I'm working with Green Media Toolshed and Bryght to build a light-functionality easy-to-use ASP version of Drupal.

One major part of the project is improving Drupal's user-interface. Drupal's standard UI is basically a big complex web of jargon and checkboxes. This actually makes sense for Drupal's core constituency of data-crazed web junkies, but of course doesn't work so well for non-tech-savvy folks.

So the plan is to use a few custom wizards, some CSS, and the new Forms API to dumb down Drupal's control panels, making them less powerful and more easy to use. Hopefully it can be implemented as a single contrib module, without requiring custom themeing or forks from core. We'll see.

So far all I have to show is this new version of the admin menu: Custom CSS plus graphics from Project Tango, inspired by Development Seed's UI work for VoteNoPowerGrab.com.

On the way are new UIs for Taxonomy, User Management, and some other stuff.

MP3ing: This guy Malcom Kipe on Merck has an album out of really nice simple instrumental hiphop and sample-monkeying. Nothing crazy or revolutionary, but that's probably why I'm playing it a lot.

Thoughting: The new bubble is here, kids. Last week at SXSWi the number of VC-fueled $5000 open-bars was out of control. Now 37 Signals is on the cover of Business Week for supposedly bringing KISS-style opensource dogma to the masses. I spend a lot of time lately alternating between excitement and ambivalence about all this.

Coding: The new freelance career is busy! Event-organizing tools for the World Food Programme, site redesigns for Ashoka, and miscellaneous work on a half dozen smaller projects.

Designing: I dislike having Toneland as a "personal blog" and tjones.cc as a "professional site". I've been experimenting with ways to merge them. My latest attempt is a moo.fx/flickr/del.icio.us hybrid that I'm not really happy with yet.

Listening: to Bruce Sterling's SXSWi keynote, in which he basically tells everyone there that they are obese and backwards. Not that I necessarily disagree with him. I'm trying to decide if it's all hand-waving or actually substantive. I'm also processing how a lot of people seem to be making a living as conference-track wide-eyed motivational-speakers-slash-public-intellectuals.

We've just launched the new IndependentCourt.org, one of the key stars in the growing constellation of posses gearing up to combat the Samuel Alito SCOTUS nomination.

This marks my first web launch as a solo freelancer. Look out, world.

Some other good Alito links:

• Alito's America is CFAP's main Alito website, which has easily the coolest political logo of 2005.
• Tuesday's NYTimes had an Alito article titled-- I am not making this up-- "Alito's Grit Is A Plus". Bizzare headlining aside, it's a somewhat fascinating chessmove of expectations-setting political theater from the Administration. Terrance's and Scott's deconstructions are both good reads.