Wikileaks founder Julian Assange kicked off the South by Southwest Interactive conference on Saturday with a Skype-powered video chat with the tech geeks gathered in Austin, TX. Speaking from his imposed house arrest in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, Assange talked with SXSW attendees about his life, the National Security Agency, and the new era of journalism and activism.
South by Southwest Interactive has always been seen as the hip place to go to learn about the next big Silicon Valley startup, but the tone and focus has changed a little this year. The festival is toning down the "trendy" and enlarging its international focus, along with taking on some serious issues in technology.
SXSW Interactive is becoming more international, but this time other countries don't just want to report back to its citizens, instead they want to show off what they are made of from start-ups to new, innovative ideas -- thus making for more competitive contenders on a global scale.
After almost three decades, SXSW (South by Southwest) has taken over Austin, Texas, in a funky, niche-driven celebration of the arts and technology in a creative way, bringing a medley of music, film and comedy to the masses to those who can afford a ticket.
But if you are unable to pony up the dough for the entire line-up, there is a new angle that just might change your mind, especially if you are Latino/a and you are into technology and/or have launched a start-up. A new day-long event that precedes SXSW 2014 has been added to the mix and focuses on Latinos and technology.
