As a blogger, I understand the importance of building an audience through inexperienced means. However, I'm becoming so irritated by bloggers who spam Facebook groups every time they write a new blog post. I'm part of a dozen or so groups for people who recover from "spiritual abuse" (abuse from churches and clergy). There are a few bloggers who spam all 12 of these groups every two days. It's so irritating. This happens with others who provide meaningful content, but one person in particular posts her newest article on at least 20 groups or pages, including mine. Can you explain the difference between contributing to a group with meaningful conversation and topics, and overwhelming a small community with useless posts? Also, can you explain the importance of bloggers developing an advertising budget to gain readers? I know some bloggers are on a budget, but they should know that spending a few dollars a week on advertising can really develop quality "likes" or followers, as opposed to people blocking them on Facebook because they spam EVERY GROUP THEY ARE PART OF.More >>

Mary Jane Watson / Flickr

Expect things to be a bit crowded.

Even if you're generally allergic to marketing campaigns, Bike to Work Day -- happening tomorrow (Thursday) in San Francisco and beyond -- seems like one of those can't-lose deals. Bicycling in itself isn't that difficult, but if you're going to join the commute, here are some things to expect and ways to get prepared.

Bike to Work Day was initially part of American Bike Month, established in the 1950s by the League of American Bicyclists (hey, not all K-Street lobbyists are evil!). In our far-flung corner of the nation, the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is leading the charge. The group says it expects "hundreds of thousands" of people in the Bay Area to observe tomorrow's event, including Mayor Ed Lee and 10 of the 11 supervisors. It has its own Bike to Work Day information page, including group rides, "energizer stations" throughout the city, and bicycle mechanics who'll be out to help. On offer at the energizer stations in the morning and evening will be goodies, schwag-bags, and encouragement, because bikes are just that terrific. Here's a link to an interactive map showing where the stations are.

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Jeffrey Beall / Flickr

"No one pays any attention to it, of course," wrote the man who photographed this light in Denver last year.

Welcome to The Spokesman, our weekly bicycle column written by French Clements, a San Francisco resident and distance cyclist who considers it pretty routine to ride his bike to Marin County or San Jose and back. He belongs to a club, the SF Randonneurs, and is active in numerous aspects of the cycling community. For those of you wondering, the title of this column is a slightly tongue-in-cheek merging of bicycling and blogging terms, not a claim that Clements speaks for anyone but himself.

--Keith Bowers

In the wake of the tragic Castro bike crash in March, you'd be hard-pressed to find cyclists or pedestrians who don't feel some twinge of connection to the case. Sutchi Hui, a Daly City resident, was crossing Castro Street at Market on foot, just behind his wife, when he was struck by a rider, Chris Bucchere, who's suspected of speeding and being out of control. Hui, 71, died four days later. Bucchere, meanwhile, could face a felony vehicular manslaughter charge from the District Attorney's Office

Everything about this case just plain sucks. Even by the morbid standard of fatal bike collisions, which can be as sensationalized as they are rare, this one sticks out. People try to pin a lot of cartoonish BS on cyclists -- scan the comments of most any blog post or story on the subject -- and most of it we can shrug off. But this case is un-shruggable. There's so much to learn and too much at stake.

Many riders are lucky not to have caused a Bucchere-style crash, yet in their hubris -- going fast does feel awesome -- they see themselves not as lucky but as skilled. At least one video exists of Bucchere in the intersection, effectively showing his luck running out. In an online forum following the crash, Bucchere, probably woozy and dull with medication and adrenaline, wrote, "the light turned yellow as I was approaching the intersection, but I was already way too committed to stop." Those are the words of someone who didn't realize until far too late that he wasn't the rider he thought he was.

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Shawn Allen / Flickr

Bicycle + car = OW! This cyclist wasn't at fault, but the crash did happen at a stop sign.

Welcome to The Spokesman, our weekly bicycle column written by French Clements, a San Francisco resident and distance cyclist who considers it pretty routine to ride his bike to Marin County or San Jose and back. He belongs to a club, the SF Randonneurs, and is active in numerous aspects of the cycling community. For those of you wondering, the title of this column is a slightly tongue-in-cheek merging of bicycling and blogging terms, not a claim that Clements speaks for anyone but himself.

--Keith Bowers

When riding a bike in this hilly, congested, distractingly scenic, and carefree burg of San Francisco, breaking the law is a little too easy -- especially at stop signs. On Tuesday I wrote about some principles of good communication at intersections. ("S.F. Cyclists: If We Don't Communicate Well With Others, We Don't Deserve Respect.") Now, from a practical perspective, here are some points to aid our role (ha, roll) when navigating intersections with stop signs:

1. Slowing Down Is Great.
As the saying goes, where's the fire? Conservation of energy is great and all, but so is conservation of your life. Boo-yah! That said, the law -- roughly, "stop at that sign, or we'll, um, you know..." -- is broken about 134,000 times a day here. It's effectively unenforceable. Fixed-gear riders and folks in cleated shoes are especially vulnerable to ticketing. That said, more ticketing is not a viable solution. But a solution exists.

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Rhi Neuroptik

Is this the face of someone you'd mess with?

Facebook can be big brother, let's just be honest about that. How many people do you know who have been fired, fought with a partner, or gotten into trouble of some kind because of a post on Facebook? If I did not make my living the way I do, Facebook would cease to exist for me. While I personally couldn't give a flying fuck what people think about my posts, there are those who take Facebook seriously. Which brings us to nightmare dating experience number two. (Read about my first nightmare date here, "Sex and Romance in the New World: Four Nightmare Dates."

I had been on a few dates with this man, who was very funny, smart, and fun. He was quite helpful and eager to please. But it wasn't long before it became clear that he wanted to be daddy. In the dating world, I've come to realize that a lot of men try to be daddy, whether or not they realize it.

Let me make it clear: Not all women are looking for a daddy. I might quickly embrace you, but the second you insult me, undermine me, or essentially pat me on the head and call me pretty, nothing good will come of it.

Part of this man's daddy tendency came out in his dating history, which was interesting, and which he readily shared. While I believe people should share past dating experiences, at times it can be a bit overwhelming. I find that those conversations should happen over time, not all in one sitting. He pointed out how he made life better for a lot of girls. (I found it interesting that he called all women girls.) Part of his seduction is his whole "I want to help make girls lives a better place" schtick. He also pointed out how much money he spent on each "girl" in order to help her make her life better.

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I'm one of the few lucky people who has a steady job, one that I don't plan on leaving for a while, barring something catastrophic happening. Meanwhile, I keep getting LinkedIn requests to "connect" to people, usually those I don't know very well. I just accept them and move on, but I wonder whether I should do more with this site? Does it have any usefulness for those who are already employed? Has anyone actually found a job because of LinkedIn?

~Breaking the Chain

I personally don't know anyone who's landed a job through LinkedIn alone, but I don't go around asking people about LinkedIn, and very few of my friends are like, "Hey, I have thoughts about LinkedIn you should hear!" That said, it's a tool like any other, and if utilized properly, it can yield advantages, depending on what you're looking for. It is, however, still primarily used as a job board and storer of resumes, but it does have other functions. As my friend, who is employed and who works in the film editing biz, put it, "I like to think of LinkedIn as an online Rolodex of sorts. LinkedIn lets you check to see what your contacts are up to, if only to see where they're at, where they've been, and who else they may know. It's great if you work in an industry that is ALL about who you know!"

Because networking is still the best way to access professional gains, it doesn't hurt to cast as wide a net as possible. What makes LinkedIn useful? Let's explore.

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Chas Redmond / Flickr

Sandy Bottoms has been a performer at San Francisco's Lusty Lady for two and a half years. She identifies as a polyamorous queer femme, and she also dabbles in porn and independent escorting as well as history and activism. She belongs to the Bay Area chapter of the Sex Workers Outreach Project. Here she offers tips to those who visit the Lusty Lady. A version of this ran on her blog, Diary of a Peepshow Princess.

Having witnessed hundreds of patron's experiences behind the glass and visiting as a customer a time or two, let me give you a few bits of advice on how to get the most out of your trip to the Lusty lady peepshow.

Follow the rules: Whipping out your phone, fancy iPads and cameras makes us buck-naked ladies way nervous, even if you are only checking a text. Most of us are not out about our jobs and would like very much for our images to stay right were they are.

Don't pretend you're at the zoo: Remember when Tatiana the tiger mauled that obnoxious guy at the SF Zoo a few years back? Beware of harsh reprimands and flying stilettos if you dare bang on the glass or taunt us.

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In brief, what to do about phones out at restaurants/bars? I don't mean using the phones, but phones on the table. Bad manners or no? More >>

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This isn't a personal problem per se, but I want to ask about online oversharing. The conversation for me has shifted from oversharing to people who constantly complain about oversharing. Like passive-aggressive status updates about "Do I need to see every photo you've posted/read every article you've read," and so on. It seems impossible to me to curb people's tendencies completely, so in a universe that encourages oversharing, how do you know when enough is enough?

When Wilford Brimley told me to stop tweeting him poetry. That was a "sign," if you will. "For neither the angels in heaven above / nor the demons down under the sea / could ever dissever / my soul from the soul / of the beautiful Wilford Brimley."

Just kidding! (He never told me to stop.)

You know though, I don't really get the oversharing lament. Or rather, I do get it, but it doesn't bother me.

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