Editable annotations on terminal like sticky notes

Maybe not what you're looking for exactly, but I have a script to add a string to the beginning of the bash prompt. It's called shellname.sh and looks like this:

#!/bin/bash -x

if [[ -z "$ORIG_PS1" ]] ; then
  export ORIG_PS1="$PS1" ;
fi

export PS1="($1) $ORIG_PS1"

Then I can call source ~/testname.sh "Shell Name Here". Note that you have to use source instead of running it directly so it can effect the local environment. For example:

stokastic@home:~/test# 
stokastic@home:~/test# source ~/shellname.sh "build shell"
(build shell) stokastic@home:~/test# 
(build shell) stokastic@home:~/test# echo "now my shell name is on the left"
now my shell name is on the left
(build shell) stokastic@home:~/test# make

Another option is to set a custom title by adding this function to your .bashrc:

term_title() {
    unset PROMPT_COMMAND
    echo -ne "\033]0;${@}\007"
}

To set the terminal's title run this command in a new terminal:

term_title "New Terminal Name"