Caught a neat bit of unconventional Skype Gear this week--David Bue Pedersen has created a "a DIY instant messenger online contact signalizer picture frame thingy" which works pretty much as described--it lets him see who's on Skype in a physical, visual way as he lounges across the room getting fanned and fed grapes. Or doing whatever he, um, normally does.

David used polycarbonate to make a picture frame for five photos, and backlit each photo with a LED. Then using some circuit wizardry and the Skype API, he got the LEDs talking to Skype and lighting up when the person in the photo is online. Pretty neat.

If you're of the Do-It-Yourself / Make Magazine persuasion, you can make your own light-up frame for up to 22 people--David provides schematics. More info (and some other cool DIY projects) on David's site here.