Really stupid geek tricks. I can't believe I just did this. →[More:]
So, I have a Windows server and a Linux server I've been messing around with. The Windows box has been up for a while as a drive share and very vanilla SAMBA file server.

I also have a borrowed (and impossibly awesome) dual xeon poweredge rackmount I'm playing with. I have Ubuntu server on that, 'cause it's a quick and cheap way to a LAMP install just to test out the possibly second-hand or irregular hardware and whatnot.

So, I'm messing around in a shell on the linux box, poking around the house network with nmap, and I get the idea that I want to see how ZoneAlarm responds to nmap scans and vice-versa. Like sparring between computers, or whatever, just out of curiosity. Just this afternoon I carefully tucked them in on a shelf in a storage room and took away the keyboards and mice and left 'em on the LAN.

So I log in to the windows box with VNC (remote desktop). Download ZoneAlarm from oldversion.com. Install it... and then... what? What do you mean server not found!? Oh, right, you have to reboot after install. I'd wandered away from the VNC window waiting for it to finish installing. Right, then, wait for the reboot, reload VNC.

Err, no? What? Oh, right. It's a firewall, you know, to prevent just this sort of remote system control - if unauthorized. Dumbass. Locked myself right out of it.

I guess I should be glad it's not in another city or something.