>>431
Well, rice as we know it today began as far back as the early nineties with american skids eager to boast their hacker talents. As you can imagine this was relatively primative use of available window managers. However it didn't stop the imagination of movie makers who recreated these hacker style desktops in films which popularised ricing beyond the small american niche groups. With more popularity came more talent to the scene, different ideas and a constant need to improve and compete. The term itself is stolen from car modders, no idea when it came into use.