Okay, I am very confused about why some designs get a whole week of voting, and why some only get twenty four hours. I assume that there is a score level cut off, but I can't figure what that cut off is. Someone told me that if a design had an average score of better that 1.5 at the end of the first twenty four hours it got to stay up for a week, but my last two designs got over 1.5 and were both ended early. What is the rule that governs this?

I know there is a very simple answer to this question. Anyone???

I have an ethical dilemma. I came up with a design I rather like, but have not had the chance to submit yet. On a whim, I decided to search its title in "submissions" and what do you know. Someone else already thought up my idea and submitted a relatively similar design. I (this should not be surprising) think mine is better, but...if I submit it, I'm sure the author of that design will feel like I have stolen their thing, even though mine is different and I came up with it totally independently. So, what do I do? Do I submit mine anyway, or do I have to drop one of my favorite designs in the works?
Was being stupid or thoughtful even to check? ( Like a coward I want refrain from checking my titles in the future, just to avoid this kind of decision.) Has this ever happened to anyone else?

None of my first three submissions survived the first 24 hours to get a week of voting, and I was wondering if this was because I did not tell enough people about them when they were up. (Of course, it could also be because they were not up the the high standards of excellence held by the Threadless community...) Anyway I was wondering this: How important is advertising to the success of a design? Can a good design still win ever if you do not advertise very much?
If anyone can answer these questions, that would be much appreciated.