Being a web developer, I have a lot of RSS feeds that I look at involving web design, graphic design, free resources, and inspiration. Some of these feeds send out a couple posts a day, some shoot for a few a month, but if I had to choose just one of those feeds to subscribe to, it would be Smashing Magazine's feed.

Although the name and slogan are a little weird (who wants to be smashed? Not me), the content and format is anything but. Smashing Magazine's articles and resources are super-useful and really robust, compared to a lot of other sites that will give you teasers and then want you to pay for more, or are just a compilation of links to other sites. Although SM also does some link compiling, a lot of their content is original and great even if you aren't a hardcore designer. They have everything from free icon packs for your desktop to in-depth tutorials on redesigning your blog, the latest CSS techniques, or how to create an 80s look in Photoshop. If you are looking to get into web design or need some inspiration, check out Smashing Magazine.

Twilight is the perfect scenario for a movie studio: Thousands upon thousands of teenage girls have read the books, teenage girls like to spend money at the movies, and movie studios like to make money.

The recipe here is as follows: Take 1 best-selling novel in a key age range. Check. Add some actor from a previously popular series teenage girls will swoon for. Check. Complete as soon as possible. Check. Leave out all ability.

Watching Twilight is about as painful as being bitten by a vampire must be. The overwhelming awkwardness of the acting in this film overshadows any positive aspects. You find yourself laughing at Twilight constantly, even when the movie is at its most serious. (Glimmering in the sun, anyone?). It's like asking your first-grade class to put on a movie about the revolutionary war, and then only having one take per scene.

The story is interesting, and probably the only really redeeming aspect of the movie. But this is obviously taken from the book, so you may wish to spend your money there, instead.

W., directed by Oliver Stone and starring Josh Brolin, James Cromwell, and Richard Dreyfus, is a movie that will leave you dumbfounded. Not for the fact that we've elected the worst president ever to office not once, but twice, but because you'll be left wondering why you ever went to see it in the first place.

First off, there isn't much new material in the movie. We know about the DUI, the fact that there were never WMDs in Iraq and it was all a scheme, the fact that Bush redux was in a frat at Yale. We learn very little from the movie, even if you have no great knowledge of our president.

What confounds me even more is the fact that this movie was made before George W. Bush has even finished his second term, which makes it almost useless as a historical piece. There is absolutely no mention in the movie of the past 4 years of his presidency, of the presidential races with Kerry or Gore. Instead the movie cuts in and out of the pre-presidency and first-term presidency eras of George W. Bush's life.

Perhaps a better title for the movie would have been "Bush," since there seems to be more time devoted to Bush senior's political life than junior's. While I understand the need to lay the foundation for the rest of his life, the movie seems to revolve around the distant past, and does so by jumping back and forth through time, sometimes giving you cues into what year you've leapt, and sometimes leaving it up to you to figure out for yourself.

The comedy in the film falls flat right out of the gate. The jokes are poorly-timed, in such convoluted humor, or just plain bad. The only highlight from the movie may be the possible history lesson and the instilling of the fact that we made the wrong decision, but who needs to waste $10 and two and a half hours to learn that?

Death Race, starring Jason Statham, Joan Allen, and Tyrese, is a "remake" of the film Death Race 2000 (1975). However, the 2008 version takes place on a prison island, pitting prisoners against each other in machine-gun equipped sports cars and pickup trucks in an attempt to earn ratings for the corporation (headed by Allen's character, Hennessey).

Death Race is an action film, which means it places a lot of the key features of story-telling to the side, including realism, continuity, story development, and just about anything that isn't explosions or car chases. It is not the next Oscar winner for best film, but it is an enjoyable experience if you know what you are getting into.

Where Death Race excels is in the explosions and crazy stunts performed by the drivers, each looking to kill each other and gain position in the hopes of winning their freedom. The plot twists are to be expected, including Stratham being framed for his wife's murder and then mysteriously being chosen to become the next death race driver, only to find out he was a former racing champion. The action sequences make up for the lack of intellectual points in the movie. The races are interesting and the explosions, crashes, and deaths are all unique, and a few even made me cringe. There is just enough of a break between the races to make you want more.

Death Race is enjoyable for what it is, no matter its flaws. If you like speed, explosions, guns, a few girls, and lots of gore, then Death Race is for you.

When you think of Finland, you probably think of a Nordic lifestyle: Fishing, Snow, and Ice Palaces. You may not think of music. Yet recently two bands have come out of Finland with a lot of presence. The first is HIM, the first Finnish band to have an album certified Gold in the United States. The second is Poets of the Fall, a slightly newer band whose third major album release is titled Revolution Roulette. Poets of the Fall is not currently well-known in the US but does have a strong presence across Europe. They recently played their first show in the USA at the MUSExpo in Los Angeles, demoing for record industry professionals.

For many gamers, they may have been exposed to Poets and not even known it. Poets of the Fall's first track, 'Late Goodbye,' was the theme (and only) song in the sequel to the bestselling PC Game Max Payne. Max Payne 2 featured 'Late Goodbye' a few times, most notably playing the entire track through the credits. The song became so popular tools were developed to extract the track from the credits, as it did not exist for purchase at the time.

Following up on the success of 'Late Goodbye', Poets released their first album Signs of Life in 2005. A year later they came back with Carnival of Rust. Both albums were well received in Finland and Europe, including being voted Best Finnish Video of All Time for 'Carnival of Rust' and Best Finnish Act at the MTV Europe Awards for Signs of Life, but received little notice in the US since they were only available as imports.

Enter Revolution Roulette, their 2008 offering. The album has a lot to live up to, given the accolades of the first two albums and the pressure to make it big in the US, and it's definitely a step in the right direction. The album is not simply "more of the same old" but shows a true progression in their musical abilities. The songs are each very in-depth and interesting in their own ways. They vary from the hard-rocking ('Revolution Roulette', 'Psychosis') to the melodic ('Where Do We Draw The Line', 'Fragile') and everything possible in between. Even within the songs the tempo and feel varies dramatically ('More', 'Diamonds for Tears'). This album showcases the way Poets of the Fall can take a song and make it into a story, with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Most artists nowadays simply have one catchy beat that gets them the one-hit wonder, fading into obscurity soon after.

Probably their best offering off the album is the title track, 'Revolution Roulette'. The song makes you feel as though you are in a stadium watching them play live at the best concert of your life. But beyond its sound, like so many of Poets' songs, is a deeper meaning. In 'Revolution Roulette' it is that we shouldn't give our lives to the precision and repetitiveness of machines, even as our technology brings us so many new things; the meaning in 'More' is that we should be happy with what we have, but we are constantly wanting more. 'Save Me' is a track that, despite its more upbeat tone, is very dark and disturbing, about being in the last days of despair. Each song has its own message, independent of one another, but the whole album remains cohesive. Their music packs the tri-fecta in music: Sound, Songwriting, and Dimension. Whereas many artists can conquer one or two of these points, it is rare to find one that can hit all three of them, which is exactly what Poets of the Fall achieves.

Also helping Poets' case is the fact that their songs are now available in the US via iTunes. At less than $10 an album, it's easily worth the money, but if you only have a few dollars, check out the tracks 'Carnival of Rust', 'Revolution Roulette', 'Late Goodbye', 'Locking up the Sun', or 'Diamonds for Tears' to get a taste of the whole experience. You can also download samples of their songs here.