Buzz

Justin Timberlake is certainly making up for lost time. This week he released “The 20/20 Experience,” his first new album in six years, and christened it with a double-whammy hosting/performing stint on "Saturday Night Live" and a full week of performances on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.” REVIEW: Justin Timberlake's "The 20/20 Experience" He'll conclude the week with a midnight performance in Austin, Texas, as...

AUSTIN, Texas - The South by Southwest music festival and conference, now in its 27th year, was once a meeting ground for industry debates and indie artist showcases. Today the festival is a vehicle for promotion for the likes of Justin Timberlake, Prince and Green Day, and afternoon chats with artists are less about realities and more about compromises. Which brand are you willing to partner with and will the association with, say, Taco Bell take something away from your music? But the artists are arguably not even the stars, as a stroll around the 100-plus stages that pepper Austin's 6th Street attests.

This website finds savings so much deeper than those from Kayak and Travelocity that you'll think it's magic. Name: GetGoing.com What it does: Finds better rates for flights by showing airlines that they are selling to leisure travelers. Deals are found when the traveler is flexible about dates and destinations. What's hot: Proven savings are key. I tested flights for two adults and one child from San Diego to Beaches and Sun for June 22. I got several destination options and narrowed them to two choices: San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Honolulu.

Online ticket seller Fandango has come up with a new metric for measuring the "buzz" around upcoming movies. The NBCUniversal-owned company, which sells tickets to more than 20,000 screens nationwide, announced Friday the debut of "Fanticipation," a tool that helps predict what upcoming films will or will not resonate with fans at the box office. Similar to the Zagat restaurant surveys, the system assigns a percentage score to movies based on Fandango's proprietary data collected from its online and mobile traffic, social media sites and advance ticket sales.

If you thought all you needed for a good road trip was a full tank of gas, a great playlist and a good friend, think again. Road trips can get a lot more awesome. Name: Roadtrippers.com and its companion app Available for: iOS What it does: Puts road trip resources, pop culture experiences and foodie suggestions at your fingertips. Use on the road or plan your itinerary in advance. Cost: Free What's hot: I'm a sucker for clean design and an intuitive nav, but there's a lot more here to be excited about.

I'm always looking to make new friends, which is the way I approach a youth baseball draft - new coaches, new buddies. Twenty guys in a community room of the local church, in creaky chairs the preschoolers usually use. Someone jokes, "Who brought the beer?" but there is no alcohol here, just good dads with good intentions. What a pile of sweethearts these guys turn out to be. I ask one of these poker-faced idiots his opinion of one 9-year-old prospect, and he blurts, "HEY, I WAS GOING TO TAKE HIM!"

— Because the Daytona 500 is NASCAR's most prestigious race, the sport immodestly refers to the event as "the Super Bowl of stock-car racing. " But this year that tag is a drop in the torrent of hype engulfing Sunday's race because of Danica Patrick. Patrick turned the fastest lap to win the Daytona 500 pole a week ago, the first woman to earn the first starting spot for any race in NASCAR's premier Sprint Cup Series. In a matter of minutes, Patrick — and the heightened national curiosity about how she'll fare in the race itself — made this year's Daytona 500 much more compelling and ushered in "Danicamania" all over again.

Safari, anyone? Here's your online marketplace to research and book your dream African safari. Name: SafariBookings.com What it does: Features 181 safari tours in parks and preserves in eight countries, from 89 tour operators. Consider it a CliffsNotes to African safari tours. What's hot: The parks and countries are reviewed by experts - travel writers who live and breathe Africa and have written for well-known guidebooks such as Lonely Planet, Rough Guide and more.

Steven Spielberg was inspired by Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation. Ben Affleck was provoked by a Middle Eastern hostage tale. Adam Pesapane wanted to transform a hand grenade into an avocado. All three directors will walk the red carpet at Sunday's Academy Awards, but for Pesapane, 39, the shot at Oscar gold for his 1 minute, 46-second stop-motion animated film represents more than a chance to add a fancy statuette to his mantelpiece. The English major-turned-commercial director, who goes by the professional moniker Pes, is hoping the Oscar attention for his "Fresh Guacamole" movie, made for less than $100,000 by Showtime Networks, can help him climb the show business ladder and give him a chance to direct his first full-length feature film.

A social travel guide that will change the way you decide where your next vacation will be. Name: Minube Available for: Android, iPhone, iPod touch, iPad What it does: The Minube app sets your sights on the world, literally, with pictures, videos and destination recommendations from its community of more than 500,000 real international travelers. It had a solid start in Europe and Latin America before launching in the U.S. Cost: Free What's hot: It's the best travel inspiration finder I've seen in a smartphone app. I love the versatility.