HPC burglar alarm alert???

I know some of you wanted a new idea for a thread so I have been thinking. I have been watching the Discovery channel show “It Takes A Thief”, watching that show worries me about the security of my families homes, and I and thought it would be cool to link the HPC/Pager/Phone to a home security system. I know it would only work with Wifi or some other connection though. Then I thought what about an email warning so if you wanted to you could keep an eye on your house for less money than a full-fledged alarm/security company system. This may be a project for me if I have time. I also have a very small budget. I realize I would have to have a minimal alarm system though. Any thoughts would be great.

x10.com has some different software for pc's relating to security/internet checking etc., maybe you could get some ideas.

We live in a high crime neighborhood and I have three security cameras up and running and most of the neighbors know I run a vcr a lot of the time :-) we have little problem. Everyone around has been hit, we did loose some MandM's from our car - methhead broke a window to clean us out. Real bright guy, I mean who in their right mind would break into an old Hyndai :-)

I have been looking for pc recording software that I could use instead of the vcr, but all of them take a ton and a half memory for a days recording. X10 has some software that takes time lapse type pics which might work, haven't spent the money as yet.

Many commercial alarm systems are doing exactly as you described. Maybe another idea: if you have a cable or DSL connection there are many SOHO routers with USB port which allow for connecting a Web camera. For example, my Asus does. So, you can monitor your house through a Web browser. This is a more passive approach, of course, but combined with SMS (not that easy) or e-mail message (you need "always on" in your pocket) you can easily check whether it is about false alarm or not... Maybe you can find a simple camera with motion detector...