Excuse Me! There’s Blue Fur in my PHO!
Posted by Stephen on
February 4, 2007
Well, technically, Blue Fur was AT PHO, not actually floating around the noodly soup goodness. That would have been gross…
After my Saturday Mandarin Class, I decided to take a detour to join the “Dot Commotion” at the PHO LAN restaurant in Richmond. Even the name of the restaurant has a bit of a Web connotiation to it as there’s nothing that computer geeks like better than “PHO” and “LAN Parties”. PHO LAN!
The “Dot Company” included John Chow, Ed Lau, Paul Mudhar, Michael Kwan, and Greg Morgan. Joining the PHO Phenomenon for the first time was Gary of BlueFur, and Rainer of ThinkReferrals. Both Rainer and Gary survived their very first PHO experience and have sworn to becoming more adventurous each time they come out. They have also learned the local rules: When in Richmond, pay with cash! Both Gary and Rainer were stuck clutching their credit cards, but hopefully they have learned their lesson.
I might have to make this a regular Saturday thing if I have nothing going on. It was really cool to see everyone in person. Even little Sally Chow made it out for her second PHO adventure after experiencing her first the week before.
While at PHO, we found out that Gary’s “Review Blue Fur” contest wasn’t going so hot. So to help him out, let’s give you a brief review of Blue Fur, and why they are called Blue Fur…
Blue Fur wasn’t always Blue Fur. A while ago, Blue Fur used to be called MONSTER HOSTING. As MONSTER HOSTING, they became one of Canada’s best kept secrets in hosting. Their service was so good that Ed Lau survived a DIGG without going down, and he was only on one of Blue Fur’s $4.95 US packages. That’s amazing and speaks volumes about the optimizations and reliability that Blue Fur is known for.
What Happened to MONSTER HOSTING?
Well, MONSTERS come in different sizes. There are big monsters. Little monsters. Of course, there are monsters that eat other monsters. MONSTER Hosting was targeted for termination by a bigger monster. Now I know what you’re thinking. EVIL MONSTER CABLE is up to no good again, but Gary assures us that it wasn’t them, however, due to a non-disclosure agreement through the settlement, he is not supposed to reveal any details. My only guess is that MONSTER Hosting was being gnawed on by the legal department of a BIG US MONSTER Hosting company that wanted to kick Gary out of his .CA domain. The funny thing about that is that .CA domains is that they can only be owned by a Canadian person or company. Well, this proves that if you have a Monsterous legal team, you can have anything you want, even if it means picking on little monsters that do good and honest business. What a bunch of bullies!
At any rate, that’s why Blue Fur came about. By choosing the name Blue Fur, Gary was able to keep his loveable blue mascot. Blue Fur is also a memorable name that may or may not illicit the immediate connection to quality hosting, however, this seems to work for Go Daddy. Go figure?
Although I do like the name, I have to say that the tag line “Experience the Legend” really doesn’t do it for me. Coupled with the “Blue Fur” it reminds me of a BBQ restaurant. Maybe I’m thinking of Memphis Blues? Perhaps “Legendary Web Hosting” might be a better way to help people understand the association between Blue Fur and a quality hosting experience.
My BlueFur Experience
I’ve actually recommended quite a few people to Gary for their hosting needs. Their awesome $4.95 US hosting plan is a great deal because not only is it an affordable monthly rate, but the hosting experience itself is solid like I mentioned above with Ed’s experience. Since most people setup their sites and leave them alone, and since the pricing is so affordable, prepaying for 2 years in advance guarantees your pricing, but also gets you 20% off. That’s only $95.04 US for two years of hosting! I wish I could get hosting that cheap for my sites, but of course, my requirements are just a little bit steeper.
I’ve actually helped people setup their hosting through Blue Fur, and having first hand experience with the setup, I was truly amazed at how quickly things were setup and done. They really do Quick and Easy Setup as stated as one of their biggest advantages over other hosts.
Blue Fur Will Give You a Free Domain Registration!
To celebrate the changing of the name, Gary is having a promotion where if you review his new domain, BlueFur.com, he will give you a free .NET, .COM, or .ORG domain name registration. But you have to hurry as he is only doing this for the first 50 people. Get the details here.
See you all at the next PHO LAN Saturday! 
If you enter JohnChowRocks in the promo code when you buy a BlueFur webhosting plan, you get an additional 15% off.
Can that coupon be stacked on top of the 15% off for 1 year and the 20% off for 2 years?
I actually tried when I got my monthly package, and it didn’t work.
Heck of a deal, heck of a Pho Fur party. I think it would be easy to fill the place up but not sure what the regular crowd will think, they may riot.
No credit cards, No cash cards, wtf? We live in Surrey where they have moved into the 21st century, lol. Under $10 per person though so that should be floating around on the floor of my Jeep somewhere. See ya next time.
Welcome to Richmond
Thanks ever so much…roflol
Glad to see there is an offline support group as well as an online one. I think this is one thing that will be hard for me to get involved in because I am in such a non-tech area but when I eventually move to a more suburban area this sort of this might not be as foreign. Do you know if you have to be a member of Blue Fur already or if you can just evaluate its name, domain, and prices etc. I know by the time I get this answered it might be too late but I would like to get in on this if at all possible.
I think Gary just wants an honest opinion about his new URL and branding. He stipulated a 300 word minimum and you need to post your link for your review with a valid email in the comments related to that post I linked above.
You do not need to be a member to submit a review. It is not too late yet either.
Okay I submitted my review as a comment on the blog. Are the moderated in that they don’t show up until they are approved? I went back and didn’t see it, that is why I am asking.
I think they are moderated. When I comment, the comments don’t show up immediately.
Yes, they appear to be moderated.
Yep they are moderated and Gary from Blue Fur already contacted me and got my domain registered. Sure beat 901am’s contest where I supposedly won a domain for life but I have yet to hear anything about it. Thanks for tipping me to the site and to Blue Fur for the domain.
Not to sound culturally, well, retarded but what exactly is pho. It isn’t something I have encountered in my journeys and I am wondering what exactly it is.
It’s a Vietnamese noodle soup made of rice noodle and very hot soup broth. The hot soup broth is often used to cook the thinly sliced meats in the soup. Something like that
Ah that would probably be why I haven’t ever had them, not too many Vietnamese restaurants in NW Pennsylvania.
Don’t you have a “Pho Hoa”? There’s even one in Las Vegas on the way to the airport.
I guess we’re a little spoiled here in multicultural Vancouver. We have just about every ethnic food available here (with an abundance of Vietnamese restaurants).
Ha, no we don’t have one of those. There might be a Vietnamese restaurant but nothing I have ever been too or come across. The most cultural thing we have is a Chinese buffet.
And even that, I’m guessing, isn’t real Chinese food. If it’s a buffet, it’s probably fried rice and spring rolls.
and a whole bunch of teryaki chicken and wings.
There’s your clue right now. Teriyaki. There’s nothing Chinese about that.
thats funny because i dont think we have a “chinese” restaurant without that, in fact, i think the majority would go out of business if they didnt have that.
The abundance of restaurants around here is Sushi. There is one on every corner from North Van to Langley. I think they outnumber StarBigBucks as well.
Sushi is huge in Vancouver because we have quite the abundance of fish around here. That’s why ritzier high class restaurants around here offer “west coast cuisine” as well, which usually translates to salmon in some form or another.
It is most definitely not real Chinese unless ice cream, chicken wings along with white rice and general tso’s chicken counts. I don’t know, I’ve never been to china! lol
if you guys ever plan a trip south, or if there is a convention down here you guys should invite me, im sure it would be a blast, and you know at least 1 of you will have a camera
I don’t think I know anyone these days without these two items:
1) cell phone
2) camera
With them new fangled camera phones you can have both in one!
That’s the low class ones guys. Digital Camera, Vid Camera, MP# player, Voice recorder, Web Browser, Email Client, GPS system and probably more . . . the cool thing is I can even make phone calls.
And oh so much more. When data gets cheaper, I’d love to have true mobile internet. Imagine the comment whoring possibilities!
proves the point about the Comment Whore right here folks.
I too cannot wait to have mobile internet that is cheap. I mean a laptop is good and all but I could be so more active and involved with something smaller with similar posting functions
yeah, it is a bit of an expense now, it costs me 5 cents per page view on my cell. Everytime you post it would refresh and cost again. It’s ok for a quick directory lookup but that’s about where I stop.
well i have a camera phone but the pictures are not very clear and i do not own a digital camera, or a film camera. I usually just buy disposable cameras when i go to the beach.