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Ray Smith wrote: > Having finally got a webcam that's supported in Linux I am trying to find > something to use it with. > That gnome sip phone thing (ekiga ?) only gives me a black & white image for > some reason but kopete gives me a nice colour picture that's clearer than on > windows. > I am using a bog standard Logitech quickcam. > I used to have a creative webcam that had monitoring software for windows > bundled with it. > I could set it up to either record continuously or just send an email of a > jpg or small video clip so that I could see if someone had been messing > around in my driveway. > Problems in the past with people using my house as a cut through for access. > Also if we forget to lock our side gate someone keeps opening it and letting > our dog go for a wander. > > Anyway, is their an app with a similar function ? Any solutions other > members are currently using ? > I installed camera monitor in gutsy but that just seems to be for letting me > know when the camera is active. > > Low cost is preferable. > > Thanks. > > Ray. For a start you might want to have a look at Motion (http://www.lavrsen.dk/twiki/bin/view/Motion/WebHome). You might find it's already in the repositories for your distro. Only thing is you'll either need a USB extension cable (if the camera is more than 5 metres away from the PC, you'll need an Active USB extension cable - I think they're about £6 or so from places like eBuyer or Aria.co.uk), or alternatively you could invest in a network webcam. Edimax do a cheap ethernet webcam for about £37 (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=599484) or a wireless version for about £50. With the Edimax webcams you can capture an image using FTP and store it on the PC. The only thing you'll need is a power socket near by and a wireless or wired ethernet connection. Using something like Motion with this, it can capture video clips of any motion it picks up. However it's not infrared, I'm not sure if they can be modified to work in infrared mode. Rob -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html