Their friendly staff can advise you on promotional calculators, clocks, torches and many other gadgets that are powered by eco friendly means. One thing they can’t supply is promotional cars unfortunately, like the “poo-powered” VW Beetle which has taken to the streets of Bristol in an attempt to encourage sustainable motoring.

The Bio-Bug runs on processed methane gas generated as part of the raw sewage treatment process. Engineers from Wessex Water estimate the waste from 70 homes would generate enough gas to run the car for 10,000 miles (16,100km).

Despite being powered by fuel created from sewage, the car does not smell unpleasant. “It performs like a normal car - you wouldn’t know it was powered by biogas,” a company spokesman said.

In the tricky world of corporate branding, a row has broken out between Wikipedia and the FBI over the use of its seal. In a letter sent to Wikipedia’s San Francisco office, the FBI said that “unauthorised reproduction of the FBI Seal was prohibited by US law”. “Whoever possesses any insignia…or any colourable imitation there of..shall be fined…or imprisoned… or both,” the FBI wrote.

Not being easily phased, Wikipedia denied that it had done anything wrong and said that FBI lawyers had “misquoted the law”. The issue centred on the FBI’s Wikipedia entry which, in addition to information on the US bureau, also features an image of the “Seal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation”.

“We are compelled as a matter of law and principle to deny your demand for removal of the FBI Seal from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons,” said Mr Godwin from Wikipedia adding that the firm was “prepared to argue our view in court.”

Does the FBI have nothing better to do? I’m sure a quick look on Google images will find hundreds of other examples of their logo.

A controversial ad for Marie Stopes International, the health advisory organisation that offers abortion advice, among other services, has escaped a ban from the Advertising Standards Authority despite receiving 1,054 complaints.

The ad, which debuted on Channel 4 in May, also received a further 3,296 complaints in the form of postcards sent in following a petition organised by the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), and another petition with 63 signatures.

In addition there were 327 pre-transmission complaints. Some viewers objected that the TV ad carried a political message and believed the advertisers actively campaigned to change the law on abortion. The ASA referred those complaints to Ofcom according to procedure set out in the Cap (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rule 4 (Political and controversial issues).

Viewers objected that the ad was offensive for various reasons including: their belief that it promoted abortion; that it offended their religious beliefs; that it trivialised the difficult decision faced by women experiencing an unwanted pregnancy; and that the ad could be misconstrued – that the life of an unborn child was being equated to decisions about consumer goods.

Can you get your head round your energy bill? Watchdog Consumer Focus has warned that new annual energy statements are likely to confuse the customers of some gas and electricity suppliers.

Companies were ordered by the regulator Ofgem to send a statement to every customer, with information about their energy use and how to switch suppliers. Consumer Focus says that in the worst cases the statements look like bills.

The Energy Retail Association which represents suppliers, says the statements are “a work in progress” – that’s good to know then. To be fair, energy supplies seem to be a mixed bag with Audrey Gallacher Consumer Focus’s head of energy policy stating; “Some companies are applying the letter of the regulations but not the spirit - and the spirit is that people get information to manage energy use and make comparisons”.

To avoid confusing letters and questions such as; ‘Is this a bill or a statement’, simply use products that exclusively run of renewable energy! This may be a bit of challenge in you’re day to day line I admit, but ecoproducts2order will help you give it a good go.

Ecoproducts2order has a great range of branded products that run off water or solar power, while some are also self powered by dynamos. Water powered clocks, dynamo torches, solar powered calculators all make great promotional products for businesses who want to preach their eco friendly message!

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?

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.

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.

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.