This contraption is not available at the Skype shop. Or any other outlet for that matter, retail or wholesale. And it’s not because of an unorthodox product name: DIY instant messenger online contact signalizer picture frame thingy. (For a better pic, you may want to check out this entry in the Hacked Gadgets Forum).

Most reactions around my pingosphere have represented the “somebody’s got too much time on their hands” school of thought. But I think that the author, Danish mechanical-engineering student David Bue Pedersen, could turn his project into a beautiful — and modestly profitable — case of art-meets-utility. The concept is there, all that’s needed now is a design shop to commercialize it. Personally, I can easily see myself checking my buddies’ online status on, say, a sleek 64-field wireless “signalizer” on the wall.