the next things i plan on doing are
1) investigating consuming button presses, overriding the default button actions like zooming/volume when an action is defined in the script. {or maybe just overriding it period in all cases, and simulating all the actually useful ones with actions in the script}

2) making the volume keep the phone's ringer volume and speaker volume in lockstep. so many times ive turned down the vol only to have loud music blast out of it. what id do is make it so that every time you press a volume button, ill get the ringer volume and set the phone volume to some variation on that.

3) separating out the action configuration from the script, so you dont need to be a python developer to use it. i imagine a simple rc file a la
~/.n9-button-monitor
[volume-up-press]
screen_lock = start_music
camera_on_top = snap_picture

[volume-up-release]
always = sync_volume

i would need to find out what people would even want to use this for, and add all of them to the rc-file grammar.

4) implement state for macro-ish controls
e.g.: make it so pressing and holding volume up, and then pressing volume down, and then releasing volume down and then releasing volume up, turned on the flashlight for 20 seconds

"UP DOWN down up" => "flashlight on; sleep 20; flashlight off"

{i think im going to rename the vol+/vol- keys INC and DEC to avoid confusion with button-up and button-down for keypresses.}