I just posted a job on oDesk looking for someone to help get AdHack from Drupal 5 to Drupal 6. Here's the cut n paste of the description:

We are migrating our existing website from Drupal 5 to Drupal 6 and need an expert Drupal themer to help with the conversion of the theme.

The current live site is available for review at http://adhack.com

It runs on Drupal 5 and uses common Drupal modules such as CCK and Views.

We already have the Acquia version of Drupal 6 running on a development server. This is an initial port so we can migrate to Drupal 6 and add more features over time. This may lead to on going contract work in theming and light development.

Skills required:

• Existing portfolio and experience with Drupal 6 theming.

• Drupal theming

• HTML

• CSS

• PHP

• custom work with the template.php file

• customization with Views module

The main skills needed here are familiarity with both the Drupal 5 theming system and the Drupal 6 theming differences. There are lots of custom views with accompanying snippets in the template.php. This is an initial port so that we can get everything running on D6, and then optimize from there.

It's my estimation that this would be about 20 hours of work for someone that charges $25 an hour, or 10 hours of work for someone that charges $50 per hour :P This is an hourly job, that's just my estimate of what a first cut port would take.

If you're a developer but know the theming layer, this would be a good fit: there is more development-centric work to be done on various custom bits and pieces.

I just created an account on oDesk and, frankly, have fallen down a rabbit hole.

Of course, Drupal was the vector once again: I had Daryl leave a comment, with his username linking to a trends page showing Drupal jobs on oDesk. This intrigued me, so I dug into the system a little more.

For starters, there is a Drupal 5 test. I haven't taken it yet, but I fully intend to kick the tires on it. The testing system is run through Expert Rating. I want to explore this more, maybe even to the degree of developing tests for modules and components ... this feels like a useful function that could kickstart a lot more items.

Finishing up the Drupal bits, it looks like the oDesk Community section is Drupal-powered. The oConomy section is particularly interesting -- you can see that $48M worth of work have flowed through oDesk, and that the odometer is part of a custom module that they've developed (view source shows you all this).

The Global Provider Map has tons of interesting information -- Canada has 3253 Providers, with an average hourly rate of $24.92, and average feedback score of 4.29. And then there's Iceland -- 24 providers, $50.19 an hour average. Where the hell is Bouvet Island? The Maldives?! 11 providers...

Do work, get paid. I'm excited to think about how this can be used by startups especially, or to prototype startup ideas. Or, for that matter, working with global communities to build their knowledge worker populations. Hey Evan, it's time to bring the world to to Whitehorse, and vice versa.

I could go on to describe some details on how this works -- a crazy desktop app that monitors your "Activity" levels at the computer, takes screenshots and webcam shots (yes, webcam shots -- wearing pants is required), and creates your time log. But, I'm really just scratching the surface myself as I familiarize myself with the system. Has anyone out there used oDesk before? As a programmer or a buyer? I'm interested in feedback from people that have actually gone through the process...

The rabbit hole? I can truly run and interact with teams, companies, and businesses all over the world. This is the ad hoc network of professionals with varying sets of skills that I've been thinking about since a bunch of university friends and I sat down in 1995 and thought about online pizza ordering for Toronto.

Update: OK, I took the Drupal test and got 92%. Not bad, and I was impressed by the depth of some of the questions.