Unsolicited idea. Since BlogRolling already gives you more-or-less a buddy list, there should be a way to set Available and Away messages (or even Currently Listening To). Architecture: Tiny file on your server that can be updated by a standalone app or integrated into a weblogging tool (link the file to the weblog by autodiscovery, like RSS). The file should contain messages for each type, plus an extensible mechanism for filtering/fallthrough (eg, a certain message to appear on the blogrolls belonging to people also listed on your blogroll, and a default message otherwise). The small issue of extra traffic is mitigated (to a degree) by the centralised nature of the BlogRolling (or similar) service.
Unsolicited idea. Since BlogRolling already gives you more-or-less a buddy list, there should be a way to set Available and Away messages (or even Currently Listening To). Architecture: Tiny file on your server that can be updated by a standalone app or integrated into a weblogging tool (link the file to the weblog by autodiscovery, like RSS). The file should contain messages for each type, plus an extensible mechanism for filtering/fallthrough (eg, a certain message to appear on the blogrolls belonging to people also listed on your blogroll, and a default message otherwise). The small issue of extra traffic is mitigated (to a degree) by the centralised nature of the BlogRolling (or similar) service.