can I unzip all .tar.bz2 files in a certain directory? or would i have to do them one by one? if so, what would be the command?

tar jxvf *.tar.bz2 would probably work.

ops i missread the question

and O trickykid: i dont think that would work, as when i use tar if i specify more then 1 file at a time it gets all confused

You could try -C (followed by a space and <directoryname>,or --directory=<directoryname) which should be the first option specified after the word tar, to tell tar the CD to that directory to look for the files, and -f (followed by a space before listing file names) or --file= followed by the file names seperated by semicolon, to tell it which files to work on. Somewhere after -C, list any other options you need. There are few options which must be listed in a particular order. The -f option must be followed by the file name(s) to be operated on. The remaining options can usually be specified anywhere after -C.