A HDMI cable used to sell for $50. Today you can buy one for $3.61. aleighn/Flickr hide caption

The Silk Road was a vast online marketplace for illicit goods and services US Dept. of Justice hide caption

Chief Agent Jerry Flowers' says good guys "wear white hats." Nick Oxford for NPR hide caption

Shirod Ince stood in line for more than two days to buy the Lebron 11 "What The LeBron." He bought the sneakers for $250 and instantly sold them for $500. Rebecca Greenfield/http://www.rebeccagreenfield.com/ hide caption

Thieu Patrice, Tan Benjamin and village chief Gueu Denis of Gahapleu, Ivory Coast, stand on the path to Liberia. Gregory Warner/NPR hide caption

Chief Agent Jerry Flowers looks over cattle at OKC West Livestock Market in El Reno, Oklahoma on Nov. 12, 2014. Cattle rustlers will often try to sell off their stolen cows at livestock markets to make a quick profit. Nick Oxford for NPR hide caption

Thieu Patrice, Tan Benjamin and village chief Gueu Denis of Gahapleu, Ivory Coast stand on the secret path into Liberia. Gregory Warner/NPR hide caption

Bob Peterson claims to have found the thing people have sought for thousands of years — an investment guaranteed to double in value. He keeps it in this storage locker. Bob Peterson/Bob Peterson hide caption

Amateurs. Al Goldis/AP hide caption

Calandrea at work. Robert Smith/NPR hide caption

Ricky's employee, George Lanes, shows off one of this year's hottest costumes, Anna, from the movie Frozen. Quoctrung Bui/NPR hide caption

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is in a tight election race Charlie Riedel/AP hide caption

Elsie Shutt founded one of the first software businesses in the U.S. in 1958. And the programmers were all women. Courtesy Elsie Shutt hide caption