Actuate The Net

VR Hosted has now become Net Actuate. They have some new plans and programs for domain hosting since they've changed their name.

First, about Net Actuate, they are an internet presence provider, specializing in highly redundant, load balanced, multi-homed architecture. As a staunch supporter of Open Source Projects, they provide architecture needs assessment and custom consulting services.


For individuals, they offer web hosting plans for the beginner or expert user. Great for family sites, blogs, and more. A full control panel, with over 50 installable open source scripts, template sites, webmail, and secure email access are just starters. If you're looking for more control, their entry level Server Colocation options can provide you with enterprise level service, high bandwidth connectivity and SLA's usually reserved for large businesses.

Photo Gallery Hosting

Easily share those great pictures from your new digital camera with friends and family.

Domain Registration


SSL Certificate

Secure your website with industry leading SSL certificates. Optional trustlogo included, compatible with 99.9% of all browsers.

Virtual Servers

A great alternative to colocation, for experienced individuals looking for full root access and complete control to their server.



Get Hosted
5gb space, 10 domains, 100gb transfer. $10/mo
Get Colocated
1u, 1000gb transfer, Remote Reboots. $99/mo



What makes us different?
"We pride ourselves on our service and our commitment to keeping your web site online. If you don't know about multiple DNS servers, multiple backup mail spoolers, and daily, weekly, and monthly backups of your data, relax. You just need to know that your web site will always be up, your email delivered, and your photos visible."

Expert users
"If you understand the under-the-hood details, you'll also want to know that our shared hosting plans run on P4 Intel systems using the FreeBSD platform, attached to our Tier 1 carrier class redundant backbone. Because we’re also developers and web presence designers, we can support your additional needs, including perl or php module support, third party image libraries, and system utilities. You'll also want to know that each of our packages includes a dedicated IP and the potential to purchase an SSL Certificate for your domain. Expert users also get SSH Access to our servers.

We let you have management of your site with SSH Access, SFTP, Secure/Imap and Secure/Pop3 but pride ourselves in maintaining a secure environment. All control panel, webmail, and other account logins are protected by 128bit SSL encryption."




To be quite honest, in my humble opinion, the site seems to offer a range of services for reasonable prices, but some of the links on the site are snarky and some of them that are supposed to lead to different places all lead to the same page, so you wind up getting the same information over and over again. I recommend using the top-of-the-page link list instead of the ones underneath the various text blurbs. Also, some of the pages are really slow to load and I had a lot of trouble getting the links to the various ones I listed here and some of them go to the same page, because I couldn't get the individual page to load. I have a fast broadband connection and I checked my connectivity, so I know it wasn't anything going on from my end.

LoudLaunch - Compensating bloggers for their unbiased opinions, reviews, and analysis. View the LoudLaunch campaign release this post was based on.

Calvin, Gucci, Fendi and Dolce! Oh My!

I lose my sunglasses constantly, but I can't go without a pair even in the winter because my eyes, for some reason are really sensitive to light so whenever I go outside and it's even moderately bright, it causes me discomfort. It's like the light hits my eyes and pierces straight to the back of my head, which makes me squint (not a very pretty face trust me). Even sometimes when it's cloudy, it seems bright to me. I guess it's the uv rays? I don't know. So, whenever you see me, I'm either wearing my shades or have them perched on top of my head ready to slide them back down should I have to go outside. Convenient for walking around the college campus I go to.

The glasses in the picture above are real Calvin Klein glasses not copies made to look like them. Y'all they're only $26.00 bucks each. *faints* I found them on this site, CTS Wholesale Sunglasses.

Don't get me wrong. I don't have to have designer clothes and whatnot to be me, but occasionally I like to have a little something. Occasionally, I splurge, but this is not splurging! I can go into Barnes and Noble, buy a coffee and a book and spend more than that, which is something I do on a pretty regular basis (book freak/coffe freak-->me).



Here's more sunglasses that you can get from there:

These are also $26.00 bucks! I can't believe it. Don't these name brand sunglasses normally go for a couple hundred at least? I'm stunned that they're so cheap. Holy crap, man! Not only could I buy myself a few pairs, but also I could buy them for friends and family for, I don't know...Christmas, birthdays and whatnot. What a find! I'm all about some wholesale/sale prices! *goes to bookmark*

Okay y'all, I know I'm cheesy, but designer sunglasses for $26.00 bucks? I can't get over it. I'm definitely getting those D&B ones in pink!

LoudLaunch - Compensating bloggers for their unbiased opinions, reviews, and analysis. View the LoudLaunch campaign release this post was based on.

Wanna Go Goji With Me?

I just found out by looking at this site: Goji Berries.us that the Goji Berry has the most antioxidants of anything you could eat.



Here's a chart comparing the different foods high in antioxidants:


These berries are directly imported from the original region where they've been grown for centuries, the Tibetan and Mongolian Himalayas. I didn't know that they shouldn't be touched by hand, you know that's how most berries are picked, but instead the people who harvest them shake them from the trees to avoid the hand-touch which makes the berry lose some of it's nutritious qualities (Ok, let's be honest, I didn't know anything about Goji Berries until I came across this site, much less how they should be harvested. But isn't it cool?)

As a person who struggles daily with the ineffectiveness of my immune system, (I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome)this could be something really beneficial for me. It would be better than taking pills. God, I take a freakin' truckload of pills everyday just to be able to get through my day. I think I've said before on this blog that my friends consider me and tease me about being "herbal queen" just because I've been studying herbs and natural medicine for 10 years. I'd honestly rather keep myself healthy with natural herbs and supplements grown from the earth than take synthetically made medicines manufactured in a lab and which inevitably have side-effects that in some cases are worse than the illness you're taking them for. That's so frustrating. I'd rather work on being healthy than just wait for my body to get sick, y'know?

In case y'all didn't know it already, (you probably do but there's no harm in reminding and some people might not know what antioxidants are):antioxidants are natural compounds that help protect the body from harmful free radicals. Free radicals are atoms, or groups of atoms that can cause damage to cells, impairing the immune system and leading to infections and various degenerative diseases like heart disease and cancer. Antioxidants therefore play a beneficial role in the prevention of disease. Free radical damage is though by scientists to be the basis of the aging process as well.

text taken from Prescription for Natural Healing/ Phyllis A. Balch, James F. Balch, © 2000 by Phyllis A. Balch

I'm know I'm going to try these Goji Berries the juice and the dried kind just to have some variety and the dried kind will give me something healthy to snack on (I'm an incurable snacker) when I get that urge, especially at night.

LoudLaunch - Compensating bloggers for their unbiased opinions, reviews, and analysis. View the LoudLaunch campaign release this post was based on.

I Need More Gadgets!

My dad got me a Zune for Christmas, because I'd been asking for an mp3 player for, I don't know, forever.

I love electronics. Yes, I'm a woman, but that doesn't mean I can't be just as much of an electronic geek as the guys. I can spend literally hours in just about any electronics store. For me, it's like walking into a candy store, only the candy is way more expensive and I can't have as much of it as I'd like. It's not like those little Jolly Ranchers I used to get at the 7-Eleven down the street from my house that were a penny each.

I also love to shop online. Well, let's face it, I just love to shop. For anything really. As long as I can make it fun I'm up for it. This online electronics store called Your Electronic Warehouse has all that electronic-y-gadget-y stuff that us folks who drool over it want. It has also been honored with Monster Cable's E-Commerce Retailer of the Year. That's saying something, especially when there are so many places a person can buy things on the internet.

I'm checking out their site now and I just found this:

Monster® CarPlay™ Wireless Plus for Zune™.
I already have a thing for the car to play my Zune through the car speakers, but who doesn't want to go wireless. Right? Ahhhh...I can say right now that there's at least three or four more things for my Zune that I'll be buying from this site. It'll be bookmarked just as soon as I finish writing this.

LoudLaunch - Compensating bloggers for their unbiased opinions, reviews, and analysis. View the LoudLaunch campaign release this post was based on.

Walking Through Open Doors

I'm writing for another company that pays bloggers for writing news and press releases for advertisers called Loud Launch. This company pays bloggers according to their Google PR rank and I get paid every 30 days. It's another exciting way to make money from home.

Loud Launch also wants to let advertisers know that they can create an advertising campaign with them for as little as $50 dollars. Of course, though, the bigger the budget, the larger the campaign can be. With all the blogs in the world, advertising this way seems like a no-brainer, y'know?

I've read some articles about this advertising of things on blogs and that bloggers who do it are compromising their integrity. I don't see that at all. There are some people, like me who because of time restraints, school, or physical disability cannot work outside the home. Loud Launch and companies like them are giving us the opportunity to make some money whereas before we couldn't. How can that be a bad thing? I can tell you this in all honesty, I just joined Loud Launch, but I know I'm going to love it.

LoudLaunch - Compensating bloggers for their unbiased opinions, reviews, and analysis. View the LoudLaunch campaign release this post was based on.

Busting Out

I have so many problems finding clothes to fit me, because even though I'm considered "full-figured", I'm really not. The only reason I get that label is because I have unusually large breasts. You cannot imagine how hard it is to find clothes to fit an average size body with above average size breasts. Forget about those matching suits or suit dresses. Every time I try on a suit dress, I can get it zipped up to just right above my waist and no more.

Finally there's a company, Eris Apparel, that makes clothes for us women who are unusually top heavy (D-G). This is an amazing idea and I'm surprised that I've never heard of the company before, but now I'm going to tell everyone I know! Most of my friends are like me, average body with very, very large breasts.

You know, I used to love to go shopping when I was younger, because everything fit me. It didn't matter what I tried on. I can't describe the frustration, anger and depression now when I go shopping. It's like a follow the X to the treasure thing, only the X keeps moving.

I'm going to check them out and you'll probably being seeing me posting about my new Eris clothes in a few weeks! (I lovelovelove new clothes!)

Eris Apparel

LoudLaunch - Compensating bloggers for their unbiased opinions, reviews, and analysis. View the LoudLaunch campaign release this post was based on.