R.I.P. SZ Viewer A1

I have decided to stop releasing the Android version of SZ Viewer (SZ Viewer A1) to the public after February 2025.

Currently, I distribute SZ Viewer A1 only through Google Play.  However, I don't want to verify my developer account as required by Google because it asks for too much personal information to be displayed to users. So my developer account will be removed after 27 February 2025.

At the same time, I have no plans to distribute SZ Viewer A1 as public APK files.

I might release a version of SZ Viewer A1 (in Google Play) before the deadline. But I am not sure. I'm very tired of SZ Viewer after 11 years: I spent a lot of time and resources with no profit and no prospects. It's time to get rid of the dead weight.

See also related notes:

• SZ Viewer A1: That's all Folks (2025-02-27)
• Nokia 5.3 (2025-01) (2025-01-29)

Image albums:

• Internet

Gyroflow v1.6: Important update for Sony cameras

The new v1.6 of Gyroflow offers very important features for Sony cameras (including my Sony a7c):

1. It supports IBIS data and lens profiles. So it is possible to record video with IBIS enabled and stabilize it with Gyroflow. Previously, you had to turn off IBIS to work with Gyroflow.

I have already tested it and it works fine. But the preview in Gyroflow with IBIS enabled video is much worse than the rendered result! There is a lot of jitter in the preview that is not present in the result. As far as I understand, the preview doesn't take into account the sensor movements made by IBIS. Anyway, this is a great feature.

2. Gyroflow automatically sets the frame readout time, which is important for rolling shutter correction. At least for the Sony a7c, Gyroflow uses values very close to my measurements.

See also related notes:

• Sony a7c: Three years with the camera (2025-02-06)
• Old graphics card for Gyroflow [RX480] (2025-01-26)

Image albums:

• Video

Scala+Gradle: AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 3700 vs 5700X

Scala+Gradle: AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 3700 vs 5700X

My other CPU comparison: AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 3700 (very similar to 3700X, Zen 2 based, 8 cores, 3.6/4.4GHz) vs AMD Ryzen 7 5700X (Zen 3 based, 8 cores, 3.4/4.6GHz). The previous comparison was done in the raw image processing program ART.

This time I compared the build time of a Scala project using Gradle (64-bit Java 1.8.0_221). The project is not too big, but it uses macros which slow down the build a lot.

Source lines of code (without blank and comment, calculated with cloc):

Java: 71653 (most of them auto-generated)

Scala: 39151

Java: Oracle JDK 1.8.0_221 (64-bit Server VM)

Scala: 3.3.3

Gradle: 8.11.1

Build time (best result of several attempts):

AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 3700: 55-56 seconds

AMD Ryzen 7 5700X: 49-50 seconds

The performance gain is again around 14-15%.

See also related notes:

• DDR4 3000 vs DDR4 3600 (2025-02-11)

Image albums:

• PC

Pentax K 55/1.8: Samples [2] - FF - f/1.8

Camera: Sony a7c (FF, 24MP)

Lens:  Pentax K 55/1.8 at f/1.8

See also related notes:

• Pentax K 55/1.8 vs Pentax A 50/1.7 (2023-10-07)

Image albums:

• Pentax K 55/1.8

Thuraya (2024 state)

At the beginning of 2024, there were two operational Thuraya satellites: Thuraya-2 and Thuraya-3. Unfortunately, the Thuraya-3 satellite was out of service in the spring of 2024. Today, only Thuraya-2 is operational.

This is very bad for Thuraya users in the eastern and northeastern regions. While Thuraya has tried to reconfigure the network to force Thuraya-2 to work in these regions, the network connection may be very poor (SMS only) or non-existent due to the low elevation angle (<10-20°) of the satellite.

You can estimate the actual elevation angle and direction to the Thuraya-2 in your location on the service: https://www.n2yo.com/?s=27825

The launch of the new Thuraya-4 satellite is planned for December 2024. However, the Thuraya-4 is intended to replace the Thuraya-2, so it is not clear if and how soon it will help improve connectivity in the affected regions.

See also related notes:

• Thuraya-4 launched (2025-01-05)

SZ Viewer W1-2024-12-07 (Windows), L1-2024-12-07 (Linux)

SZ Viewer (Windows, Linux) changes:

1. Added support for some modules (D13A engine,  ABS/ESP control module 52129438AC).

2. Minor UI changes.

Note that version for macOS is discontinued.

See also related notes:

• SZ Viewer: общая информация (2014-02-15)

Scala 3: How to disable significant indentation (Gradle)

Overall, I like the changes in Scala 3. Most of them are actually simplify Scala programming. But I hate significant indentation (indentation-based syntax).

Meanwhile, I have become friends with Haskell's indentation-based syntax, but Scala's significant indentation made the syntax very fragile. It is very annoying.

So I disable significant indentation whenever possible. (With Scala 3) I use Gradle instead of sbt. To turn off significant indentation in a Gradle project:

tasks.withType(ScalaCompile) {
    // disable significant indentation
    scalaCompileOptions.additionalParameters = ['-no-indent']
}

Anyway, programming in Scala 3 tends to make me use braces (curly brackets) even more (in a Rust-way).

Pentax M 100/4 Macro: Samples [2] - FF - f/4

Camera: Sony a7c (FF, 24MP)

Lens: Pentax M 100/4 Macro at f/4

See also related notes:

• Pentax M 100/4 Macro (2024-01-01)

Image albums:

• Pentax M 100/4 Macro