November 12, 2005

Well, I'm pretty much settled in Austin, TX. I've been here since the beginning of July! I must say, it's better than New Jersey. It's worked out well for me, so far. I found a job in 3 weeks in downtown Austin. The summer's here are crazy hot, but the winters are so much nicer. It's already the middle of November and I was out riding in shorts! Today's high was 79 degrees. I also decided to buy a house here which you can see at my Flickr site. I've been pretty busy this year as you can tell by my photos.

Too bad my NIkon D70 had to go back. The exposure meter was giving me weird readings. :-( Now I don't have a digital camera. I haven't short a roll of film in a year now. Scanning is just such a pain and photos aren't very useful in film format in the Internet age...

Also, I finally got most of the database code working again! It was a server path issue and after moving my web host plan, it doesn't seem to have the OLEDB Access drivers installed.

May 14, 2005

Well, I have been very busy lately. Busy with finding a new place to move to! Yup, I'm tired of New Jersey. Tired of the winters, the crowds. In the past few months, I've been looking for a new place to live. Someplace warm, someplace where the housing costs is more reasonable (which is everywhere in this country except the northeast and California). Back in February, I took a road trip to New Orleans and back. Did some research and decided that Austin Texas is for me. Over the next few months, I'll be planning my move. It's warm (a little too warm in the summer), houses/rent is half what it costs here in NJ, and it's a young and athletic town. So I decided, I'm going to take my clothes, my bike, and my computer and go! I'll rent for a few months if things work out, I'll buy a home. If Austin doesn't work out, then my next stop will be Atlanta, perhaps Tucson, Arizona. One thing for sure is that I don't want to come back to New Jersey. The northeast is just not for me...

January 20, 2005

After moving my site to a new hosting plan, none of my database driven code I've written works anymore! I've got to fix this. :-(. It's probably something to do with my connection settings, but it looks like I have to call Interland about this issue. Sigh...

January 2, 2005

I can't believe it's another year! I finally got my cruise article and photo up. I'll probably revise it further, but for now enjoy the pictures!

December 23, 2004

Just got back from my cruise! It was great. I'll be doing a write up soon with lots of pictures. I also switched Internet plans because this ones cheaper. However, I had to move my web site and the database code doesn't work anymore. So lots of things to fix. I'm also planning a cross country trip sometime in the new year.

November 7, 2004

Lately I've been working a consulting gig at Mellon Financial. I have been there since the middle of May and expect this to be over at the end of this month! To reward myself, I booked a 10 night cruise to the Caribbean! Of course, I'm going to be taking loads of pictures from both my digital and film (probably mostly digital) cameras. In the meantime, I like this neon sign in Budd Lake:

May 3, 2004

I've been playing with my new digital SLR (Nikon D70)! I just love love love it! Digital is great for most things. No, it's not as good as film in terms of resolution or sharpness, but it is good enough for most things. I can get great prints up to 8.5"x11", possibility even larger with some subjects. The instant feedback and ability to shoot as much as you want without additional cost is great too!

A Digital SLR has a big CCD (unlike consumer digicams), fast electronics, and interchangeable lens just like a regular film SLR. It works just as fast as a film camera unlike small digicams.

One thing a digital SLR can do better than film cameras is handheld low light photography. You will get better results with the camera set to ISO 1600 than any 1600 speed film available. Check out these 2 photos I took while walking around at the Rockaway Mall. You can download the original file by clicking on the images.

Yes, both of these pictures are noisy, but remember both of these pictures were shot at ISO 1600, no flash inside a mall! Exposure was 1/200th f4.5 for the top image, 1/100th f5.0 for the bottom one! My Canon A80 gets this noisy at ISO 200. 1600 negative speed film would be A LOT grainer than this. With digital, you can also change the white balance on the fly, which is very important in dim, indoor lightings, where the lighting could give your photos a strange color cast.

If you need to shoot hand held at low light levels (indoor sports, concerts, night events, etc.), a digital SLR is the way to go! At lower ISO's (200-400), the D70 is almost noiseless! In terms of overall image quality, I would say today's 6 MP digital SLR are better than 35mm negative film, although not quite as good as low ISO slide film such as Fuji Velvia or Provia.

May 2, 2004

I've got a ton of pictures that I have been taking with my Canon A80 digital camera. Loads and loads of images. I'd like to post them here, although I'm wondering if I'll have enough space.

Also, I finally got my Nikon D70! It is a dream to use. It works just like a film camera and not a "digicam". You turn it on, and it's ready to shoot. Press the shutter and it fires. No waiting! I get to shoot much much more than ever before! I will write more about it here soon.

Check out my galley of a recent trip I took to the Statue of Liberty!

April 29, 2004

My review of the Canon A80 is up! It's a swell little camera! I am expecting my long awaited Nikon D70 to arrive today!

April 11, 2004

I love this picture of these orange flowers that I took last year!

If you want a print of this, you can buy it here! Went riding with my friend Brad yesterday and he dropped me like a stone. I swear, the guy doesn't need to train.

April 8, 2004

Check out some of my Cycling Tips. Let me know what you think!

February 22, 2004

Almost a year since my last update. Well for those of you that are curious, here is what I am up to:

I can't wait for the Nikon D70! This is the digital SLR that I've been waiting for! It's going to be $1000 and comes with the 1/500 flash synch that I desperately need to take sharp cycling photos. The 1/250th flash synch on my F100 sometimes isn't fast enough to stop action. The 1/125th flash synch on my old N6006 was totally inadequate. I haven't been taking many pictures as I've been occupied with the above.

As far as cycling goes, I've been training 3 times a week, every other day, weather permitting. January was extremely cold with many days where day time highs did not exceed 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Most days did not exceed 25 degrees and I found it very difficult to do the amount of intervals I would have liked. I noticed in this cold weather I fatigue much faster and my average speed drops 3-5 mph or more. A 50 mile ride in sub freezing temperature feels like a 70-80 mile ride in the spring or summer. Still my fitness level is much better than it was last year, although not as good as 2 years ago when we had a very mild winter. I'm about where I want to be and I am sure I will be much fitter as the weather improves.

March 1, 2003

Well, it looks like today's race on Bush Campus at Rutgers has been canceled. But the race for tomorrow on Cook Campus is still on!

February 27, 2003

The 2003 cycling season kicks off this Saturday!! The Rutgers Cycling team will be hosting the season opener. Well, as of this writing, it seems to be canceled due to the weather, but the organizer is trying to reverse decision. But the race scheduled for this Sunday is on either way. I will be down there photographing the entire event, so stayed tuned for pictures.

I am not in racing form, so I will probably take a pass for all the training races in March. This weather has been playing havoc with my winter training this season. The extreme cold and large amounts of snow we had this winter made it almost impossible to train outdoors. Also, I'm not the type of person that can train for hours on an indoor trainer, so my form is way off compared with last year when we had a mild winter.

January 16, 2003

Check out the new section of the web site! My photo library is now online. It is a database driven section of all the photos I have taken over the past years organized by category. You may also purchase prints. Check it out here!

September 17, 2002

OK, I've come up with a new idea. Enough people seem to have broadband access to the Internet now. Almost everyone I know has broadband either at work or at home. Therefore, I am going to start creating streaming videos! Every once in a while, I am going to create a monologue about some issue. So in the works, is a video page.

October 19, 2001

Added some new pictures to my photo page.

October 16, 2001

I have added some pictures of Fitchburg 2000 from last year. Also updated my cycling page. Also you will find a write up of my new bike, a Bianchi XL Boron.

At the end of this season (my 7th year racing), I have upgraded to Category 3! Next year I may get to race with some of those mighty Pro's you read about in Velonews. :-)

October 10, 2001

Yes, I know I have ignored my site for a while. Those of you that know me know I haven't stopped writing, however! I've just been a little lazy and haven't transferred my emails to my web site. Many of you have asked me to update my web site with new materials, so I will transfer my emails and some new pictures.

What has happened to me recently? Well, many sad things frankly. My last remaining grandparent, my grandfather on my father's side passed away last month. He was 92.5. The disaster in New York City on September 11th, of course. I just had this sick feeling in my stomach when I watched the towers collapsed on TV.

I have been riding and racing my bicycle a lot and just hanging out. I am still living in Randolph, NJ. I am glad to be out of New York City.

I never like NYC, but what happened on September 11th was just awful. I had a beautiful view of the skyline from my apartment in West New York. The view of the towers was just spectacular. You can see for yourself here. This is the view I had from the promenade at my apartment:

This picture is just history now and the skyline will never look like this again.

Over the next few days, I will transfer some of my new writings over to the web site.

December 18, 2000

Well, I have not really worked on this site this year, but I have been writing! If you know me, you have be getting my mass emails. Over the next few days, I will be moving some of these emails to my web page along with pictures. I also hope to put up some video taken with my new digital camcorder. I will be focusing on my 2000 cycling season.

In other news, I moved again last August. I am now living in Randolph. I no longer live in Whippany because my parents sold the house! I decided not to stay in West New York. The rent is outrageously expensive ($2,500 per month!), but I didn't leave because of financial reasons. I just couldn't take New York City anymore. I grew up in the suburbs and just couldn't take the big city lifestyle. I couldn't handle the crowds, pollution, and traffic. It was very convenient, however. Everything was readily available. My favorite was having a broadband connection to the Internet. It's back to my trusty 56K modem now. :-( 

March 18, 2000

My first entry in the new millennium! OK, I know it's not the new millennium yet, but who cares. Anyway, I got lots of new stuff planed for Y2K! I am going to do something new and exciting! I'm going to have fun! One of these new, fun things I trying to do modeling! Yup, I'm going to try to be a modal. Crazy huh? Well why not? Life is too short to be doing just one or two things. So stay tuned! It's a long shot, but maybe, just maybe, it'll be a brand new career!

Meanwhile, I added some new pictures to my review of the Olympus Stylus Epic DLX that demonstrate some of the focusing problems.

December 12, 1999

Well, it took me long enough, but I have finally written about my experience with the 1999 Tour de 'Toona. It was a very challenging and enjoyable race. Check it out!

November 21, 1999

I moved out on my own 2 months ago! I never thought this day would come so soon. However, I was spending 3-4 hours a day commuting on the bus and it was just too much. I am living in West New York, NJ and probably will stay here until I no longer need to work in Manhattan. My parents also sold the house in Whippany, so I guess it is farewell after nearly 12 years. I feel a little depressed as I really like Whippany. All my friends are there and now it will be harder to see them without a home base there. It's not the first time I moved out. I lived in Edison and New Brunswick during my college years, but I never thought of them as my home. I always came back during the weekends and after graduation, I moved back. It's definitely a new stage in my life.

Also I have written a new commentary in Leon's Take.

September 16, 1999

Wow! It has been one year since I started my new web site. Time sure flies!

Anyway, I have put up a new lens review. I just purchased a Tokina 20-35mm f/2.8 lens for my camera. It's a good mid-range ultra wide-angle zoom lens. See the review for more information and pictures of this lens.

August 15, 1999

My review of the Olympus Stylus Epic DLX is up. If you're looking for a compact, take anywhere point and shoot that takes great pictures, look into this!

August 5, 1999

I have added many more pictures to my Photo Section. I have lots of things I want to write about including my races at Newark, Park Ridge, Stirling, and most of all the Tour De' Toona in Altoona, PA.

I am also going to write a review of my new point and shoot camera, the Olympus Stylus Epic DLX. If you're looking for a point and shoot camera, I highly recommend this one. It's cheap, easy to use, almost foolproof, and takes great pictures! The quality is much better than those expensive zoom point and shoots.

Recently I purchased a new road bike. It is the Jamis Eclipse. It's a very good bike and an even better deal. I have about 700 miles on it and will write a detailed review about the bike and the 99 Shimano Ultegra group.

July 24, 1999

Well, it's certainly been a while since I last updated my site. Working in the city certainly eats into your time. But I have had some time to add some pictures. I just got a Nikon LS-30 CoolScan III. I was debating a while whether to get a film scanner or a digital camera and I decided to go with the scanner because the results are much better than a digital camera. I went digging for some old pictures and have put some up. They are in the Cycling and Photography (both under Interests) pages.

I have done 4 bike races this year and have placed in the last 3 (4th, 3rd, and 8th) races. I will be writing a quick summary in the near future.

In the meantime, enjoy the pictures!

February 28, 1999

Not much has been happening on my site right now. The reason is because I have been working on my new site at www.cycleraceresults.com. It is my bicycle racing site with race flyers and race results. If it takes off, I will add online race registration.

February 4, 1999

Well, my web host has moved me to a new server that works with the Access OLEDB driver, so all of my site is back up. I just got a new IP address in the process, it may be a few days before everyone is going to the correct server. With my move to the Access OLEDB driver, you may now enter comments that are greater than 255 characters.

Also, check out The Leon Fu Club. It is now the official club site of www.leonfu.com.

January 18, 1999

Certain parts of my site are down. More specifcally, any site that uses the database. Unfortunatly, my move to OLEDB isn't going as smoothly as I planned. For some reason, I can't seem to use the Access OLEDB provider on my web host. Stay tuned for this to be fixed.

January 15, 1999

I have modified my ASP code to use the Microsoft Access Jet OLE DB provider. This solves the problem of not being able to type in a comment more than 255 characters. There was a bug in the MS Access ODBC driver that did not accept memo fields correctly. However, the OLE DB provider also seems to have some bugs. I can't access certain types of queries correct (such as INSERT queries). So therefore, I am using 2 connection objects, one using the OLE DB ODBC and the other is the OLE DB JET provider.

December 19, 1998

You can now send Email to me from my web server! Check it out here.

November 1, 1998

Please check out the files section. You can download some files or upload some to me.

October 21, 1998

I have added some pictures of myself at Basking Ridge race I did this year.

October 10, 1998

Added some new books to my store.

October 1, 1998

For those of you that want to know all about my romantic life and my views on women, check out my first commentary in Leon's Take. I don't know why you would want to, but I know many of you do because a lot of you constantly ask me about it for some reason. Well, here's my answer.

September 24, 1998

I have finished one of the toughest 100 mile bike ride in New Jersey. Check it out in my Racing section under Interests.

September 17, 1998

Greetings all! Welcome to my brand new web page. I'll admit, I did not have much time to update much of my web page because I have been very busy with school and work. A lot has happened and hopefully I will be able to maintain my web page more often. I will begin porting my pages over from the Rutgers site. Please note I have chosen to drop some content because they are outdated or no longer reflect my interests.

The mission of the site remains the same. To satisfy the craving of any and all my fans out there. There are various pieces of information about me and my life, my interests, and my knowledge. It will be ever evolving and will reflect my interests and hobbies.

Hopefully this page will be updated more often as I am using FrontPage 98. This makes web publishing and management a lot easier although it sometimes trashes your carefully crafted HTML into an unreadable form. Then again, I am working now and can only add and update material after I get home.

I have spent a lot of time putting this site together and I believe you will find much new information here. Hopefully I've also organized the site better than my old site (which was a mess), so that's it's easier to add new material.

This page was last modified: Thursday, June 07, 2007 11:54:06 PM