Are your multimedia applications receiving the resources they need? Are you using the optimum filesystem for your environment? You don't have to be an expert to find better performance in Linux – you just need to know where to look.

A simple command helps you switch on the afterburner for your hard disks and drives. hdparm improves the performance of your storage devices.

Linux provides tools and patches for speeding up the priority of multimedia applications. So if you're not getting the performance you expect, try shifting into overdrive.

Many users just opt for the defaults and don’t think about the file system when they install Linux. But if better performance is your goal, it pays to do some shopping.

Even the experts know there is always more to learn about scripting. In this month's cover story, we'll show you the Google Maps API, a networking framework for Python, and some other fine tools.

We’ll show you how to incorporate interactive maps into your web pages with the Google Maps API.

The Twisted framework makes it so easy to create network-aware applications in Python. Twisted speaks all the major Internet protocols, from mail through chat, and it can handle encryption. We’ll show you how to set up a personal web server with Twisted.

In the old days, shells were capable of little more than calling external programs and executing basic, internal commands. With all the bells and whistles in the latest versions of Bash, however, you hardly need the support of external tools.

Realbasic provides an easy solution for converting Visual Basic programs to Linux.

This month we’ll show you some popular Linux tools for Internet telephony

An old computer is all you need to build your own do-it-yourself personal phone server.

When you want to call your friends in distant countries, don’t pick up the phone; just put on your headset and fire up Linphone.

Internet telephony does not need to be complicated. You can talk to the world with just Kphone, a normal sound card, and an account with an Internet phone provider.

The free but proprietary Skype is a popular calling option.

Some say an attack is looming, and others say we don’t have to worry. What’s the real story on viruses in Linux?

So you want a virus checker? We’ll show you what we found when we toured some of the top scanners for the Linux environment.

Linux may not be as virus-ready as Windows, but who wants to harbor pointless malware? Now you can hunt for viruses with KDE's KlamAV, a desktop front-end for the ClamAV Open Source virus protection system.

Sometimes the best time to stop bad mail is before it arrives. AmavisdNew is an Open Source interface for integrating spam and virus filtering with your mail server.

The Linux environment includes some powerful tools for editing, managing, and scanning digital images.

The imgSeek image viewer offers a unique alternative to the non-intuitive norm of searching by filename: you can find an photo based on motif.

Xnview is a handy image viewing and editing tool that is free for private use. We’ll show you around some of the program’s best features.

The Sane interface provides access to image processing devices such as scanners. You can manage your Sane-supported scanner from Linux with the handy XSane front-end.

You can rename and modify JPEG files without touching the graphics by manipulating settings in the file header.