Remarkable stories from the web in a new, easier format.

When it comes to aerial drones, there are few stories stranger than that of 28-year-old Australian man who tried to use a drone to drop drugs into a prison.

DailyTech – Aussie Tried to Drop Drugs into a Prison Using an Aerial Drone

We noticed the biggest Snapdragon performance improvement on a second tablet, which had a 10.1in 4K ultra HD 3840×2160 resolution display. This display quality is only possible on the tablet thanks to the advanced GPU and CPU combination in the Qualcomm Snapdragon 805, and we have to concede that the 4K display is a big technical achievement.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 4K tablet hands-on review- The Inquirer

There’s a lot of momentum in euro-dollar and people are giving up on the view the ECB would ease monetary policy further,

Euro Reaches Two-Year High on ECB Support; Aussie Jumps on Jobs – Bloomberg

Panasonic has become the first international company to declare it will pay employees it sends to China a premium to compensate for the dangerous levels of pollution in the country.

Panasonic offers China workers pollution compensation

This column is not about working too hard, or the dangers of high cholesterol, or lack of exercise. It is about a rash of suicides within the financial community. What this actually means is less certain than the reporting on it might imply.

Why Are So Many Traders (Literally) Killing Themselves? – Bloomberg View

The networks claim Aereo violates copyright by allowing customers to record TV shows in a virtual DVR that lets you stream shows later to your device. Aereo charges $8 per month to use the service and it’s available in a handful of U.S. cities. Aereo argues that since it provides each customer with his or her own antenna and uses the Internet as the “wire” that connects the antenna to customers’ devices, it’s no different than the traditional method of connecting your TV to one of those old-fashioned antennas.

Aereo CEO Chet Kanojia – Business Insider

U.S. natural gas is being touted as a tool to weaken Russian President Vladimir Putin’s influence in Europe. But how effective would an export strategy really be? In this week’s show, we’ll look at the reality of using American natural gas as a geopolitical tool — and ask if cleantech could be another option.

Are US Natural Gas Exports an Effective Way to Counter Russia? : Greentech Media

Despite its success in managing variable-generation power sources such as wind and solar, Germany’s electricity distribution system is beginning to show signs of saturation. And while German officials work to resolve grid-related challenges, U.S. and Canadian solar advocates – who view Germany as a bellwether – are closely monitoring developments.

SolarIndustryMag.com: North American Solar Seeks To Learn From Germany’s Grid Integration Trials

Russia risks a wave of capital flight and a shattering economic crisis as the West prepares a package of sanctions over the seizure of Crimea. German Chancellor Angela Merkel spelled out the danger for Russia in a speech that silenced pro-Kremlin voices in her own coalition and left no doubt that Europe is now fully behind the US on punitive measures.

Russia counts cost as West tightens sanctions noose – Telegraph

Intelligent machines could replace human bank staff in high street branches within five years, the Telegraph has learnt.

How your bank could look in five years’ time – Telegraph

Two U.S. officials believe the shutdown of two separate communications systems from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 happened at different times, indicating the disappearance was less likely the result of a catastrophic failure and more the result of a “deliberate act,” according to a new report from ABC News.

Update On Missing Malaysia Flight – Business Insider

As more environmentally conscious Americans do their bit to help clear the air by paying up for a an eco-friendly Prius or a sporty Tesla, a damaging form of polluted rain is falling in China. The link is graphite, a vital component in batteries used in Tesla’s Model S, Toyota’s plug-in Prius and other electric cars, as well as in electronic gadgets including iPhones.

Teslas in California Help Bring Dirty Rain to China – Bloomberg

Though I was fully expecting an anesthetic experience that paled in comparison to driving a full-size auto, this tiny car—can we even still call it that?—was zippy, pairing the secureness of a closed-cabin vehicle with the maneuverability, especially when leaning into a curve, of a motorcycle or scooter. Which means though our roads are changing, the fun of driving will not.

Driving The Toyota iRoad – Business Insider

China’s four-biggest lenders, which reported $126 billion of earnings in the 12 months through September, sank to the lowest valuations on record in Hong Kong trading yesterday.

China’s Big Four Banks See $70 Billion Vanish From Stocks – Bloomberg

Without looking it up, tell me who the Philadelphia Warriors were playing against 52 years ago when Wilt Chamberlain dropped an NBA-record 100 points.

The Truth Behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-Point Game | Bleacher Report

Investors that believe cooper’s recent price decline is a limited to China will put them on the “path to ruin”, warned Albert Edwards, Societe Generale’s uber-bearish strategist.

Ignore copper meltdown at your peril: SocGen bear Edwards

Americans spend more than 17 percent of GDP on health care; other high income industrial democracies spend only about 11 percent. The 6 percent difference in our $17 trillion economy amounts to $1 trillion.

The excess in the United States is primarily attributable to a more expensive mix of procedures and services, higher prices paid to drug companies and physicians, and inefficiencies in the financing of health care. There are undoubtedly cultural differences between the United States and other countries, but it is also true that Swedes differ from Italians, Germans from French, and the English from all of the above.

What these countries have in common that distinguishes their health care systems from the American is universal insurance for basic care, a larger share of government in financing health care (typically about 75 percent of the total versus 50 percent in the United States), and more aggressive control of expenditures.

How to Shave $1 Trillion Out of Health Care – Yahoo Finance

While the world awaits Sunday’s referendum in Crimea and nervously watches the Russian troops massing on Ukraine’s eastern border, the world is missing that, in Moscow, Vladimir Putin is busily cleaning house. Yesterday, Russian journalist Leonid Ragozin wrote here about Putin’s renewed crackdown on the media

While the West Watches Crimea, Putin Cleans House in Moscow | New Republic

The chairman of one of the U.K.’s biggest pub chains, JD Wetherspoon, said the future of the British boozer hinges on supermarkets being taxed the same rate for alcohol sales. Tim Martin said the government had chosen “probably in ignorance” to widen the tax disparity between supermarkets and pubs – a situation which he said is “ridiculous”.

‘Ridiculous’ UK tax system killing off pubs: boss

Panasonic is laying the groundwork for a massive networked deployment of lithium-ion batteries in solar-equipped homes and businesses to solve Japan’s post-Fukushima energy crisis — and it’s looking to California and other U.S. markets for the business models to make this distributed energy system work.

Panasonic Looks to California for Lessons on Solar-Storage Integration : Greentech Media

It is here where we find that in 2013, the Fed generated a record $90.5 billion in Interest Income, surpassing the previous all time high of $88 billion set in 2011.

“World’s Greatest Hedge Fund In History” Generated $91 Billion Profit In 2013 | Zero Hedge

The heartbeat of a magnificent Bayer Leverkusen side that broke up too soon, the treble was within touching distance for Ballack. Bayer were superb. Managed by Klaus Toppmöller, they had the power of Ballack, the skill of Zé Roberto, the creativity of Yildiray Basturk and the underrated efficiency of Bernd Schneider. This was their time. But they won nothing.

The Joy of Six: nearly men and women | Jacob Steinberg and Ian McCourt | Sport | theguardian.com

If you think the U.S. job market is snapping back, you’re probably not a teenager hunting for work. A report released today (PDF) uses new statistics and analysis to call attention to an employment decline that’s so big it would be considered a national emergency if it affected people older than age 19.

The study’s lead author, Andrew Sum, the head of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston, brings a reformer’s zeal to the topic. In 2000, he points out, 45 percent of teens (aged 16 to 19) were employed. By 2011, the last year covered by the study, that ratio had plummeted to 26 percent.

How to Fix the Shockingly High Teen Unemployment Rate – Businessweek

Fifty years ago, when General Motors was the largest employer in America, the typical GM worker got paid $35 an hour in today’s dollars. Today, America’s largest employer is Walmart, and the typical Walmart workers earns $8.80 an hour.

It’s A Dangerous Myth That People Get Paid What They’re Worth – Business Insider

The potential, Rudko said, is enormous. The Crimean offshore areas already identified, he said, represent “a third of the undiscovered natural gas resources [of Ukraine] and a fifth of the undiscovered oil resources…including: oil and condensate – 1148 million tons and gas – 3831 billion m3. The development degree of resource potential of the shelf – up to 5%. The most prospective for the search of significant deposits is the deep part of the Black Sea. Its potential recoverable resources reach more than 1000 million tons of coal equivalent (54% of the total Black Sea resources).”

Crimea Annexation Would Include Offshore Gas Reserves – Business Insider

Thinking about monetary policy in terms of interest rate policy just doesn’t work. It doesn’t work in theory, and it doesn’t work in practice. That’s why the Bank of England is having to do QE, and is having to re-introduce the old general theory of monetary policy as a special theory for QE.

Worthwhile Canadian Initiative: One general theory of money creation to rule them all!