Desktop-Wide User Status

[Steven Garrity <stevelist silverorange com>]

Has there been any thought or discussion about creating a layer for user 
status (Available, Away, Busy, Offline, etc.) at the desktop-wide level 
rather than the application level as it is now (Gaim, Kopete, Skype, 
Gossip, etc.)?

I remember reading somewhere down the line than Microsoft Research was 
working on something like this, but it doesn't have to be 
super-intelligent. I'd really just like to see a simple panel applet 
that let's me tell it when I'm away that passes the info on to any 
Status-away applications (mostly instant messaging apps).

Does it make sense for something like this to live in the Evolution Data 
Server?

It could be a Gnome thing - or maybe it would make more sense for it to 
be a FreeDesktop.org thing.

Thoughts and feedback are welcome - thanks,

Steven Garrity