How The Mighty Have Fallen - StudioTraffic Near Collapse

Another large auto-surf, StudioTraffic, is starting to crumble under pressure and lack of new customers. A recent announcement made by owner "John Horan" shed light on the problems ST is facing and the fact that individuals who are "in profit" should not expect to get paid.

Studiotraffic was at one time, considered the most solid and only stable auto-surf/HYIP available, as it had been in operation for several years, running several side companies which claimed to help keep it in profit.

Hello,

I received this news few hours back. Our top management has resigned. This means that offices in US, Canada and Spain will be closed.

With this shocking news and with recent problems with stormpay, I am sad to inform some changes which will affect members.

Members, who are in profit, please stop surfing as we can no longer afford it. We hope you will understand that we have done our best and this is something similar to natural disaster which is beyond our control. If you have funds in studiopay or in your studiotraffic account, please take note that in our TOS, we have never guaranteed payout. Your payout is determined based on our advertising revenue. Less advertiser revenue means that we need less people surfing. You can, however, still use your account for advertising purposes.

I am sure there are people who lost money with stormpay. We are victims too. Stormpay is still taking money from us everyday, we are not sure when they will stop and have expected that we lost our reserves (hundreds of thousands) we have with stormpay.

All is not lost as we can still depend on local funding from our offices worldwide. However, with top management resigning and offices closing down, we will lose almost 90% of funding.

Members who are not in profit, please send email to notinprofit@studiotraffic.com. What we will do is that in the coming months, we will seek venture capital and raise funds. Once we raised these funds, we will send it to you. Do take note that we are not obligated to do refunds or to send you back what you sent in. When you upgrade, you are getting accesses set with different account level so you can advertise your products or services better. When you upgrade, we have a refund policy where we will return you what you sent in, in the first 7 days. After the initial cooling period of 7 days, we are not obligated to do any refund as it is assumed that you accepted what you received.

We are doing this because we want nobody to lose any money with us. Please give us a reasonable time to do this as we need time to get it arranged. You can, however, still continue to use your account for advertising purposes which you have paid for. There is no need for you to continue surfing. All of you will automatically receive shares to all studio programs. If we cannot manage to raise venture funds, we will sell your shares in all studio programs and pay you back so it is the same.

We will close down studiopay website for a couple of months because with Studiopay staff resigning, we do not have enough manpower to handle it. We will do a complete restructuring with a new management team in it. Once ready, we will bring studiopay to public.

I hope all members will understand that we have done our best and what happened is something beyond our control. All studio programs will continue to run. We will continue to allow signups to basic accounts. Most of our current advertisers have mentioned that they do not need high level account holders to surf. As long as we can get a lot of people to see their ads, they are willing to continue to advertise with us. Our expenditure will be reset to the lowest because we will be getting only basic accounts members to surf.

After this, we will, most likely, have less than 15 staff working on this. Due to shortage of manpower, we can only attend to non profit members for the time being. Please send to notinprofit@studiotraffic.com.

As for other members, once we get everything back, we will continue to get you back to surf. Please give us some time to work things out. Please do not send emails because we do not have enough manpower to handle it.

Members please do not worry. As long as we start afresh, we are confident to turn things around and it will be better than before. Many of our staff has indicated that they would like to continue to help out without any payout. If you like to help us further, please email to support@studiotraffic.com.

I hope all members will understand that we are doing the best we can. We will continue to work hard and make sure no one loses money with us.

Sincerely,
John

It should now be clear to anyone who is involved or associated with ST that is simply another auto-surf ponzi, just like 12DailyPro and needs to be shut down completely. If you have a StudioTraffic account, I recommend immediately emailing the administrator and demanding that your money be withdrawn and your account be closed. It is also important to complain to the authorities in the United States, where the program is supposedly based. You can complain to the following agencies for fraud at Studio Traffic - even if it doesn't recover your funds, it might help stop anyone else from signing up for this site.

Internet Complaint Center
Federal Trade Commission
SEC - Investment Fraud
National Fraud Center
GPT Boycott
Ripoffreport.com

StudioPay was/is acting as an unlicensed payment processor which is illegal in many states. You can find out where to report StudioPay to at this thread on TG.

Unfortunately, there is only sketchy information on the address of ST and it's associated companies. I have no idea if the below information is correct, but was taken from individuals on talkgold.com and from domain registration records. If anyone has the correct information, please forward it to me or post it in a comment.

Administrative Contact:
Domain Registration
Ben Stellar (admin@studio5000.com)
+1.5413453276
Fax: +1.5413453276
Ramon Arias Avenue, Maheli Building,
Office 12-E,
Panama City, NA
PA

Address:

214 Courtwright St.
Fort Erie
Ontario, L2A2R8

Phone number:

(905) 994-1066

Fax number:

(905) 994-6699

Tax ID: 203117670

Lorraine Brennan Yahoo IM: impatientlywaiting2001
Jennefer Cullinan Yahoo IM: dreamcatchersps

John has changed his yahoo id, used to be studioplayer2005.

They have a variety of domains that include
www.studiotraffic.com
studiopay.com
studiowalker.com
studiorocks.com
studiocafe.com
studiocares.com
studiohug.com
studiotraffic.org

A sample complaint letter should look something like this

On xxxxx (date) I signed up for the Studiotraffic.com web site program which is advertised as being an 'auto-surf' program that pays you to view ads (rotating websites) at a certain percentage per day. Upon initially signing up, you are given a free upgrade of $10 to start with. In order to be paid 1% (the advertised rate) you must view 300 web sites per day through their viewing system. On xxxxx (date) I upgraded my account by sending $xxxx dollars through an online payment processor, StormPay (or egold, etc), to Studio Traffic to be able to receive 1% daily interest of the investment, which would equal $xxxx monthly. After the upgrade, each day you were required to view 100 websites daily for the 1% interest and to receive credits to be used to advertise a web site of your choosing to be placed into the auto-surfing rotation. You are also invited to sign up members under you as referrals in a type of downline system where an individual earns a percentage of the payment that the referred member puts into the system.

At the end of each month you can request a pay out through their payment processor called StudioPay, which required me to fax in a copy of my drivers license, a bank statement showing my address, and a voided check. It also required me to show a valid credit card number and link to my checking account through its routing numbers. Once the payment was requested through Studiotraffic, it was processed through StudioPay which took out a percentage transaction fee, and then was withdrawn to StormPay (or whoever) which took out another transaction fee.

At some point in time Studio Traffic stopped processing payments to me and many other members and began closing individuals accounts and freezing their money. I received an email today that my account had been frozen because I was "in profit". (If this happened to you - otherwise, describe your specific situation) I attempted to contact their customer service to ask what this meant and was told that because I had made more money than I had put into the system my account was suspended and I could request a "settlement" of $xxxx, which I was unable to do because of supposed system errors.

Recently there has been rumors online that Studiotraffic's online payment processor, Studiopay was hacked. Individuals posted pictures of user's drivers license, checks, credit cards, and other relevant information from their accounts on online message boards and discussion forums. Studiopay sent an email out asking people to inform their local police that their id had possibly been stolen and inform their banks and any other agency relevant to identity theft.

Please order a free copy of the Consumer Action Handbook for 2006 put out by the US government.

If you're looking for a real investment program, try ING Direct which is FDIC insured.

Top management quitting - Studiotraffic Forums
Help Shut Down StudioTraffic Now!

Texas Attorney General Shuts Down Online Payment Processor EMO

Online payment processor, EMO, has been shut down by the Texas Attorney Generals office. This comes at the heels of the shut down of 12DailyPro and the debacle involving 12DP, StormPay, and many other online auto-surf companies. After 12DailyPro had it's account frozen by StormPay, it was attempting to use EMO as a backup payment service.

EMOCorp was an Ithaca, NY based online payment processor that used web based money orders to transmit money to customers.

According to the complaint by the Texas AG, EMO cannot account for more than $5.4 million of customer transactions and is not a licensed payment processor in the state of Texas. What was unknown to many people before the 12DP/SP incident was that payment processors must be registered in certain states, according to their laws, to act as a bank or money transfer service.

This is a very big concern with customers since most of the use of these online payment processors involved a level of trust, as they require levels of verification in order to use their services - sometimes including a copy of a drivers licenses and voided checks. The Texas AG considers EMO an insolvent company, which insinuates that the operators of the company may have embezzled the funds that customers placed into EMO.

Court order against unlicensed online payment service

03/13/2006

Associated Press

Texas has secured a court order for a receiver to take over operations of an unlicensed online payment service based in Austin.

Attorney General Greg Abbott today announced the state has obtained an order to freeze the assets of E-M-O Corporation.

Abbott says the company can't fully account for more than five-point-four (M) million dollars consumers had in their accounts.

He says E-M-O documents show only three (M) million dollars -- in cash -- on hand.

Abbott also says the company isn't register with the Texas Banking Department and never obtained a license as a money services business -- as required by law.

Company officials didn't immediately return a call to The Associated Press for comment.

View the press release from the Texas AG against EMO here

The Texas Department of Banking

Court order against unlicensed online payment service - Dallas Morning News

Patriot Act Rider - Severely Restrict Sales of Ephedrine HCl

A little known about rider was attached to the recent signing of the Patriot Act renewal called the The Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005. This new bill severly restricts the sale of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine hcl. Since the herbal version of ephedra has been banned, many bodybuilders have turned to pure ephedrine hcl as their alternative of choice for thermogenics. This new law will make it even harder for individuals to purchase this compound and limit the amounts that can be purchased at a time, as well as requiring ID to buy it. This new legislation is intended to stop the creation of methamphetamine (crank, speed, ice, etc) which can be easily made out of cold medicine and other chemicals. However, because many state laws have already cracked down on the sale of these drugs, putting them behind the counter and limiting the sales of them, a federal law for this is hardly necessary.

The Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005

This legislation [Note: opens as a PDF file. Adobe Acrobat required] is part of a bill to amend the PATRIOT Act. As of February 2006, it is pending a vote in the Senate where the anti-terror bill had undergone a highly contested debate over its renewal. Backed by the bipartisan Congressional Meth Caucus, the Combat Meth Act would:

• Nationalize restrictions on retail sales by requiring ephedrine and pseudoephedrine products to be kept behind the counter or in a locked case; require purchasers to buy no more than 3.6 grams a day and 9 grams a month, show I.D. and sign a sales log, and require employees handling the products to be properly trained
• Toughen penalties against meth kingpins and smugglers and also meth cooks who endanger children or use federal property
• Step up the government's authority to monitor the flow of precursor chemicals from foreign manufacturers, including withholding aid to countries who are not fully cooperating with U.S. law enforcement
• Hold precursor chemical importers and exporters accountable if their product is diverted for illicit use
• Increase funding for assistance programs such as drug courts and those helping mothers or drug-endangered children
• Impose on manufacturers quotas for production and import of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine
• Pledge support to Mexico in its efforts to curb methamphetamine production

Although many people use ephedrine as a workout aid, many more use it to relieve sinuses and allergy symptoms - making it even more difficult to get the treatment their require, especially if they are lacking in health insurance, which many Americans are.

Ephedrine, which has been replaced more and more by pseudoephedrine in over the counter cold remedies, is now being being practically removed completely. Consumers are now forced to purchase medicine that contains the understudied ingredient phenylephrine, which works as a non stimulant decongestant.

Ephedrine can still be purchased in the form of VasoPro, combined with guaifenesin or in pure form from D&E (drivers license required). After the legislation takes effect, ephedrine will probably start showing up on the underground at much higher cost.

FRONTLINE: the meth epidemic: the u.s. national strategy | PBS

Goldfrapp - Supernature finally released in the US

After European fans have been treated to official release copies of Supernature and all the singles from Alison Goldfrapp's latest albums, US fans have had to do with pirated audio or high priced imports from MUTE Records. Now, we can finally have our own copies of this groundbreaking album - which has been mostly unheard of outside of Europe and the UK.

How you doing, Deers?

OK, we've made you wait long enough, the speculation ends here!!!!! We are pleased to announce that our next single will be... "Fly Me Away" and is due for release on 24 April. We'll let you have the track listing soon and give you a sneaky look at the artwork too, so make sure that you check the site soon.

Next up, some long awaited news for our US Deers: Supernature was released in the US on 7 March and is available in-stores NOW!!!!

As you've had to wait so long there's an extra special treat for you. The standard Supernature edition includes the PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED bonus track 'Beautiful' and the Deluxe Supernature edition, CD + DVD includes CD bonus track 'Beautiful' and the DVD features Supernature in 5.1 surround sound, the 'Little Bits of Goldfrapp' Documentary, Frappworld animation, videos, live footage & even more exclusive content.

If you can't get to the shops, you can order from Amazon by clicking here:

• Standard Edition
• Deluxe

You've got loads more US goodies too !!!!

iTunes is offering "Lovely 2 C U (T.Raumschmiere remix)" as an exclusive Supernature bonus track:

iTunes (US)

AND we're performing at The Wiltern in LA on 11 March and SXSW in Austin on 16 March!! For the many who can't get into these shows, remember to set your VCRs/DVDs for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on 13 March.

Hopefully American fans can look forward to more US tour dates and more support from MUTE for US fans.

If you haven't heard the disco/techno/electronica surreal sound of Goldfrapp, then check out her latest video "Ride a White Horse" by clicking the link below. Enjoy!

You can learn more about Goldfrapp and listen to free tracks and watch more videos at goldfrapp.free.fr and goldfrapp.us.

Breaking News from the FDA: Superdrol and M1P Adulterated Drugs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
P06-37
March 9, 2006

FDA Warns Manufacturers About Illegal Steroid Products Sold as Dietary Supplements

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today warned several manufacturers and distributors of unapproved drugs containing steroids that continued distribution and sale of these products without FDA approval could result in regulatory action including seizure and injunction. FDA is concerned that the use of these products, which are marketed as dietary supplements and promoted for building muscle and increasing strength, may cause serious long-term adverse health consequences in men, women, and children. These products claim to be anabolic and problems associated with anabolic steroids include: liver toxicity, testicular atrophy and male infertility, masculinization of women, breast enlargement in males, short stature in children, adverse effects on blood lipid levels, and a potential to increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.

“FDA takes its responsibility to protect Americans from dangerous unapproved drugs seriously. Today’s action is indicative of our resolve,” said Margaret O’K. Glavin, FDA’s Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs.

Consumers who have any of the products listed below should stop taking them and return them to their place of purchase. FDA issued warning letters for the following so-called dietary supplement products:

* Anabolic Xtreme Superdrol, manufactured for Anabolic Resources LLC, Gilbert, Arizona, and distributed by Supplements To Go, Cincinnati, Ohio
* Methyl-1-P, manufactured for Legal Gear, Brighton, MI and distributed by Affordable Supplements, Wichita, Kansas

These warning letters are part of FDA’s continued efforts to protect consumers from dangerous steroid products. In March 2004, FDA sent warning letters to 23 manufacturers and distributors of products containing androstenedione.

Warning Letters:

Affordable Supplements
http://www.fda.gov/foi/warning_letters/g5739d.pdf
http://www.fda.gov/foi/warning_letters/g5739d.htm

Anabolic Resources LLC
http://www.fda.gov/foi/warning_letters/g5736d.pdf
http://www.fda.gov/foi/warning_letters/g5736d.htm

Legal Gear
http://www.fda.gov/foi/warning_letters/g5738d.pdf
http://www.fda.gov/foi/warning_letters/g5738d.htm

Supplementstogo.com, LLC
http://www.fda.gov/foi/warning_letters/g5737d.pdf
http://www.fda.gov/foi/warning_letters/g5737d.htm

This seems to be the end for Superdrol and M1P. If you're still looking for these products, you better hurry and buy them before they're removed off the shelves forever and many similar compounds will probably be next on the list, so stock up while you still can!

Legal Gear Methyl Masterdrol
Legal Gear Methyl 1-D
Legal Gear Methyl 1-Alpha

You can also find some bulk powder forms of these products at sites like Bulknutrition and other vendors.

I'll keep you posted as info comes in. You can visit the bodybuilding.com thread on the subject here.

I welcome any supplement company owners or reps who would like to be interviewed or comment on this, please contact me or post a comment.

Become an Amateur Ghost Hunter without the Expensive Equipment

Ever since I was a little kid I loved Ghostbusters. It is one of my favorite movies, and I always watched the cartoon, bought all the toys, and was interested in anything having to do with ghosts. Although I've never seen a ghost myself or am convinced they exist, some people do attempt to seek out and find ghosts, along with evidence of them.

Most "professional" ghost hunters have very expensive equipment that uses all sorts of electromagnetic reading, detects changes in the atmosphere, expensive recording devices (both audio and video), and many other techno gadgets - all in an attempt to capture the sound or picture of a ghost. Now you can be a ghost hunter without all that highly expensive equipment, and try to find your own supernatural entity. But, you'll need a few supplies.

The Ghost Radar

A company located in the UK makes a device called the Ghost Radar, which is basically a small USB drive with additional features beneficial to finding preternatural spirits by way of detecting changing in surrounding atmosphere, EMP fields and more.

THE SENSORS
The white ball at the top of the GhostRadar is part of the electro-magnetic sensor which detects changes in local energy fields. It's not a roller ball, and doesn't need to be rotated. If you try, it may move and the magnetic sensor will lose its sensitivity.
The thermal sensor detects changes in temperature and, in normal mode, its data is combined with that from the other sensors, the lunar-cycle clock-timer set-up, and your bio feedback. It's widely believed that most ghostly presences are accompanied by a chilling of the air.

The optical sensor detects changes in the light level and, in normal mode, its data is combined with that from the other sensors, the lunar cycle set-up, and your bio feedback. Most apparitions appear as the evening light fades and the long dark night begins.

The bio-feedback sensor builds your experience into the detection algorithm. Generally, as you become nervous, your skin resistance changes. Maybe you then become more likely to see ghosts.

GhostRadar is unaffected by the very high frequency changes in electro-magnetic radiation used for communication by mobile phones, radios, and televisions.

The smallest size, which holds 128MB of data, costs about $74. The lights on the front panel of the device can be hard to read, and the other question is whether or not it really works and how sensitive it is. However, it's low cost compared to other devices, which generally will only detect one type of impulse, is quite low. So, it might be worth a shot.

Of course, as with everything, it comes with a disclaimer.

GhostRadar does not guarantee to detect ghosts, nor does it imply that they exist. But it might, and they may. However, your interaction, emotional state, and belief system, may be important factors in how you interpret unusual events.

A Camera with Infrared Film

Most likely, you already own a camera of some type. If it's a digital camera, it is possibly that the pixilation is too low for getting good shots of ghosts (at least according to ghost hunters), so you might have to invest in a regular film camera if you don't have one. A common recommendation to take pictures of ghosts is by using infrared film, which allows you to capture a wider spectrum range of light, and is more UV sensitive. It is higher priced than regular film, so it isn't something you would want to use for everyday shots. Although infrared film isn't required, it is preferred, so if you are truly intent on capturing a good shot of a ghost, infrared seems to be the way to go. I am not a photography expert, so I couldn't tell you which brands are best or which cameras it will work in, or even a good place to buy it. But, I have linked a good FAQ that details more about it. I'm sure there are lots more other links on the web with more information about this as well, and probably some books you can find on the topic.

An Audio Recorder

Sometimes, often the strangest evidence of other worldly presents is captured via some type of audio recording. You could use a cheap tape recorder from an office supply store to do this, or professional recording equipment to capture sounds within higher or lower frequency ranges. You could also use an iPod voice recorder, like the iTalk from Griffin, which sells for about $27 on Amazon.com. Once you've recorded as much as you want, you could hook it back up to your PC and listen to see what you've found. There is quite a bit of software available that allows you to enhance, change, filter, and isolate different parts of audio files so you can try and decipher what you might have picked up. There are different schools of thought on how you should listen to 'ghost' recordings, what frequency they can come, if they should be listened to in reverse and so forth. The same is true with photography, and all other aspects of it. Probably the most problematic issue with audio recordings is interference or sounds that could be suspect as to what exactly they are. Obviously, if you're in search of a phantom spirit you'll probably have an open mind, so you'll have to judge for yourself.

Video Cameras (Optional)

There are lots of video cameras available today, even some very cheap wireless ones from X10.com that allow you to remotely watch areas without anyone being there. X10 makes quite a range of products that might be ideal to an amateur ghost hunter, such as remote cameras, some with night vision & remote arms, motion sensors, remote audio recorders and other nifty stuff. If you never caught a ghost, you could always use it for home security purposes (which is what it's meant for). Of all the TV shows on ghosts I've watched, I don't recall them ever successfully seeing a ghost on video camera. It seems like they always set up a huge amount of equipment and sit back and expect a ghost to show up on the screen. My personal opinion is that if ghosts exist, they probably would not readily show up on camera. Why? Well, possibly because they might know people are looking for them. Ghosts seem to be reclusive creatures and generally pop up when people aren't looking for them, which generally impedes the average ghost hunter (or proves they don't exist). However, there's no harm in trying. I would wonder if a ghost would set off a motion detector though?

So, where to find a ghost?

There are many guides, directories, and listings online and off of where ghosts have been sighted, and many places will intentionally advertise the fact that they are haunted (such as small bed and breakfasts in old houses) in an effort to draw tourist dollars. So, don't go out of your way to try and find a ghost. There are probably places in your home town where people might have claimed to see a ghost. Cemeteries are always good, as are old battlefields, extremely old buildings with a history of many generations of residents living there, and always the eerie and strange lure of abandoned buildings and other similar places (just beware of trespassing laws). If you're really gutsy, you could always try and find the scene of a death. Places where people have died by way of tragic consequences seem to gravitate with stories of hauntings. Just keep in mind the large amount of urban legends associated with the topic. But also keep in mind to have a respect for these places and the dead. Don't go out and expect to find a ghost your first try, or even your second or third. Some people spend half their lives looking for ghosts and never find one, but don't let that discourage you. Once you start going around hunting ghosts you can call yourself a "Paranormal Investigator" or even get a degree in it. In fact, there are a whole lot of "schools" that will certify you in this field. I'm still trying to figure out how you become a demonologist or vampirologist.

Books

• The Ghost Hunter's Guidebook - The seemingly true guide to ghost hunting. Including an FAQ about most of the items I've listed above
  
• The Ghost Hunter's Bible: The Definitive Edition -
• How To Be A Ghost Hunter - Guide to investigating hauntings
  
• Ghost Tech - An easy way to understand ghost hunting technology, including the latest info on the latest paranormal research
• Haunted Places in America : A Guide to Spooked and Spooky Public Places in the United States - If you're gonna hunt ghosts you're going to have to know where to find 'em!
• Encyclopedia Of Haunted Places: Ghostly Locales From Around The World

Links

• The American Ghost Hunter's Society: Ghost Hunting Guide
• Ghost Hunting 101
• Ghost Study.com - Ghost Hunting Tips
• International Ghost Hunters Society
  

Supplement Picks of the Month - March '06

After looking over some of the latest nutritional supplements released lately I've decided to review them here. These are based on my own personal preference from my experience reviewing previous supplements and my knowledge of them and how they work. Not all of these are brand new, some of them are old but have just come to my attention. None the less, I think they are worth mentioning and so here are my picks of the month.

Now don't be afraid if you see some supplements on this list from companies that I, and many others, have been critical of in the past. With the demise of prohormones, companies have had to come up with new and novel ways of creating supplements that work to build muscle, lose fat, and give energy in ways like never before - and without recycling old supplements (for the most part). Who would of thought I would actually be endorsing a VPX, Biotest or MuscleTech product. Well, here it is - and they aren't even paying me to do it! I actually think these are good supplements. The latest supplement from MuscleTech actually has some science behind it and may actually work.

So, we'll start off with a rather new supplement from VPX called Dietex.



VPX Dietex - I recently picked up some of this at Vitamin Shoppe for my dad who's on a never ending diet. They had the RTD version that was on sale for $1 a can. It's a stimulant free fat burner, actually more of an appetite suppressant, that works on a similar theory of the prescription appetite suppresants like Meridia, by increasing serotonin. It contains some good appetite killers like Hoodia, 5-HTP and Tyrosine. Right after drinking one of these my dad (who's 60ish, btw) wasn't the least bit hungry and ran outside to trim the hedges. He doesn't like stimulant fat burners which I've put him on before because they give him the jitters and keep him awake at night. So in this regard, it's perfect.

VPX claims that you need to "load" it, but I think that's really unnecessary considering that the ingredients don't need to build up in your system to work - they should start working right away. So, if you're looking for a little self control along with mood elevation while dieting, Dietex might be something to look into.

Ingredients:
Proprietary Blend: 810mgs
Hoodiax (Hoodia Gordonini)
Sceletix (Sceletium Tortuosum)
5-hydroxy-L-tryptophan (5-HTP)
N-acetyl-L-tyrosine
18 Beta-glycyrrhetinic Acid
Evoburn (Pure Evodiamine)

NOW TestoJack 100 - NOW is a company I really like. They've come in and taken over the generic supplement market where Twinlab used to be, since they filed for bankruptcy several years back. They have a very nice line of sports supplements, along with all the regular vitamins, minerals, herbs and regular supplements you would want at very low prices - not to mention they are GMP certified. Their labels aren't very fancy and they don't have any reps on the boards going around pimping their stuff, but their products are great none the less and I use them all the time. TestoJack is a blend of testosterone boosting ingredients that a lot of more expensive products have, at a much lower price. It has high quality tribulus, ZMA, and Longjack all in one - of course all high quality and standardized in the right amounts. This would be a great product for anyone working out, looking to boost their libido, used as an adjunct to PCT, some cheap and 'natural' HRT or whatever else you can think of for a test booster, this should get the job done. The only thing it's missing is some estrogen control, but that's not a big issue.

Ingredients:
Vitamin B-6 3.5 mg 180%
(from Pyridoxine HCI)
Magnesium 150 mg 40%
(from Maganesium Aspartate)
Zinc 10 mg 70%
(from Zinc L-Monomethionine and Zinc Aspartate)

ZMA 808 mg
(Patent Pending complex of Zinc L-Monomethionine, Magnesium/Zinc Aspartate, and Pyridoxine HCI)
Eleuthero 300 mg
(Eleutherococcus senticosus) (Root)
Tribulus terrestris Extract 250 mg
(Fruit) (min. 45% steroidal Saponins)
LJ100 Tongkat Ali 50 mg
(Eurycoma longifolia Extract) (Root)(18 - 28%
eurypeptides)

Javalution JavaFit Energy Extreme - I just tried this product recently and will be buying it again when I run out for sure. It's basically "super coffee" - an excellent blend of high quality coffees with some extra ingredients, like more caffeine, green tea extract and niacin for added energy. It does the trick too, one cup will give you plenty of energy. It doesn't give you the jitters either, but it might if you drank more than a few cups. Javalution also makes a few more coffees, including two other "diet" coffees with some extra ingredients to speed up your metabolism and act more like a thermogenic, and a multivitamin coffee and a coffee with added calcium. It's kind of a novel idea and I don't know if it will catch on. Obviously there are a lot of coffee drinkers out there and just the idea of a super coffee for me was good enough to try it. The bag comes in a thirty day supply and includes a small supply of little tea type bags so you can drink it as a tea instead of running it through a coffee machine (sort of like coffee singles). It's regular coffee, and not instant and has a very good flavor. The standard serving for a cup is the same as any other store brand coffee.

Ingredients:
Coffee Arabica Beans ground 4.9g
Niacin 95% 19mg

Proprietary Blend 294mg
Green Tea Extract
(50% polyphenols, 37.5% catechins)
Caffeine USP
Garcinia Cambogia 50% HCA

ErgoPharm Mass Meal - When you think of a weight gainer you probably think of the following: low grade whey protein concentrate, maltodextrin, and maybe some vitamins. Bleh. ErgoPharm came along and created Mass Meal, a very similar idea for a weight gainer I had that I had pitched to a few supplement companies that weren't interested. Too bad for me. Mass Meal has only whey protein isolate (the first of it's kind, that I'm aware of), a new type of diglyceride oil, Enova, MCTs and vitamins and minerals. The only thing I don't like is the maltodextrin in it, but the formula includes Chromium and ALA to try and compensate for the insulin spike caused by the high GI carb. It comes in three flavors - banana cream, chocolate fudge, and vanilla cream. It's a little pricey though, and only has 15 servings per container. Still, I think it's a move in the right direction for weight gainers. Similar to MHP - Up Your Mass and SAN Infusion, both MRP/weight gainers that attempt to use better, higher quality ingredients with lower GI carbs to help add muscle instead of just fat. I still haven't heard any feedback on Legal Gear's Anabolic Protein, which contains buckwheat protein - an ingredient that is supposed to have very potent muscle building properties, but doesn't seem to have caught on in the mass market. Still, you can always mix up your own MRP in the blender with the usual ingredients. Hopefully we'll see some more weight gainers like Mass Meal with good ingredients, good flavors, but at a lower price.

Ingredients:
Calories 330
Calories from Fat 110
Total Fat 12g
Saturated Fat 2g
Polyunsaturated Fat 3g
Monounsaturated Fat 7g
Cholesterol 5mg
Total Carbohydrate 25g
Dietary Fiber 4g
Sugars 8g
Protein 34g

Vitamin A 35%
Vitamin C 30%
Vitamin D 30%
Vitamin E 30%
Vitamin K 30%
Thiamin 35%
Riboflavin 30%
Niacin 30%
Vitamin B6 30%
Folate 30%
Vitamin B12 30%
Biotin 30%
Pantothenic Acid 30%
Calcium 35%
Iron 30%
Phosphorous 30%
Iodine 35%
Magnesium 35%
Zinc 30%
Selenium 21%
Copper 30%
Manganese 30%
Chromium 40%
Molybdenum 30%
Sodium 3%
Potassium 15%

Other Ingredients:
Whey protein isolate, non-dairy creamer, maltodextrin, fructose, micelar casein, Enova oil, inulin, glutamine, medium chain triglycerides, rice oligodextrin, natural and artificial flavors, soy lecithin, vitamins and minerals, alpha lipoic acid, sucralose, aminogen.

Syntrax SwoleN - We haven't heard a lot from Syntrax since their old message board shut down. Still, despite rumors of bankruptcy and changes in ownership, new products continue to come out of Syntrax and it's new parent company SI03. Back before creatine ethyl ester, Swole v2 was a huge hit. The product worked great and had a very successful following. Now Syntrax has come back with another great version of Swole - SwoleN, basically Swole with a nitric oxide addition to it. They took their old dicreatine (or was it tricreatine?) product and added malate to it, along with their old creatine anhydrous to give a double boost of highly bioavailable creatine. Then, they took their popular Nitrous ingredient, di-arginine-malate and threw it in there as well. Along with that is their original Swole blend of potent insulin potentiaters and some type of proprietary carbohydrates to help uptake the creatine. This is the main difference between SwoleN and Swole V3 which doesn't have the carbs or the arginine. If you really wanted to get crazy you could throw in some bulk creatine ethyl ester into the mix. This would give you a triple whammy of creatine and definitely give you some massive pumps.

Ingredients:
2CM Enhanced Dicreatine-l-malate 5g
CR100 Creatine Anhydrous 2g
Nitrous Malate Di-L-Arginine-l-malate 3g
Taurine 2g
Betapure Betaine Anhydrous 2g
Guanipro Guanidinopropionic Acid 500mg
Glycovol Glycocyamine 500mg
Anabolic Carbohydrate Blend 20g

Biotest FlameOut - This is an interesting new product from Biotest that's only sold through their online magazine site, Testosterone Nation. It's an EFA product with extremely high doses of EPA and DHA, along with CLA. They claim that they are free of the common pollutants in fish oil. It's also much cheaper than some comparable products, like SAN's Triple Strength Fish Fats, or my personal favorite, The Total EFA. FlameOut is only $25 and has 22 servings per bottle. It has an astonishing 2g of DHA and 880mg of EPA per dosage, which makes it a very good value (if in fact the product is free of contaminants). I'm not familiar with the different isomers of CLA that are included, and I'm also aware that CLA has shown to have poor use as a fat burner - but is obviously an EFA and is needed in the diet, plus it has it's uses outside of dieting. Hopefully, Biotest will start selling this outside of their own store and the price might come down even further.

Giant Nutrition Liposolv - Liposolv is a very interesting new product from famed supplement 'artist' Patrick Arnold. This seems to be Skulpt v2 with the kinks worked out, such as the orange staining and the skin peeling. It doesn't have any anti-estrogens (unless you count forskolin which is debatable). It's also lacking a favorite of topical fat loss products, yohimibine. Whereas Skulpt seemed to be more suited for cases of mild gyno, Liposolv seems to be better used for abdominal adipose fat loss. One of the more striking ingredients in the solution is epinephrine, aka adrenaline, which is only sold as a prescription drug for patients who carry it around as an emergency injection for allergic reactions, as well as an inhalable mist for asthmatics. How this can be legally included in an OTC topical supplement is an enigma, but I've seen stranger things. Another positive attribute Lipsolv has over it's predecessor is that it has some benzocaine to help numb the application area so the DMSO and alcohol in the solution won't be to harsh for the average user. Coming in at $30 a bottle, and a recommendation of 7 sprays twice a day, it would be an expensive product to use for long periods of time. You can read the full writeup here. (PDF)

Ingredients:
Isopropyl Alcohol, Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), Water, 18 beta-Glycrrhetinic acid, Theophylline, L-Epinephrine Bitartrate, Benzocaine, Forskolin.

Muscletech GAKIC - I know it's hard to believe that MuscleTech would come out with something innovative that might actually work, but it seems they might have done it! With the amount of money they made from CellTech and NitroTech sales, they've funded some research into a new compound called Glycine-l-arginine-alpha-ketoisocaproic acid calcium. According to two studies conducted with the substance, the conclusions from the researchers were that "... data support an ergogenic effect of GAKIC for attenuating the decline in mean power during repeated bouts of supramaximal exercise." & "... oral GAKIC treatment increased muscle torque and work sustained during intense acute anaerobic dynamic exercise..." So what the hell is this stuff and how do you use it? According to MuscleTech: As a dietary supplement, take 1 serving (1 scoop) up to 45 minutes before a high-intensity workout.

Here are the studies involving GAKIC:

Glycine-arginine-alpha-ketoisocaproic acid improves performance of repeated cycling sprints.

Buford BN, Koch AJ.

Health and Exercise Sciences, Truman State University, Kirksville, MO 63501, USA.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of glycine-arginine-alpha-ketoisocaproic acid (GAKIC) supplementation on repeated bouts of anaerobic cycling performance. METHODS: Ten men completed a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled exercise protocol of two sessions separated by 7 d. Plasma lactate was analyzed in blood collected 45 min before exercise (REST) and 5 min postexercise (POST). Subjects consumed either 11.2-g GAKIC or placebo (PLC) during a 45-min period between the REST and exercise. Mean power, peak power, and fatigue values were assessed from five supramaximal, 10-s cycle ergometer sprints, separated by 1-min rest intervals. Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANCOVA. RESULTS: A significant treatment x time interaction (P = 0.039) was observed for the change in mean power output over the five sprints between the GAKIC and PLC treatments. Post hoc analyses revealed a greater retention of mean power (P = 0.038) between sprints 1 and 2 after GAKIC (-1 +/- 9 W) versus PLC treatment (-47 +/- 18 W). No other performance variables differed between PLC and GAKIC. POST lactate was increased (P < p =" 0.936).">

High-intensity dynamic human muscle performance enhanced by a metabolic intervention.

Stevens BR, Godfrey MD, Kaminski TW, Braith RW.

Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville 32610-0274, USA. stevens@phys.med.ufl.edu

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to quantify the effects of a metabolic treatment on human muscle dynamic performance (strength, work, and fatigue) measured under conditions of acute, exhaustive high-intensity anaerobic isokinetic exercise. METHODS: Unilateral prefatigue and postfatigue peak torque and work values were measured in the quadriceps femoris of 13 subjects using a computer-controlled isokinetic dynamometer, over a 23-d interval. The two experimental treatments were: 1) a glycine and L-arginine salt of alpha-ketoisocaproic acid calcium ("GAKIC"); and 2) isocaloric sucrose (control). Based on a randomized double-blind cross-over repeated measures design, measurements were made before and during an exhaustive anaerobic fatigue protocol to calculate a Fatigue Resistance Index (FRI = [peri-exhaustion torque]\[baseline peak torque]), as well as total work. RESULTS: The FRI and total work for each of the exhaustion sets measured at 0, 5, and 15 min after oral GAKIC treatment were greater than values obtained for isocaloric control treatment (P <> 0.05): mean FRI = 0.42 +/- 0.05 and mean total work = 4600 +/- 280 J. There were no significant differences attributable to random order of testing. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with isocaloric carbohydrate, oral GAKIC treatment increased muscle torque and work sustained during intense acute anaerobic dynamic exercise; additionally, it increased overall muscle performance by delaying muscle fatigue during the early phases of anaerobic dynamic exercise.

Publication Types:

* Clinical Trial
* Randomized Controlled Trial

Their other new supplement, Leukic, which is L-Leucine-ketoisocaproic acid calcium doesn't seem to have any studies supporting it. These two supplements apparently don't have patents on them either, at least not by MuscleTech, leaving other manufacturers with the option of making and selling these supplements (hopefully in bulk powders) so the masses can afford to use it. The only patents MuscleTech holds that I could find are:

6,784,209 - Food supplement for increasing lean mass and strength (this one seems to be for their NO supplement)
6,620,425 - Food supplements and methods comprising lipoic acid and creatine (this one seems to be for CellTech)
If the above links are broken you can use the US Patent Office Search to find the patents by their number.

Well, that's all for this month. If you come across any interesting supplements for my next picks, feel free to contact me and let me know. If there's anything worth a crap next month and I feel like doing a writeup on them, I'll do it.