Good Morning. An OpenAI engineer allegedly hid a recording device in toilet paper. The company says its own AI helped catch him. Plus, Winnie is a centenarian, 5 rules for getting lean, and the origin of the Fortnite dance (first time here? Join 523,000 Betterists).
Yesterday’s most clicked link: Tim Allen’s massive car collection
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Hidden Recorder
An OpenAI engineer faces a federal charge for secretly planting a recording device in a company conference room. The 35-year-old was arrested Friday and fired, and faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
The device was hidden in toilet paper and plugged into a USB port behind a TV. Security footage put him near the room six times last month, and a new camera caught him checking behind the TV.
The company says it used AI models to trace the device back to him, and has seen no sign he took model weights or customer data. The complaint doesn’t say what he planned to do with recordings. The second device found in his bag.
Inflation Hits 3.7%
Consumer prices rose 0.6% in September and 3.7% from a year earlier, the government reported Wednesday. That’s up from 3.4% in August and a notch above the 3.6% economists expected.
Gasoline led the way. It jumped 9.1% in the month, accounting for about half the increase, and is up 34% in a year. Fuel oil, which heats many Northeast homes, is up 74%.
Core prices, which skip food and energy, rose 2.6% annually, above forecasts. Food was flat for the month, while shelter rose 0.4% and used cars 0.7%. The Fed weighs the report before its next rate decision. The record $4.33 gallon behind September.
Pooh Turns 100
Winnie-the-Pooh turned 100 yesterday. A.A. Milne published the first full-length Pooh book on Oct. 14, 1926, writing it for his son, Christopher Robin. Illustrator E.H. Shepard drew the original bear (read online for free).
The real stuffed animals that inspired the books sit behind bulletproof, climate-controlled glass at the New York Public Library. Pooh once had his own airplane seat and flew the Concorde in 1983, with a certificate signed by the crew.
Before you post a tribute: Milne never wrote “How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard,” a line widely credited to Pooh. Penguin Random House marked the birthday by donating 3,000 copies. Inside the library’s Pooh celebration.
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The 24-Year-Old Book Everyone’s Reading
Mark Kurlansky’s Salt: A World History came out in 2002. This year, one creator’s Instagram reel sent it viral, with a pitch that stuck: “Turns out nothing’s actually boring.” Kurlansky even opened his first Instagram account.
What’s inside is the real reason to read it:
The only rock we eat. Kurlansky argues salt shaped civilization from the very beginning.
Money and war. Salt served as currency, provoked and financed wars, and secured empires.
America’s canal. Salt revenue helped pay for the Erie Canal and built cities like Syracuse, New York.
A revolution. Gandhi’s 1930 Salt March defied Britain’s salt monopoly and tax.
Even mummies. Ancient Egyptians used salt in mummification.
A 25th anniversary edition lands this fall. Start with the original.
▲ Editor’s note: Here’s another great book on cooking called Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat to help home chefs better understand the basics.
Chris Bumstead’s Rules for Getting Lean
Six-time Classic Physique Mr. Olympia Chris Bumstead has dieted down to 4% body fat multiple times. His verdict: getting lean is “annoyingly simple.” His rules:
Track everything. Write down what you eat and weigh in daily at the same time. Watch the weekly average.
Start from your baseline. Learn what you eat to maintain, then cut a couple hundred calories. Don’t copy anyone’s number.
Focus on three things. Calories, protein and whole foods.
Walk after meals. Ten to 15 minutes after every meal is one of his easiest levers.
Keep lifting heavy. Lighter weights and more reps cost strength, and strength holds muscle.
Simple things, done consistently. That’s the whole secret.
Also in this episode: ordering at restaurants (12:18), breaking a plateau (13:14) and when to end a cut (14:05)
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TOGETHER WITH VITA COCO
3 Hydration Mistakes Runners Make
Training for a fall race? Most runners get the miles right and the fluids wrong.
Only drinking water on long runs. Sweat takes electrolytes with it, not just water.
Skipping hydration on rest days. Recovery days count, too.
Trying something new on race day. Test your drink on a training run first.
The fix: Vita Coco Original Coconut Water naturally contains electrolytes like potassium, with 3.5x the electrolytes of the leading sports drink. Drink it before a run, after a workout or anytime you need to rehydrate.
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