Ask Slashdot: Software For Learning About Data Transmission? 79
bellwould writes "In teaching information tech to a 13-year-old with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), I've found she's wildly interested in the details of data transmission but not programming. We've had limited success with command-line tools like traceroute and tcpdump, but now I'm seeking tips/advice on software that may help her explore and visualize things like transmission protocols." What would you recommend?
Firewalls, NIDS, TOR (Score:4, Interesting)
Use your router to see where things are going. Set it up such that the firewall reports back to your computer (or displays when you log into it's interface), Or do the same with the firewall on the box you are using, or both. Wallwatcher, Syslogd, whatever works best for your situation.
Set up a separate box to act as a NID (e.g. Snort) and ratchet up it's output to verbose. Behold nearly infinite data to play with.
Set up a remote host, or log into a remote host you already have available, instruct it to portscan your home network, keep wireshark on, use resource manager to watch the TCP/IP connections come up and down, or task manager, or what have you.
Use TOR and watch the map screen that shows you your connection route, try to have the kid logic-together why the web takes so long to surf that way.
Lots and lots of tools that should be pretty much at your disposal with minimal effort are out there...