Lockergnome is a surprisingly popular e-mail newsletter dealing with current Windows software. It is distributed daily by the insanely cheerful Chris Pirillo and his band of geeks in Des Moines, Iowa. Lockergnome has been around since 1996 and has a subscriber database of approximately 200,000 people. The newsletter is written in a very upbeat, almost newbie kind of way. Sections of the newsletter include:
- GnomeREPORT: Basically a daylog about what's happening in Chris' life. It's reasonably interesting.
- GnomeDOWNLOADS: A selection of programs (normally two) that Chris thinks could be useful.
- GnomeSYSTEM: Tips and tricks to speed up your system. Could be a registry tweak, or a link to the Microsoft Knowldge Base.
- GnomeTERM: An explanation of a computing term such as 'Meta Tag' or 'SCSI'. Almost always includes several terrible puns.
- GnomeFAVORITE: A selected website that is quirky and/or useful.
- GnomeTIP: A windows shortcut, or an interesting feature that is not used often. Can sometimes be very enlightening.
The story behind the name is quite simple; Chris Pirillo is short, and his high school senior writing teacher called him names like munchkin, midget, dwarf and gnome. A few days later, he was standing by his locker and just put the two words together. When he first started his e-zine in 1996, he wanted a quirky name that would stick in people's minds but wasn't a cliched technology-oriented one. And thus: Lockergnome.
You can sign up at http://www.lockergnome.com