The Leica Users Group ( LUG ) -- a list-serv/mailing-list -- is an online community in which I have sometimes participated. When I have, I really enjoyed it. (Lately, however, I have been spending time on Flickr .) Many photographers do not like it because its discussions so very frequently stray "off-topic" -- way off-topic. Members of the list -- "LUGgers" get so, umm, passionate , that the list has, in the past -- been shut down until participants cooled off. But it's the freewheeling nature of the list, and the passion, and the sense of engagement and love and support for an activity -- photography -- that keep me coming back to it, despite the insanely protracted message threads. I actually like the digressions -- there are interesting people on the LUG and -- like most really interesting people -- they are curious about the world around them, not just their own tools and hobby-horses, so with every digression comes piquant observations and candid rema...
Looking on the sunny side of the street