Microsoft creates useful holes
Went on the tour of the ILS server room today. I saw the Big Red Button, it was very tempting but I know I would get in tons of trouble if I pushed it.
Interesting fact: MSN messenger is not blocked on the network because else other Microsoft things would break.
Applying this new information to the problem of ssh being blocked I formulated a cunning plan, what if I run sshd on the default MSN messenger port (1863) as well as port 22. I implemented the changes (nothing big, just an extra line in /etc/ssh/sshd_config).
To test my plan I needed a resnet guinea pig, thanks Ben. It worked, Termisoc members on resnet can now use their shell accounts.