Is there any way we could get some kind of notification on the desktop (even if it's just the program icon in the task bar flashing) when the a duty finder party is ready.

For DPS waiting 30 minutes+ for a duty finder party, checking forums/twitter/anything else on the web whilst waiting for a duty finder party is the only thing that can keep us sane. However unless you have a second screen this is a very very bad idea because you can guarantee that the second you hit alt-tab the party you have been waiting for for 30 minutes+ will instantly fill up and you will get withdrawn from the duty.

Current off peak duty finder times are completely against the reason of the duty finder, which was designed for people who wanted to find a party quickly, not caring about who they party with. The biggest problem with the duty finder is wait times, particularly with DPS, maybe people don't want to craft or gather whilst waiting, for them there is nothing they can do except stand around for 30 mins+ something needs to be done to either lower these wait times or have some desktop notification, so we can at least browse the web whilst waiting on the DF.