If for some reason you have a directory full of RAR archives, and each is split into parts, extracting them individually can be a pain. If you just type “unrar *” into the terminal, you will extract each file multiple times depending on how many “parts” it has. First, install the “unrar” package:

sudo aptitude install unrar

then cd to the directory with all of your RAR archives. Then type:

unrar e '*.part1.rar'

make sure to keep the single quotes.
If the rar is password protected, add the “-p” switch followed by the password without any spaces.

unrar e -p
 '*.part1.rar'

You can remove or configure the Pidgin pop up’s that you see from pidgin. Buddies logging on/off, and in my case, new messages. I didn’t want every new message i receive to be blasted up on the desktop OSD. To control what you see there, Pull up your Pidgin window (buddy window, not your conversation box), then: Tools -> Plugins -> Libnotify Popups. When you have selected the libnotify pop-ups, click on “configure plug-in”. That will give you some check boxes to customize the behaviour

I picked up a refurbished original XBox specifically so i could install XBMC on it. Turns out it is a GREAT project, and through some trickery, was able to get it installed and running thanks to this post: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055256404 by ‘SuperCell’ at boards.ie. I highly recommend using this ‘hotswap’ method if you don’t already have the gear necesarry to mod an xbox with a chip, or by using a savegame exploit. It’ll save you some cash, plus who doesn’t like yanking an IDE cable from a spinning hard drive?

Best of all, all of the tools used in the process run perfectly in WINE, or directly on my Linux desktop.