When Tim Baker began racing to the front lines of unfolding natural disasters 18 years ago, it was just him, his video cameras and the tornado.

But those "good old days" are over. Now, when Baker chases tornadoes, he finds himself joined by a mix of curious onlookers, amateurs taking photos with smartphones, and a growing cadre of self-made, semi-professional storm chasers -- seeking adventure, wealth or at least exposure for storm videos distributed via social media.

"You can visit the library and read any book in the whole wide world, without ever having to leave the house." This was my first introduction to the concept of a World Wide Web and a watered-down version of the Internet's capabilities at best, but for 10-year-old it was like Magic. Years later, I am still in awe of what the Internet has done and has the potential to do for the world, but somewhat jaded at the prospect of a Web-based utopia.

Steve Sasson was working at the applied research lab at Eastman Kodak when he was asked to look into a new apparatus called a charge-coupled device. One year later, the first digital camera was born. But, while the invention changed the industry forever, it also caused the demise of one of the biggest photo companies in the world.

"The revolution was going to happen," Sasson says. "I didn't know when, and I didn't know how effective it would be. In the end result, the fundamental business model of Kodak was undermined by the new technology."

Want a pizza? How about a printed one?

As long as you don't mind the "protein layer" (a.k.a the cheese) coming from potentially dubious sources (like insects), you might be in luck. Mechanical engineer Anjan Contractor and his company Systems & Materials Research Corporation have just received a $125,000 grant from NASA to create a "universal food synthesizer" for 3-D-printed food, Quartz reports.

By Noah J. Nelson (@noahjnelson)

Mainstream.

That's the watchword out of today's reveal of the new XBox One console.

(You may want to read up on the bullet points before going further. This is an analysis piece.)

Several years ago, the FBI obtained a search warrant authorizing it to review two days' worth of Fox News reporter James Rosen's emails after demonstrating to a judge it had probable cause to believe that Rosen had committed a crime by soliciting the disclosure of classified information from a government official. The government official was later indicted for leaking classified information.

Nostalgic for the arcade? This family certainly isn't -- thanks to their nod to a retro gamer's ultimate paradise. The Reddit user who shared this slideshow explained that he and his father started the project about five years ago.

It's official: the Guardian Council, a roundtable of 12 men approved either directly or indirectly by the Supreme Leader of Iran, has announced its verdict: of the 686 men and women who registered to run for the office of the Presidency this year, only eight have been chosen. And all are men. (Remember, the Guardian Council doesn't approve of women running for president).

On Monday, May 20th, an Oklahoma tornado crashed through suburbs, leveling entire neighborhoods, setting buildings on fire and landing a direct blow to an elementary school. How much more heartbreaking does it get?

In the aftermath of the Oklahoma tornado tragedy if you're wondering how to talk to children about tragedy and natural disasters, you're not alone. It's totally normal to be bamboozled by such catastrophe. The key, however, is including children in the dialogue.

On Monday, Yahoo announced it was buying Tumblr, the blog network, for $1.1 billion. And then the tweets started, with people declaring that Tumblr founder David Karp was now a billionaire.

When Apple CEO Tim Cook appeared before a panel of Senators Tuesday, much of the questioning centered around why so much of the company’s money sits untaxed overseas. Cook defended the practice, saying his company doesn’t “depend on gimmicks” to lower its tax rate. But a report released earlier this year found that Apple has saved billions using another form of creative accounting.

Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) is adamant that spending offsets need to be found to pay for disaster relief, even for his home state.

If that is what he wants, perhaps we should give it to him. Other senators from other states may view their own states differently, but this Coburn's state and it is what he wants.

The most obvious place to cut spending is to eliminate subsidies for oil companies. No program for the poor and middle class need be touched.

In my last post, "Mining for Digital Gold," I gave a brief primer on the concept of digital mining and Bitcoins, and talked about the quickly growing digital community of Bitcoin entrepreneurs who are building supercomputers to mine Bitcoin information from around the web and make a profit from it.