HipChat Status CLI

Back when HipChat still existed I wrote a shell script that would call its API and return status information about a user. This information was then used to change the color of a USB notification light (red = busy; yellow = idle; green = available) that could be mounted in various places. The terminal output included a visualization of a user's status over time. The polling interval was 60 sec (each row of glyphs = 1 min.)

In theory, people walking by your desk could see your (online) status and make a better choice about whether or not to interrupt you—it was essentially a variation on the "headphone rule".

In practice, the hardware and software worked quite well but cultural issues prevented it from succeeding IRL. People kept on interrupting each other.