The King of the “Thingiverse” gave opening remarks today at SXSW Interactive.

• Listen to Bre Pettis, co-founder of Makerbot, speaking at SXSW 2013:

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He’s been referred to as Mr. Rogers, Mr. Wizard and Bill Nye The Science Guy rolled into one. Bre Pettis — co-founder of Makerbot — is really a tinkerer at heart who’s built an empire in the world of 3D printing.

Pettis introduced the Makerbot Replicator — an open-source 3D printer that’s been modified to become the standard desktop 3D printer.

Pettis says there we’re witnessing a revolution in 3d printing. “It’s never been easier to make and share actual designs,” he says, “in the same way Dreamweaver 2004 unlocked websites for a lot of people, Makerbot is unlocking the ability to make physical things.”

A few interesting points from Pettis’ talk:

• Makerbot’s biggest customer is NASA, followed closely by GE.
• Makerbots are made in Brooklyn.
• 7 of the top 10 architecture firms in the US use Makerbot
• People use Makerbots to create everything from prosthesis to garden gnomes, to shot glasses.

Want to make stuff in DFW? Check out the following spots:

• Dallas Makerspace
• Ft. Worth Makerspace

• Read and listen to Lauren’s KERA FM report on new Latino media and taco journalism.

There are over fifty million Hispanic Americans — nine million in the state of Texas alone. And research shows Hispanic Americans are more likely to use smartphones, try new apps, and visit video sharing sites than their non-Hispanic counterparts. Yet this fast-growing, digital media hungry audience has only recently caught the attention of big-name brands and TV Networks.

At this year’s SXSW Interactive festival in Austin, Latino entrepreneurs are talking about real ways to create content that speaks to the Hispanic audience. Beatriz Acevedo says telenovelas and game shows are fine, but the aren’t what she wants to watch. Acevedo is the founder and president of MiTu. It’s a Latino lifestyle network on Youtube with over three million subscribers.

Acevedo says she created MiTú in 2012 because she saw a need for “something that was culturally relevant both in English and Spanish for Latinos around the world.”

Here’s a few videos to check out from MiTú:

• “Recetas De Pollo – JC’s 3 Ways”

• Back to School with Karo Care – “How to Raise a Bilingual Child”

• Redecorate Your Home – “Casa Linda”

There are over fifty million Hispanic Americans — nine million in the state of Texas alone. Yet this fast-growing, digital media hungry audience has only recently caught the attention of big-name brands and TV Networks. At this year’s South by Southwest Interactive festival in Austin, Latino entrepreneurs are talking about real ways to create content that speaks to the Hispanic audience.

• Listen to the KERA FM radio report:

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You don’t have to turn the dial back to the 1960s to find stereotypical representations of Latinos that don’t resonate with the younger generation. Yashoda Sampath, a researcher at Huge Digital Ad Agency, says just look at Sofia Vergara’s character on ABC’s “Modern Family.”

That might work with the older generation, but research shows it does not work with young Latinos. And since young Latinos are more likely than the general population to be online, to visit video sharing sites and to try new technologies, what they like matters.

So what does works? Sampath says more nuanced messages of bi-culturalism. One new video site is hitting the target. It’s called MiTú, and it is is a Latino lifestyle network on YouTube  Barely a year old, the site already has three million subscribers.

Read More »

This week, Art&Seek’s Stephen Becker and Dallas Morning News movie critic Chris Vognar argue the merits of Oz: The Great and Powerful (not everyone’s on board with this one). And we run through the films and experiences we’re looking forward to in Austin. Be sure to subscribe to The Big Screen podcast on iTunes. Stream this week’s podcast below or download it.
 

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For a shortened version of our Oz: The Great and Powerful review:
 

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Over the years, South by Southwest has become a launching pad for new bands and start-up companies. Now, it’s claiming its place in the world of education. KERA’s Lauren Silverman reports the education part of the conference is only in its third year, but 5,000 attendees have packed Austin’s convention center.

• Listen to the KERA radio story

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Bill Gates addresses SXSWedu Thursday morning.

All week educators have been talking about the latest digital technologies for learning – from online lectures to open re-mixable textbooks. But when Bill Gates took to the podium for the keynote, he warned that just because new education technology is out there doesn’t mean our work is done.

“Many times in the past people have said there is going to be a revolution, TV sets being rolled into the classroom, quizzes being done on the computer and of course in terms of real instruction, none of those pronouncements ended up being true,” Gates says.

If you look at test results in schools, Gates says, you’ll see literacy rates and math scores have for the most part stayed the same. This worries Gates, who’s foundation spends hundreds of millions of dollars every year on education worldwide. But now that students and teachers can access online resources so cheaply, he says the opportunity for technology to make a difference in education is finally here. What we need is more money for research and entrepreneurs willing to take risks.

“In this space we either improve the quality of education in terms of grad rates, math, reading or we stay flat like we have for the last few decades.

A lot, he says, hangs in the balance.

The education conference ends today,  but the rest of the South by Southwest conference kicks off Friday. You can follow all of KERA’s coverage at artandseek.org/sxsw or on twitter at #kerasxsw.

Creative Commons: Suzie Katz, 2010

SXSWedu may only have two years under its belt, but the education conference has attracted some star power: Bill Gates.

The soft-spoken philanthropist and founder of Microsoft gives the keynote talk today. If you want to watch live, it will be available streaming here.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation spends hundreds of millions of dollars every year on education worldwide. In the past few years, Bill Gates has sharply criticized America’s education system. Last year, at the 2011 TED Conference, Gates spoke out about waste at public schools and problematic automatic salary increases for teachers based on seniority.

Gates will likely speak at SXSW about the Foundation’s work in education, which in North America spans from college-readiness research to financial services for the poor. Hot technology topics that might come up include MOOCS, tablets in the classroom and the role of businesses in higher education.

Tune in to 90.1 FM this afternoon to hear the KERA radio Story.

Our friends at KXT 91.7 FM are co-hosting a big concert at South By Southwest.  The music will be the kind of diverse mix you expect to hear from public music radio.

How big? How broad? Try Emmylou Harris with Rodney Crowell, Iron&Wine and  Vampire Weekend are among the guests. So are Charles Bradley, Dawes and Divine Fits.

Not headed to Austin for the music conference? Here’s the great part: no worries. The show will be broadcast live on KXT on Friday March 15, starting at noon.

The broadcast is a joint effort, the first time public radio music stations have banded together to bring the noise from SXSW to your radio or your earbuds (it’ll be simulcast on line).  While we’re listening in North Texas,  so will folks in Austin (KUTX-FM), Philadelphia (WXPN-FM), New York (WFUV-FM) and Minneapolis (The Current).

So join us. And keep track of everything the team from KERA news, KXT and Art&Seek is seeing and hearing at  SXSW – Interactive, Film and Music – right here, at our special South by Southwest web site. Check it out. This year’s fun’s already begun, and there’s an archive of stories from last year too.

At SXSW 2012, the MakerBot Replicator was a big hit — this year, MakerBot’s Bre Pettis will Deliver Opening Remarks. (Scott Beale / Laughing Squid)

Get your gadgets ready and your gaming face on: it’s almost time for South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive in Austin! Best known as the festival that launched Foursquare and popularized Twitter, SXSW Interactive has for nearly two decades been a meeting ground for geeks, marketers, hackers, and social media ninjas.

This week KERA will begin its annual swing through Austin for SXSW.  I’ll be at Interactive, Stephen Becker will report from Film and the crew from our sister station KXT will represent during Music.

Before we begin coverage of wearable technology, high-tech health monitors and more let’s take a look back at Interactive highlights from years past:

• 1994: The debut of the Interactive portion of SXSW. Back then, Interactive was just a handful of creatives. Now it attracts tens of thousands of the tech world’s movers and shakers. Curious about it’s evolution? Check out these SXSW infographics.
• 2002:  The third annual “Sexiest Geek Alive Competition” is held at SXSW. Star Trek star Chase Masterson announces the winner is Chad Biggs, who beat out 12,000 contestants.
• 2006: Gamers delight: SXSW Interactive launches ScreenBurn, a portion of the conference devoted to gaming. This year, the SXSW Gaming Expo is FREE and open to the public. If you want to get your game on and explore the future of games, mobile or console, in comics or toys, this is the place to be.
• 2007:  Twitter becomes the first major product to launch at the conference. Next time you send out a 140 character message, thank the festival.
• 2008: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg had a less than stellar keynote — and a Q&A that was derailed by a very unhappy audience.
• 2011: Interactive breaks attendance records — about 14,000 people networked, talked ideas, and partied. KERA’s Stephen Becker reports how South by Southwest Interactive earned the reputation as Spring Break for Geeks.
• 2012:  Tech-loving comedian Baratunde Thurston named first 2012 SXSW Interactive keynote speaker. He co-founded the black political blog, Jack and Jill Politics and served as Director of Digital for The Onion before launching the comedy/technology startup Cultivated Wit.

Check out this list of past speakers at SXSW Interactive for more. And don’t forget to follow KERA’s @lsilverwoman, @stephenbecker and @amelson for coverage of SXSW 2013.

A DMA GRANT: The Dallas Museum of Art is one of 12 institutions to receive a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The grant is earmarked for the museum to create a learning lab, “focused on the intersections of science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) learning. The proposed lab will allow youth to explore how the experimental work of artists and scientists overlap and encourage creativity and communication skills.” The 12 winners – five museums and seven libraries – will receive a total of $1.2 million in grants.

THE MARCH TO MARCH: The first round of SXSW showcasing bands has been announced. Local acts making that March drive down I-35 include: Blackstone Rangers, Ronnie Fauss, Sarah Jaffe, the Relatives, Somebody’s Darling and Tedashii.

THE ART OF THE HUNT:The fall is prime hunting season in Texas. And it’s hunting season over at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center too. That’s because the center has devoted a pair of exhibitions devoted to hunting. Margaret E. Le Jeune explores the modern notions of women hunters through photography in “The Modern Day Diana.” And “Vestige,” Cozette Phillips’ collection,  ”is conceptually grounded on issues related to the exterior environment as experience through the intimacy of the home.” The center will hold opening receptions for each show tonight. And for a sneak peek of what you’re in for, check out Gaile Robinson’s review on dfw.com.

Photo: Magnolia Pictures

This week, Art&Seek’s Stephen Becker and Dallas Morning News movie critic Chris Vognar have a show packed with interviews. In the first segment, we talk about the new Bob Marley documentary Marley with Ziggy Marley and the film’s director, Kevin MacDonald. Then in the second segment, we speak with Whit Stillman about his first film in 14 years, Damsels in Distress. And, of course, in the third segment we’ll talk about what’s coming out in theaters this weekend. Be sure to subscribe to The Big Screen podcast on iTunes. Stream this week’s podcast below or download it.

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Photo: Sony Pictures Classics