Conky is a highly customizable desktop monitoring system for X Window. Its sole purpose: to display information on your desktop.
The term "X Window", for those who are unfamiliar, is a computer software system that displays a GUI. The X Window, which can be used interchangeably with "X11", can be found on the Linux Operating System.
Conky
Some features that Conky can display are the Kernel version,CPU usage, Ram usage. Conky can also monitor bandwidth consumption and comes with IMAP and POP3 support, which you can monitor your e-mail's right from your desktop. The drawback of Conky, for the non-developers, involves previous experience with either Perl or Python (especially when using the POP3 or IMAP support). Resource 1: Conky with GMail Support.
Screenshots & Configuration Files
Download Conky Config File
Conky Meet Faenza
Conky Colors
Conky Mira
Further Resources
Resource: Conky Weather Forecast Python Scripts
Resource: Conky RSS Feed