Thanks for the reply. I've gone for running a small server on my laptop at home by the DRV. The software I found works well, and at least lets me see live stills updated every second from anywhere, even at work. I think it cost just $10 for the licence for my 4ch DVR.
http://www.linovision.com/pages/products/mss/index.php
It does do streaming as well, but that seems blocked from my work. I'd have preferred if it it could stream on http. Also, it is only live and cannot be used to view recordings. The remote desktop idea also (I think) gets blocked from my work, and is not practical for others.
I'm still interested in a more comprehensive server software that I can run on my laptop (or elsewhere) that would deliver a Web site to anyone / anywhere....