Wow... so did I (another Oak Parker!)... but OPPL blocks all outbound ports except 80 and 443. So I couldn't do alot (like SSH admin of remote servers). However, I did create an EC2 instance once where SSH was running on port 80 -- and that worked splendidly. :-) But I can't do all my work that way. Did the blocked ports bother you? Or did you get around it?
Not to get too far off track for HN (and hey, why don't I know you? Should get coffee some time.) but OPPL doesn't block SSH outbound, and I use Meebo for IM. I still go there every once in awhile; our office is getting crowded.
There's a whole other conversation to be had about why libraries have these crappy security gateways. Blue Socket randomly locks me out for "bad behavior", but forgets about the lockout if you browse directly to the logout handler. I keep meaning to go find the library IT guy and demanding that they allow AIM.
(I just updated my HN profile with my contact info... Let's meet at the Buzz sometime!)
Hmm... I think I was trying some wacky ports like "4444" (Selenium) and 5901 ('raw' VNC). I also use a non-standard SSH port (not port 22) for my remote servers. I'll have to give it another go sometime. And yeah, I know I should be doing everything over an encrypted channel anyway. :-)
blocks all outbound ports except 80 and 443. So I couldn't do alot
You should tunnel everything through ssh or vpn when on a public network, anyway, so having a server or router you can ssh into on 443 and use for tunneling is a must for mobile work since it solves the port blocking problem, too.
It takes a remarkably crappy security gateway to allow this trick to work; you can't really do it through a Blue Coat or PIX/ASA, because they're doing full proxy for HTTP/HTTPS and they cut off long-lived connections.
