Did you see the speech Dean made after the Iowa Caucus? It was funny. His face turned red and he barked about how he will go on to win the upcoming primaries. He ended the outburst with ‘yaaaaahhhhhh!!’ I can’t write any more. It was just too darn funny. I was waiting for him to go ‘arrgghhhh!!!!’ It was anything but gracious. It was a battle cry I guess to rally his campaign.

Today I was trying to figure out why my computer was using ports 1900 and 137. I can’t do the troubleshooting I would normally do because the LAN I use is not mine. I am convinced that the LAN I do use is compromised and because it is compromised it risk compromising other computers using that LAN including mine. I tried to secure my individual computer as much as possible but with other computers and a router serving the role of server I am at a distinct disadvantage. So I must suffer the insult of programs that suppose to use port 80 using port 1900 or programs that use port 20 or 21 using god knows what ports.

I know on average which application (commonly used applications) use which ports. I am less familiar with the ports some operating system services or processes use but I will have to learn these facts as soon as possible.

I must also keep in mind that the compromise could be coming from something on my computer. Several services launched that should not have. This problem could be a Trojan computer virus. I could have installed a compromised program.

I have noticed that my Symantec Norton antivirus has been operating pretty strangely. I am having difficulties updating it with the latest virus definitions.

The only thing different on my system is the use of the Sygate firewall, which I really enjoy because of all the log files it keeps giving me reams of useful information that can be used for numerous reasons including troubleshooting.