I\'m using Twisted to implement a server, of sorts. When I test it, the first line it receives is always strange:
Starting Server...
New connection from 19
It was indeed a telnet protocol I was missing. Connecting as Raw instead Telnet solved the problem.
You can find an explanation of the "ÿûÿû mystery" here. Short form: telnet is not a simple protocol, and what you're seeing is a trace of a telnet negotiation (trying to) occur with a server that doesn't speak "telnettese";-). Good guess about "is this a telnet protocol I'm missing";-)
The RFCs involved in defining the telnet protocol are linked from this page, if you want to debug further. I'm no putty expert so I don't know how to tell putty to avoid this negotiation (and act like the good old simple Unix telnet client;-).