I'm astounded that the oil spill problem in the gulf is still going on. Every problem has a solution, and if you throw enough resources at it then it has to be possible to fix it or improve it.

Having said that, I've not got the full facts. I was wondering if there's a place that you can get all the information - the design of the breach, the rate of flow, the diameter of the pipe, the likely pressures, what the access is like, how deep it is, what tools are available. If this informaiton was shared then "the croud" might be able to offer some ideas. I understand that most of these would be mad or stupid or already thought of, but the power of the crowd is that it is likely to come up with several plausable, lateral thoughts that might just fix it.

Two possible areas for suggestions - stopping the flow or mittigating the damage

It's a brainstorming session, so no flaming or derogatory comments.

If you've got any ideas, please comment them here...I'm going to add a few.

I've bought a couple of IP cameras over the past could of years.  Not for any real purpose, more to experiment with what's possible. They all seem to come with web interfaces that are a bit ugly and unwieldly. One of them uses an active-x control that knocks my desktop back to Windows basic.

What I want from my camera is a really easy interface that starts when my PC starts and gives me a gadget sized app that doesn't get in the way. My office is in the  back of the house, and I want to easily be able to see who it is coming to the front door.

Searching around, I found some code that enables me to do just this - I've now created a VB.net app that shows me small images from all my cameras, doesn't use too much CPU and doesn't get in the way. Just got to connect the audio now, and I can work in the office and still be "child minding" to a sufficient level!