The state of the status of "we"

I've been having some random problems with my RSS reader, Liferea. I think it was a permission problem on the settings folder, but it was enough of an annoyance that I started to set up the Google Reader for my feeds. But I almost immediately bailed. I didn't like how the application felt at all. I'm so used Liferea after years of using it that it was hard to switch my mental model over to "this is a Web site." It wasn't just the buttons and the GUI, it was also how the application worked. In Liferea I know when I'm caught up because the stories stop coming. The data is downloaded to my machine and I can read it and then it's read. But in Google Reader the data keeps coming. It reaches further and further into the history of the Web site to pull more and more stories and it feels as though you will never catch up on the news feed. (Being able to search for a feed instead of having to know the URL for the feed was, however, brilliant.)

As I neared the end of my ten minute foray into using Google Reader I started to think about why I want my desktop experience to be different from my Web experience. Do I want my desktop experience to be a Web experience? Have you seen the new gOS (links to YouTube demo), Cloud (links to site)? (More about gOS here and here. It's based on Ubuntu.) Your computer as a thin client to the cloud of applications out there. Brilliant, but also really scary to think that realistically my data IS actually all out there. (I like to pretend I'm in control at least once a week.) So although I have switched back to my desktop application, Liferea to keep track of news, I've started thinking a little bit more about applications and data and access and status. (Have you watched the Van Jacobson talk yet? He talks about accessing data too.)

So let's look at the "state" of my computer. A while ago Mark blogged about the new user switching status applet thingy. Now that I'm using 8.10, I'm also using this little widget. Was it Matthew who was talking about wanting a system that just knew when he was on a plane and therefore turn off the wireless when booting? (I think so...I think it was part of the power management talk and how things just ought to know without you having to tell them.) Regardless of who said it first, "states" are definitely of interest. I am almost finished writing Front End Drupal (and will begin the editing process this weekend) but for the last month (or three) I have been almost always set to "away" in Pidgin (I don't like the red icon for "do not disturb", so I use "away" instead). Not because want others to leave me alone, but because the little clock icon reminds me that I ought to be working. Years ago I had very interesting conversations with sociologist Gale Moore about interruption and instant messaging. And now here I am thinking about how I do, or do not, want to be interrupted. "State" isn't just the status of me or my computer, it is the status of "we"...that's me, me and my computer and you and me.

There are currently four states in the status switching applet:

• Online
• Away
• Busy
• Offline

But what if I could define my states? I think my list would look like this (yours would probably be different, we should be able to define these states):

• Social (all on)
• Working (please try not to distract me too much)
• On the phone (you will not get my full attention)
• Away (AFK)
• Unplugged (gOS-cloud-esque to optimize for battery power)
• Offline (no internets)

And when I switch to different states my whole computer ought to shift with me. Social, for example, should have Pidgin set to "online", Liferea open and checking for new stories, IRC open and sending alerts, and why not have Skype open too because I use that for specific contacts. Working should set Pidgin to "Trying to get the mortgage paid", Liferea should be disabled. etc. So a state is not just a status, but a whole suite of how I want to be interrupted and interact with people and my computer.

What are your states?