Promotional mobile phone accessories are big businesses, as they seem to physically attached to most people. However mobile phone users are being encouraged to find out if operators are doing enough to keep their calls secret.

Security researchers have released tools that, they say, make it easy to see what security systems operators use to stop eavesdropping. The researchers want to expose those operators that have not updated security systems to prevent others listening in.The tools are based on an attack first demonstrated in late 2009.

“We do want people to go out and study how secure these networks are and to put pressure on the operators to improve,” said Dr Karsten Nohl, the lead security researcher behind the project. Dr Nohl gave a presentation about the tools, called Airprobe, and how to use them at the Black Hat hacker conference held in Las Vegas from 28-29 July.

Most mobile calls are protected with an encryption system that uses a huge number of keys to stop eavesdropping. The vast amount of time it would take to try all the keys just to get at the contents of one call makes it effectively impossible to eavesdrop.

Dr Nohl said he, his colleagues and a few dozen others have found a way to shrink the amount of storage needed to hold a complete list of the keys and speed up the way to find the one that unscrambles a conversation.

Is somebody eavesdropping, or are we just being paranoid?

As well as obviously investing in promotional products, is your organisation linked as well as it could be with social media platforms?

Facebook has passed the landmark of half a billion global users, and has released fresh statistics about time spent on the site. This announcement means that 7.4% of the estimated 6.79 billion world population is now signed up to the site.

It has taken only five months to add the last 100 million users, while the first 100 million took it almost five years. Since February this year, when Facebook last released statistics on reaching 400 million users, the total time users spend on the site has increased by 40% to 700 billion minutes per month.

This works out as a rise from 20 hours and 50 minutes per month for the average user to 23 hours and 20 minutes per month. The average user is now connected to 80 pages, groups and events, up from 60 pages in the same time period.  Coinciding with the announcement is the launch of the Facebook Stories application, which aims to show the power and reach of Facebook through real life stories.

Have you been one of the people buying promotional banners, branded flags and other printed noise making equipment? If yes, maybe you were one of the many evicted peace protesters who have been camping in Parliament Square since May.

Last week the Court of Appeal rejected an application by demonstrators at the camp, dubbed the Democracy Village, who wanted to be allowed to remain. Bailiffs and police moved in at about 0100 BST, although a handful of activists tied themselves to scaffolding and trees. They have now been removed and a fence has been put up around the square.

London mayor Boris Johnson, who took legal action to remove the Democracy Village, had criticised the spectacle as “nauseating”. While protest organiser Chris Knight said: “This is part of a much wider protest”…”We’re not going very far and we’re not going away.” Some protesters have promised a wave of further demonstrations, dubbing the campaign “Operation Rolling Thunder”.

If you’re part of Operation Thunder and require some more promotional products to get your point across, contact the friendly team over at Gift Selection and Promostore.

Selfridges in Oxford Street will launch its Christmas season on the 2^nd of August, a full 145 days before the holiday – it’s earliest-ever start for the store.

People keen to plan ahead can purchase trees, crackers, fairy lights or even a £500 life-size donkey. The store said previous sales had shown some customers, especially overseas tourists, started thinking about Christmas during August. Last year, its festive shop sold more than 1,000 baubles during the first week of trading after opening on 8 August. The shop said customers could paint their own baubles this year.

Did you know the flagship store in London’s Oxford Street is the second largest shop in the UK (after Harrods) and was opened on 15 March 1909. Don’t worry Gift Selection won’t be putting out it’s Christmas based promotional items just yet, and I doubt they will even offer any life size donkeys what so ever. If you’re looking for branded baubles however, your talking their language…

Promotional sportswear is big business in the corporate gift industry, having your school kids football team all kitted out with their own branded kits, will make them feel much more professional.

Branded sports kits don’t come too much bigger then Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, who have agreed a shirt sponsorship deal, restricted to Premier League games, with software company Autonomy Corporation. The two-year deal, which begins from the start of the 2010/2011 season, will see the Autonomy brand feature on the Tottenham Hotspur shirt in Barclays Premier League matches.

The football club said that it was in discussions with several brands regarding the shirt sponsorship opportunity for Cup competitions which will incorporate the FA Cup, League Cup and European Competitions.

Of course its not just branded football shirts that are available. Get your very own embroidered polo shirts for your pool team, or if you’re a bit posher, have your own polo shirts for your polo team!

Gift Selection can offer promotional clothing from all the best manufacturers of branded garments; contact their friendly team today for more information.

If you are from our neck of the words, you have heard that a hosepipe ban is to be introduced in most of north-west England for the first time in 14 years. The temporary ban which will affect millions of householders in the region, will come begin 6am Friday.

The firm said the measure will help “safeguard essential supplies”. Water levels in many reservoirs and lakes have plummeted to less than half their capacity due to the region’s driest start to the year since 1929.

Ironically this hosepipe ban comes just months after hundreds of properties were flooded in Cumbria following severe storms; more than 1,300 properties were flooded across the county, with Cockermouth, Workington and Keswick worst affected.

John Sanders, from United Utilities, said: “Despite some recent rainfall in the north of the region, reservoir levels are still significantly lower than we would expect at this time of year and are now at a point where we need to impose some temporary restrictions on our customers.

If you’re a keen gardener, you probably won’t be too impressed by the news. One promotional product you may approve of is a branded desktop garden. Now you can show the world you have green fingers, without reaching for the hose pipe.

Branded desktop gardens are a fun promotional item that will brighten up any work space. Having your logo noticed is generally the point of promotional merchandise; something that will defiantly be achieved with this quirky corporate gift.

Foodies will be pleased to here that the boutique chocolate retailer Cacao Sampaka, is planning to open its first UK outlets later this year.

The brand is part-owned by Ferran Adrià, the head chef of El Bulli, one of the world’s most celebrated Michelin 3-star restaurants which can be found near the town of Roses, Catalonia. As well as having equity in Cacao Sampaka, Adrià is also head of development for the brand. It already has a retail presence in Spain, Dubai and Tokyo.

Cacao Sampaka aims to open at least two combined café and retail outlets in Covent Garden and Canary Wharf by Oct­ober. A wider roll-out will follow; a full UK ecommerce website will be launched next week. As part of a campaign created by NR Communications, the brand has signed up TV make-up artists as brand ambassadors to help position it as the ‘celebrities’ chocolate’.

If you like the idea of marketing your businesses along chocolate lines, why not invest in some branded chocolate for your business. Sweets2order in conjunction with Gift Selection can supply great quality branded chocolate, that will really leave a sweet impression.

The branded chocolate that they offer may no be quite as posh as what you’ll find in El Bulli, but rest assured it is made either here in the UK or on the continent, you won’t find any dodgy Chinese confectionery being offered. Whether you’re looking for little Neapolitans branded, chocolate bars, or embossed boxes of truffles; talk to their friendly team who will be able to help.