Never News: Pumpkins to be Carved
[You've been wandering through the catacombs for what must be hours by this point. Every path looks just like the last – the same damp ground, the same oppressively low ceiling, and with nothing but your lit torch to guide you through the dark. And flanking you, human bones, stacked six feet high, like ghoulish guardrails urging you onward still.
For so long, all you've heard is the soft echo of your footfalls against the slick, stone floor. But now...what is that? A second pair of feet behind you? You stop to better hear the sound. Nothing. But just as you begin walking again, there it is again...someone is following you.
You start to walk quicker, but the sound just grows louder. Panicked, you start to run. But it's no use – whoever, or whatever, is following you is effortlessly keeping pace. In fact, it's gaining on you.
And suddenly, you feel an icy cold hand dig its nails into your shoulder...]
What's up, my freaks? 'Tis I, Producer Georgia, here to celebrate the joy of a Friday in October in only way I know how – normal and regular!
Before we begin, I must remind you how outrageously easy it is to become a Never Post member. You wanna throw us 4 bones ($4) a month to help us make the show? Mosey on over to neverpo.st and click "become a member" and all paths shall reveal themselves to you. That's also where you can tip us a one-time amount of your choosing. Get thee hence!
But not, of course, before we dine upon the news.

THE BBC: Finding forgotten knowledge on floppy disks
The interest in recovering or returning to physical media is nothing new, but I do think it's a trend that has been broadening as of late. Be it the growing misery of confronting new AI modules seemingly every day, or a desire to own more media instead of renting it, I do think we will continue to see more projects like this one covered by the BBC. Here, a Cambridge University-based project called Future Nostalgia (I wonder what Dua Lipa has to say about this) rescues data on floppy disks – a feat more difficult than it may seem. The author of this article likens it to needing a key to open a book. And that book can be something truly extraordinary, like the floppy disks owned by Stephen Hawking. A very cool project, and something that gives me a sense of hope amid the perils of modern tech.

SHOW NEWS: Pumpkin carving livestream on Oct 27th!
You read that right! Over at twitch.tv/theneverpost, we will be carving pumpkins for the delight of you all on October 27th at 11:30 AM est. I have declared myself to be a very good carver of pumpkins, a label that I will attempt to defend with great enthusiasm and panache. But shall my jack-o-lantern dazzle the eyes of the chat, or be destined for the compost pile in shame? Only you can find out for yourself!

404 MEDIA: The "Save Our Signs" preservation project upholds important histories
Even more very cool, very fun news for you! Preservationists from Safeguarding Research & Culture and the Data Rescue Project created a volunteer-based, crowdfunded project called Save Our Signs. The project does exactly what it says – it maintains documentation of the signs and placards at the national parks across the United States as they currently are. This comes as a response to Donald Trump's attempt to sanitize (read: whitewash) signage at these parks to focus more on the "grandeur" and "beauty" of the United States without all those pesky reminders of the dark history that this country holds. Friend of the show Jenny McBurney – who spoke with Hans for his segment on tactical archiving – helped launch this project, too!

THE CUT: the humiliation ritual of applying for jobs
For many of us, this is not anything surprising or groundbreaking. The job market has been miserable for years, and it's only getting worse – applying for dozens of jobs every day, only to be cheerily offered to pay for LinkedIn Premium to "see how you compare to 287 other applicants." But for the sake of commiseration, I chose this piece to serve as a reminder for anyone currently searching for employment that you are not the problem. This is the state of things, it sucks, and everyone is in the same boat. Also – send this to any boomer relative who doesn't seem to understand "why you can't just get a job" as if it's still 1970. But this piece also makes me wonder how the misery of job application plays into the broader interest in returning to physical media, to getting off of more Modern Day forms of tech in favor of something slower and simpler. I saw a TikTok the other day of someone very sincerely telling the camera "I just can't keep doing this, I don't want to do this" – this being living a life dictated so completely by screens and dodging AI modules. And I think there will be a far bigger reckoning about all of this soon, if it hasn't already started.
And that's all for this week's installment of Never News. This weekend, I'll be doing my yearly re-watch of Over The Garden Wall – a balm for the scarier cinematic experiences I've been having this month (read: watching The Grudge for the first time after avoiding it for many years). Stay cool, stay spooky, have a cider donut for me.