I have to post about this, if only so I remember they exist in a month or so.
The Redwood Virtual Server company provides user-mode Linux accounts for around £6 a month – full root access, fast Internet connection and the freedom to do almost whatever you like.
I want one of these so I can: mirror my network-attached storage device; setup an externally accessible SVN repository; tunnel/proxy out through the firewall at work and actually read my email; play with Plone.