This week we look at two popular MIDI control devices for use with Linux sound & music software.

RedNotebook is a nifty little diary application. According to its Web site: RedNotebook is a graphical diary and journal helping you keep track of notes and thoughts. It includes calendar navigation, customizable templates, export functionality and word clouds. You also can format, tag and search your entries.

Part 1 of this series introduced arpeggiators in general and profiled the QMidiArp application. This week we conclude our survey with a look at two more arpeggiators for Linux musicians: Hypercyclic and Arpage.

What do you think each Linux distribution is "best for"? You can only pick one selection for each distribution (which, by the way, we know is going to be difficult). We'll compile results and share them in an upcoming article. Make sure your voice is heard!

For a few years I have been trying to create a "distributed cluster storage system" (see below) on standard Linux hardware. I have been unsuccessful. I have looked into buying one and they do exist, but are so expensive I can't afford one. They also are designed for much larger enterprises and have tons of features I don't want or need. I am hoping the Linux community can help me create this low cost "distributed cluster storage system" which I think other small businesses could use. Please help me solve this so we can publish the solution to the open source community.

In my last article I looked at performance loopers for Linux. This week I begin a 2-part review of similar applications called arpeggiators.

This article is an excerpt from the new 2nd Ed. of Mark Sobell's book, A Practical Guide to Linux Commands, Editors, and Shell Programming, published Nov. 2009 by Prentice Hall Professional, ISBN 0131367366, Copyright 2010 Mark G. Sobell. For additional sample content from a selection of chapters, please visit the publisher site: www.informit.com/title/0131367366

This week Dave Phillips looks at audio loopers designed for live performance.

One of the least understood features of OpenOffice.org is graphics text. People understand vaguely that it differs from regular text, but exactly how it differs or why anyone should care is mostly unknown. However, if you know the distinction, graphics text can work for you in ways that regular text cannot.

Recently I wrote about controlling konsole with dbus. As I've begun to use that script for setting up my konsoles I, like others, have discovered that the tab title that you set with dbus doesn't stick. This short note shows you a workaround to make your tab titles stay put.