Read to the end to figure out how to get free advertising on Spicy Bear websites!

This is Part 2 of a Series Titled “Advertising Online” which I’m writing to help local advertisers, brands and agencies understand how and why internet advertising represents a much stronger medium to market your brand.  Part 1 talked about general online advertising trends.  Part 3 will discuss demographics and engagement. P.S. This is promoting our site/advertorial and I wouldn’t read it unless you are involved in advertising in any way.

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The Miller Center, UVa’s “Center for Public Policy,” made a big deal about a report it just released which studied public perceptions of climate change. Most Virginians think climate change is happening, but less than half of those who think it is happening believe that it’s a human cause.

It seems that Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth has done its job by convincing Virginians that global warming is pretty much going to kill us all.  Despite the criticism to the movie and all the other doomsday news, climate change is something that has become somewhat of a cultural phobia to the good or bad, I have no clue. I digress.

The study’s findings were part of a national effort to study public perception on the topic. Specifically, in Virginia the study found some very interesting things.  The results are after the break:

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I am not making this up.

The Virginia Lottery introduced a new game called “Fast Play Super 7’s” which is some sort of ticket game where you add up numbers on a grid. The more sevens you have, the closer you are to winning the jackpot.  Sounds easy enough, right?

Well, after the Virginia Lottery realized that 600 or so of the 2,300 hundred tickets sold were winners, it freaked out and decided to shut down the game:

The Virginia Lottery sincerely apologizes for the error with its new game Fast Play Super 7’s.

Unfortunately, there was a technical problem when the software was loaded on the computer gaming system. The problem caused misprinted tickets. Thanks to the Lottery’s retail partners, the error was caught by 9:00 a.m. Sunday, October 19 and the Lottery stopped selling the game immediately. The Lottery sold 2,336 tickets before sales were suspended. Of those, 609 printed incorrectly. The misprinted tickets may lead players to believe they have won a bigger prize than they actually won.

The Lottery continues to gather all of the facts surrounding this situation, and we ask that all players be patient. Players should keep their tickets or fill out a claim form at a Lottery office. We are in contact with our gaming partner, GTECH, who made the error. The Lottery is also speaking with the Attorney General’s office to determine if it is appropriate to pay the expected prizes, even though every ticket specifically states “Tickets are void if…. misprinted… or do not meet the state Lottery validation tests.”

The Lottery is extremely disappointed about this error and is working diligently to determine the proper solution for our loyal players and retailers.

Oh shit,  so, you sell tickets which are an error because 25% of the buyers were winners?  If they void the tickets, are they going to have to pay for pain and suffering of those who thought they were winners?  Bad move, lottery. Suck it up and pay the winners!  Next time, make sure you actually make it impossible to win.

(original logo here if you want to make your own tag line)

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Battle Scowly by lulu

Oh, sorry, corrected titled should read “Updates on War with Fails Falls Church.”

Hopefully you’ve been following our war with our Falls Church about who can have the most voter turnout.  It started as a bitch slap and has now escalated to a full scale invasion.  We have some really good operatives with some unique tactics which deserve front page placement.   At the end of the day this is about VOTING IN THE ELECTION, but in the meantime, without further ado, Falls Church, EAT OUR DIRTY BOMBS:

Belmont Yo does some recon behind enemy lines:

Lulu gives us two:

MyMotherisaFish does some amazing intelligence gathering on how to win the information war (the best summarized below):

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Scowly Clone - KIA

cVillain has many arch-nemesises, including UNCUS, China, journalism and bad tartare.  Our newest enemy, is none other than Falls Church, Virginia, a smaller portion of the dreaded NOVA borg.  It seems as though our bitch slapping may have escalated into a cross-border conflict.

In response to labeling Charlottesville residents as “hippy trippy liberals with STDs,” at Midnight last night, we sent our initial black ops teams to Falls Church to take out key communication and transportation targets. Our army was composed entirely of Scowly clones and were prepared for the worst.

Despite the many hours of training, we made a huge strategic blunder.  We did not realize that the entire population of Falls Church was infected with Ebola.  It turns out that Reston is only 10 miles from Falls Church and that the residents of Falls Church had spent the last 20 years slowly building an immunity to the Reston ebolavirus.

Seriously, who has a internal and external hemorrhaging disease named after your fellow NOVA borg hive?

We are currently evaluating other methods of conquering Falls Church and seeking your input. In the meantime, you can aid in the cyber-attack by voting in the real election and bugging Falls Church on their state-sponsored communist blog.

Update #1:  Charlottesville mayor, Dave Norris, rallies the troops and pays for Jefferson Bust himself.

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You can go listen to this announcement at 1PM outside of City Hall tomorrow.

The City of Charlottesville is pleased to announce that Mayor Robin Gardner of Falls Church has accepted a formal challenge by Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris to compete for the highest voter turnout during the November 4th Presidential election. Earlier last month the City began the 2008 Get Out the Vote Drive to promote voter registration, civic engagement, public education, and ease of voting to all City residents. Since 2004 the City has added nearly 9,000 registered voters to the books with more still being added by the Office of the Registrar. As part of that effort Charlottesville’s Mayor issued a challenge to City residents during last Monday’s City Council meeting to exercise their right to vote and assist others who may need help getting to the polls.

In the 2004 Presidential Election Falls Church had the largest voter turnout of any city in Virginia with an impressive 81 percent of registered voters casting a ballot. The Charlottesville rate was 67 percent, less than the 71 percent statewide average. Although considered the underdog, a confident City of Charlottesville is putting up a souvenir bust of Thomas Jefferson from Monticello while Falls Church is offering a sapling of its 2008 Tree of the Year, the sassafras.

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Wow, cville has its very own Chocolate Festival this week combined with the Chocolate Chase 5K run/walk.  So they expect us to eat chocolate and run 5 kilometers, and then eat more chocolate.  Shit, sign me up!  If you want to participate please show up at Lee Park at 930AM.

You can sign up for the run here, and read more about this chocolate madness here.

View Larger Map

[pic from Darwin Bell on Flickr]

Popularity: 14% [?]

We’ve had a lot of people report in about our original comment from Stanley about gunshots on Bolling Ave between 6th and Avon at about 1:30AM on Sunday Morning. Is this just another neighborhood emptying of rounds, was it related to the shooting on the corner, or are there more details we need to know? We don’t have any reported injuries.

Tuffy, Stanley and Clarice want to know.

If you know anything, let us know in the comments.

P.S. If you want police reports you need to contact the Charlottesville police department. They should put you on the email list.

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We learned from our commenters about a shooting that happened over the weekend. We didn’t know details until Chalottesville put out the official release which explained that one person had been shot and killed and three injured on Saturday at midnight outside of Pacino’s Deli on the Corner.  Today, we learn that Darryl Andre Johnson (pictured above), who had previously been a fugitive, has voluntarily turned himself into police.

[via NBC 29]

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We have just been forwarded the press release about the weekend shooting brought up in this post.  Sadly, there was another homicide, this time at midnight on the Corner outside of Pacino’s deli.

Here is the press release:

On Saturday Morning, October 12, 2008, at approximately 0020 hours, Charlottesville Police officers responded to a report of a shooting at 1329 West Main Street in Charlottesville. Upon their arrival, they discovered the body of 22 year old Phillip E. Adams, Jr., of Charlottesville, lying on the sidewalk adjacent to that location with an apparent gun shot wound to the chest area. Mr. Adams was transported to the UVA Medical Center where he died a short time later.

Preliminary investigation has revealed that Mr. Adams was attending a private party on the second floor of Pacino’s Deli, located at 1329 West Main Street, when he became involved in a confrontation with a subject later identified as Darryl Andre Johnson. During the course of the confrontation, Johnson is reported to have shot Adams and then subsequently fled the scene.

Johnson is described as black male, medium complexion, 20 years of age, 5-8, and 140 pounds.

Three other persons who were attending the party were also injured, but their injuries are not life threatening. Detectives are not releasing the names of those individuals at this point in their investigation.

Warrants have been obtained charging Johnson with Murder, Use of a Firearm in the commission of a Murder, Malicious Wounding, and Use of a Firearm in the commission of a Malicious Wounding.

Click to Download the Wanted Poster with Picture of Johnson

Anyone having ANY information regarding this incident or the whereabouts of Johnson is urged to contact CRIMESTOPPERS at 434-977-4000, or Detective James Mooney at 434-970-3374.

1PM… More updates from Charlottesville police chief Tim Longo after the break…

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