Ncat is the updated version of Netcat that ships with Nmap. You can use it to connect over TCP ports and send/receive ASCII data. One fun thing to try is to test your knowledge of the HTTP RFC by browsing over a command line. How far can you GET, PUT, and POST your way thru a website? Bonus points for acting as a HTTP server.
Browse a website over HTTP:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Nmap>ncat www.jwgoerlich.us 80
GET / HTTP/1.1
Host:www.jwgoerlich.us
Browse a website over HTTPS:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Nmap>ncat www.jwgoerlich.us 443 –ssl
GET / HTTP/1.1
Host:www.jwgoerlich.us
Create a webserver:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Nmap>ncat -l 127.0.0.1 80
Traditional telnet can be used for browsing over HTTP, but telnet cannot to HTTPS or serve as a webserver.