KSplasherX is ksplasher splash screen editor and creator but for the new ksplashx KDE4 engine, so you as always can edit author info, and place elements wherever you wants. You will need python-qt4, and python-imaging for create animations.
pyramba - is a clone of karamba written in Python using PyKDE
It makes your desktop interactive by showing system status information:
CPU Usage,MP3 playing,Free Memory Amount