At the Command Line Prompt I am able to start some Applications (such as openoffice.org or evolution) and the command line prompt re-appears after program is launched and I can continue working in that Terminal. However, other Applications, such as Totem or Blackboard will launch from the Terminal but the Prompt does not re-appear. Where Totem is concerned I get a message stating "sha module is deprecated use hashlib module instead". Where Blackboard is concerned the command line does not reappear. I have to use Ctrl + C to get the command line back but this closes the application as well! Or, I have to open a new Terminal. Any ideas as to why some applications will start from the command line and others do not? How do you get the prompt back (other than q or Ctrl + c) thanks to all and kindest regards ( I am using Ubuntu 9.04)

You can make it run in the background when you launch the application by putting an ampersand at the end of the command, for instance.

$ Totem &
or
$ amsn &

Also, if you want to be able to close the terminal and keep the program running, use the nohup command.
For instance:
$ nohup totem &

You can start the program in the background

Thank you very much for your response! Your answers work perfectly.
Kindest regards.