If you need to convert a TEXT column to a BYTEA column, you can use a cast expression to do the work:

ALTER TABLE mytable ALTER COLUMN col TYPE bytea USING
  decode(replace(col, '\\', '\\\\'), 'escape');

Note that altering the column type of a column is only supported beginning with PostgreSQL version 8.0. For more information, see the manual.

Use split to move blocks of text around rather than having multiple terminals open. Open the file you want using the split command:

split: path/to/file

C-w and then k or j will move you between vertically between the buffers when you are not in insert mode (up and down, respectively). For example, this makes moving text between files much easier.