welll Isamil, unless you're a corporation like Nike, or the Department of Defense, i doubt you'll be shopping for the sort of data transmissions that my mother does. As to norton, well, she's kind of nub when it comes to PC's. the bitch usually works on mainframes. but whatever.
as to blackmage, thx for your help. however, i'm nub (erm, newbish). i'm guessing that those are ports that i have to open within norton for irc to work, but i'm not sure. Care to clarify that a smidge? thx much though.