Have the valume Applet Notify you if sound IS playing BUT the volume has been muted.

It would be nifty to see the volume applet in gnome tell me if I have muted my sound but sound is playing. I am not sure if it is possible, but it would help people not as familiar with computers. This way people can be suttly informed about sound even when the sound is muted.
For example...
Bill is very new to linux and computers in general. He has muted his speakers from last night but doesn't remember that. When he put's in his dvd he can't hear anything. But his valume control is notifying him that he is muted while sound is playing. This helps him so he doesn't have to check the volume of his speakers and if they are plugged in before realizing he simply didn't turn the internal volume up.