Linux & home cameras

[Ralph Shumaker]

I have a friend in need.

1)  Can Linux on a PC (with USB) be set up with about six or eight cheap 
cameras to record everything going on around her house (perhaps at one 
second intervals)?

2)  How much do cameras cost nowadays?  Would night vision cameras be 
much more?  The cameras must be small enough to be able to be blended 
into the surroundings.  Rentals may also be considered.

3)  Are there places on the web which could cheaply store the resulting 
images (not all, perhaps one image from each camera every 2 or 3 
seconds) (along with thumbnail images to make it easier for me to 
download through my slow pipe)?

My friend has a high speed pipe.  If I did, I would store them on my PC.

Her PC would be used to capture the images and store the bulk of them 
for detail (as much as storage space permits).  But if the cameras are 
discovered, the PC may be targeted, hence the need for off site storage. 
  (The perpetrator would not be able to do anything about those images.)

We need to catch this guy in the act because the police seem to be inept 
to be able to help her to be and feel safe.

I have a plan that I think will get him sent away on felony charges.  It 
will work with two cameras in particular *if* everything goes according 
to plan.  But that is *such* a big "if" which is why I need the six 
other cameras also.

This guy is super slippery and makes fun of the police.  He knows the 
ins and outs of the system.  He makes lots of mistakes, but nothing that 
will hang him.  We know who it is, but since we don't *see* him doing 
it, he gets away with it, /daily/.