{"@attributes":{"version":"2.0"},"channel":{"title":"JWORK","link":"https:\/\/jwork.org\/home\/","description":"Computations with open source software. Articles, blogs, news and software projects.","lastBuildDate":"Tue, 10 Mar 2026 18:14:12 -0500","item":[{"title":"Stop Trading Time for a Future","link":"https:\/\/jwork.org\/home\/stop-trading-time-for-a-future","image":{},"description":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

One morning, you find yourself realizing that your retirement party is over. It was yesterday, now it is today. You are\u00a0 in a home office. You feel\u00a0 absolutely hollow. Several decades of work behind, a pension ahead, and all there was to do was stare at the wall wondering what the hell had been happening all those years.<\/p>\n

\u00a0When you were young, you were told to build a career,\u00a0 climb the ladder. And save for retirement. Make progress, go for promotion, and go for promotion again. Get a higher salary, and save money again. The focus was always on moving up, never on asking whether the destination was even desirable. But where do you move, did you ask this yourself?<\/p>\n

","pubDate":"Sat, 14 Feb 2026 10:29:25 -0600","guid":"bd97cb277d8f9d6d21436689a0f948dd"},{"title":"The Mathematical Universe","link":"https:\/\/jwork.org\/home\/the-mathematical-universe","image":{},"description":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

You find yourself in this universe. Beneath its surface, natural laws \u2014 forged with astonishing precision. They co-exist in a delicate balance, interlocking one another. They make your appearance possible.<\/p>\n

We uncover these laws through abstract ideas of mathematics. They manifest to us as traces of a deeper blueprint, or a hidden order that binds reality together. Simple formulas describe the workings of the cosmos, and this simplicity itself is puzzling. Why are these laws so elegant, so compact, so easily grasped? Long before experimental confirmation, these formulas often exist as pure abstractions, waiting to be recognized.<\/p>\n

","pubDate":"Sat, 24 Jan 2026 16:34:56 -0600","guid":"a23e2a2b87c55686bc7cc03ef47cf9f8"},{"title":"Why MDPI Is Not a Predatory Publisher","link":"https:\/\/jwork.org\/home\/why-mdpi-is-not-a-predatory-publisher","image":{},"description":"

From time to time, one hears the claim that MDPI (<\/span>https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/<\/span><\/a>) is a \"predatory journal\".\u00a0 I would like to state clearly at the outset that, according to any reasonable metric, MDPI does <\/span>not<\/span> meet the definition of a predatory publisher. The main reason it is often perceived as such is that it operates under a <\/span>different funding and publishing model<\/span> than traditional subscription-based journals, which makes it stand out from long-established publishers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Below, I address the most common characteristics of predatory journals and explain why they do <\/span>not<\/span> apply to MDPI.<\/span><\/p>\n

","pubDate":"Wed, 14 Jan 2026 06:18:29 -0600","guid":"0d0e1fea2be84bf06e671290c291f084"},{"title":"When Math is Matter: Average and Median American Net Worth","link":"https:\/\/jwork.org\/home\/when-math-is-matter-average-and-median-american-net-worth","image":{},"description":"

As of 2024, the average American's net worth stands at a striking $620,000, according to a recent UBS report <\/a>on global wealth. At first glance, that number might seem unexpectedly high, even out of touch with your own financial reality. If that\u2019s the case, you\u2019re not alone. There\u2019s an important reason for this disconnect.

The figure of $620,000 is an average, a statistic that can be misleading when it comes to understanding the financial reality of most people. In statistics, averages are calculated by adding up the total wealth of a group and then dividing that sum by the number of individuals in the group. However, this simple math can be easily skewed by a few individuals who possess extreme wealth, making the overall average look much higher than it actually represents for the majority.<\/p>\n

","pubDate":"Fri, 05 Dec 2025 23:13:46 -0600","guid":"c8583b09b116ce3d179542557070cc5d"},{"title":"HandWiki: An Open-Source Alternative Knowledge Platform","link":"https:\/\/jwork.org\/home\/handwiki-an-open-source-alternative-knowledge-platform","image":{},"description":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

HandWiki <\/a>is an online, open-source encyclopedia focusing on science, technology, mathematics, computing, and related scholarly fields. The platform hosts a large collection of articles derived from openly licensed sources and written by volunteers. HandWiki is operated by the ErmisLearn initiative, which supports open-knowledge and research-oriented educational projects.<\/p>\n

","pubDate":"Tue, 02 Dec 2025 15:14:37 -0600","guid":"ddc566c556f2b80f5034675048b5a5d4"}]}}