screen

I like to use the screen command to get a persistent shell window and I found a really useful .screenrc file that makes it easier to execute screen commands and see which windows are open.  The screen commands are executed following the ` command.  Here is the contents of the .screenrc file

escape ``
hardstatus alwayslastline
hardstatus string '%{= wk}%-Lw%{= KW}%50>%n%f* %t%{= dK}%+Lw%<'