Google AdWords announced a new quick way to check the status of your ads. You can now hover over the speech bubble near the keyword to see the status of the ad.
Here is a picture:
After you hover over the icon, it opens a little window showing you the status of the ad.
You can even edit the ad location targets and retest the ad right in the hover window.
For more details on this small but significant change see the AdWords help section.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.