs, give-a-ways, and backup phones, when you break your screen 🙂 Why not do this now, even if you don’t have a trip coming up. Best to have it unlocked so if/when you need it, it’ll be available for you.

QRCode scanner in Windows Phone 8.1

Did you know there is a native QRCode scanner inside your Windows Phone? It’s been moved around from Windows Phone (7,75,8) and in 8.1, it’s now part of your camera, as a lens named Bing Vision.

This quick screen cast shows you how / where to find and use the QRCode scanner.

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