It’s been expected for months, but there’s news this week that Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has chosen the United States for its initial public offering. Analysts say the company is worth some $140 billion. But what exactly is Alibaba, and why launch an IPO in the U.S.? Plus, you may have heard of Oculus Rift, the screen-capable goggles that promise to put you in the game like never before. But is virtual reality the future of gaming?

More on Target’s responsibilities after finding a security breach and whether or not that opens the company up to any liabilities now that so much customer data has been compromised. Plus, a new industry has sprung up in recent years: Websites that post nothing but mugshots. They’re getting popular. Everybody loves a good mugshot right? Except the person in the photo of course. But in Chicago, there’s another person who doesn’t love this new trend. The county sheriff. It seems to be crashing his website.

Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter and author of Things a Little Bird Told Me: Confessions of the Creative Mind, about his new app, Jelly, and how to fake it ‘till you make it. Plus, hear from attendees of SXSW Interactive about what they’ll share on social media.

A check in from the South by Southwest tech conference. Neil Young on why music is like an addictive drug and actress Rosario Dawson on emerging tech markets abroad.

Along with all the people there are tons of brands here at South By Southwest, and the marketing strategies for the companies behind those brands are evolving. As the conference transitions from tech to music, we met up with Quartz senior editor Zach Seward to discuss this marketing evolution. Plus, we were lucky enough run into the actress Rosario Dawson at the convention center. She’s been in movies like Quentin Tarantino’s “Death Proof” and the upcoming biopic about civil rights leader Cesar Chavez. But she was in Austin to talk about supporting makers in Africa and social organizing for Latinos on Social Media. 

We’re only a couple days into the 2014 SXSW Interactive Festival, but Marketplace Tech has already been hard at work covering the most important panels and interviewing the biggest names in the tech industry. One of the other themes of this year’s conference is surveillance. But some of the biggest speakers on that topic – Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and NSA leaker Edward Snowden – didn’t show up in person. That’s because if they came into the country, they’d almost certainly be arrested. Plus, a conversation with Neil deGrasse Tyson about the cosmos, conversations with aliens, and what will happen to this radio broadcast when it reaches the edge of the universe.

Marketplace Tech is broadcasting from South By Southwest Interactive in Austin, Texas, this week. Two of the big themes are data and privacy. One of the big guests over the weekend addressed a sold-out crowd here from outside of the U.S. border. Julian Assange Skyped in from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Plus, a conversation with Guy Kawasaki the best-selling author who brought the first Macintosh to the masses in 1984.

Louis Black, Co-founder of SXSW, talks about the growth of SXSW Interactive, why technology matters for film and music, and Austin’s growing tech scene. It’s supposed to be a meeting of the minds and the money when it comes to media and tech innovation. And what better way to get a preview than to talk to one of the guys who started it all. Plus, Nathan Bernier, host and reporter at KUT in Austin, joins us to play Silicon Tally.

The crisis in Ukraine continues, this time with reports of cyber attacks from both sides of the conflict. Plus, ArsTechnica gets in the cryptocurrency game. Last but not least, hear from a passenger on the StartUp Bus whose team is developing an app that reveals what the internet knows about you.