We've all been there.  It's a quiet day at the office, you've been working hard on some repetitive task for a while now and suddenly it hits you.  Bathroom break!  Your immediate thought process directs you to wonder if anyone else is in there, because you think this might be an embarrassing one.  You quickly make your way to the washroom, only to find that all of the stalls are in use.  Now you are stuck because all of that walking has shaken up your insides a bit; you can't go back.  If only you could have known that all of the stalls were in use and been notified when one had become available - instead you've soiled yourself.

Ok, good point, that normally doesn't happen.  Most people can hold it.  Still though, it's an interesting thought.  Enter Stall Status.

Our good friends over at Coding4Fun have given us yet another excellent application that allows us to avoid the situations noted above.  Stall Status is a Silverlight-based Vista Sidebar Gadget that interfaces with the Z-Wave wireless protocol and door sensors to notify you of the current occupied/available state of the bathroom stalls.  This amazing little tool is brought to us by Jerry Brunning from Clarity Consulting, Inc.  While this may seem a little bizarre to you, the implications are huge.  Imagine deploying the gadget to every machine in your office (assuming your company isn't too cheap to use Vista) and giving employees this sort of power. 

From a technology point of view, this application is fantastic.  It capitalizes on both an easy to use home networking technology (Z-Wave) and the rock solid Microsoft .Net programming platform.  Even if you aren't trying to bring your office into the next century of connectivity, this is a great way to get some hands on experience writing Vista Sidebar Gadgets, using Silverlight, and utilizing Z-Wave products.  If you are not familiar with the Z-Wave family, they bear a resemblance to the X-10 line of products that are heavily advertised around the interweb.

From the Coding4Fun website, they give the following synopsis of the project: