"Congratulations to the Debian crew for this.
Non-Debian users benefit from the pressure
that Debian puts on other distros -- just by
existing -- to mind their P's and Q's when
it comes to Free software, and for proving
that elegant upgrade systems don't have to
be glitzy or labyrnthine."
I am not here to flame up a distro-based religious war, but I really wonder how being late all the time can be considered as an "elegant" trait ?
I mean, Debian is famous (notorious) for its lateness. Its "official" version almost always lag behind, compare with others.
True, being fast doesn't mean sharp, but Debian's lateness is something else altogether.
I mean, look at the "potato" release - or should I say, has yet to be released - other distros are carrying newer version of the utilities and kernel code already, in their RELEASE, OFFICIAL versions.
True, Debian does put a lot of effort into its Ps and Qs, but Ps and Qs alone is not _everything_. Sometimes a user needs some advance feature offered by a newer version of a certain utilities, and because of Debian's insistence on getting EVERYTHING in line, most of the time the utilities in Debian distros are of older version, and the user who needs the new feature ain't gonna get it.
That is why sometimes I am forced to use distros other than Debian.
But anyway, congratulation to Debian, the Debian folks have worked hard to earn the prize, despite the too often lateness for Debian releases.
"SVG is cooler in every way except it's not
out and supported by browsers yet. Which,
unfortunately, may be enough to kill it."
Although I know what you say is true, you must NOT give up right now.
After all, there is _still_ a "browser war" going on out there, albeit with a much more _quiter_ war-front. So, with Mozilla is still in its milestone 17 formation stage, and other milestones to come, we should put all our effort into "convincing" the mozilla development team that SVG is super-cool enough for them to support the format.
And when mozilla picks it up, you bet others will follow.
If Microsoft cheated monies from rich-bad-mofo-companies and then give the money to the poor, then Microsoft can be regarded as the modern day "robin hood".
But the thing is, Microsoft is itself a rich-bad'mofo-company, and it is cheating monies from little mom-and-pop companies which don't have the money to have in-house attorneys to oversee every-single legal-documents they sign.
And in third world countries, Microsoft is cheating the people of those countries by pressuring many third world government to sign contracts with them so to "legitimize" the use of M$ products in their government computers.
In Malaysia, for instance, for every single government computer purchase, 250 dollars must be paid to Microsoft, no matter if the computer comes with M$ windows or not, and no matter if the M$ windows has been already paid for (included in the purchase price of the computer). The Malaysian government, just like many other government of the Third World Countries, are afraid of the US company's power in impose "injunctions" and stuffs like that that will resulted in the US congressional action that may include trade sanctions and all other stuffs.
You see, nobody in the Third World COuntries wants to be accused by Microsoft as a "pirate" because if you still want to trade with Uncle Sam, you must prove to Uncle Sam that you are NOT a "pirate", and to do that, you have to sign an agreement with Microsoft, saying that you will pay a certain amount of money on ALL computer purchases.
That is what Microsoft is doing in many Third World Countries, and the case of Malaysia that I have just pointed out above is just one of the many.
Actually, what we truly need is finding better ways to get the space junks out of the sky.
Putting useful stuffs up there may be wonderful, but till now, no one, - not Uncle Sam, and not the Ruskies either, - has come up a economically viable way to get the junks - stuffs that are NO LONGER NEEDED - down from the sky.
No, not that brick with the techical thing inside, but the BRICK that becomes the BUILDING BLOCK of all building.
See? If I were the inventor of the BRICK, I can sue not only Apple, but also Cobalt, and all other people who do "blocks" on everything - and that includes LOTS of builders, architects, engineers worldwide !
Normally, I wouldn't want the church to get involve in the Net politics, but this time, I think we should get them (Protestians, Catholics and Orthodoxes) involved since the Book Of Corinthian was published WAY BEFORE any soccer club in Brazil decided to trademark the name "Corinthian".
If someone, like a rich soccer club, wants to step on the toe of an individual, they may well do it. But if they are faced by a whole group of powerful churches, they may have to think again what they want to do.
In search of a fairer system, I think we have to start from the beginning - and that is, we do need to rethink what copyrights really mean.
The problems you have outlined are all very real, and they are all because someone is using the copyright issue to squeeze money out of the people.
I read somewhere (perhaps in/.) that the original intent for the copyright (and patent) laws is that the author/creator/innovator gets to enjoy the fruit of their inventions, but only for a limited time. The problem we are facing now is that the patent/copyright laws have been changed so much that they (the patent/copyright laws) have lost their original intent - the period of "protection" is so long now (if I remember correctly one proposal is to extent the "protection" to 125 years _after_ the death of the inventor) the whole thing just stop making sense.
Think of it, if in the current use of copyright laws were used back in the era of Beethoven or Bach, those of us who enjoy the symphonies of those great master would have to fork out $$$ for our enjoyment ! One can't even play the ta-ta-ta-taaa (of the 5th symphony) without violating Beethoven's copyright !
And that's what the people in the future era would be facing, if we allow our copyright laws to be altered to suit the greedy lawyers.
Hopefully one day someone will get to their senses and stop all these madness.
The author of the article mentioned about "Techie Friendly" as it means English Speaking, Technologically Up-To-Date, and people who are generally knowledgable about the tech stuffs.
I would very much like to point out that there are MORE dimension to this "friendly" definition - that is, it not only takes the knowledgable people who speaks English, one also has to consider the ENVIRONMENT of which all these things are taking place.
Take for instance - Singapore versus Malaysia.
In both places, people speak English.
In both places, the gummints are pushing technology.
But there is ONE thing that is VERY DIFFERENT between Singapore and Malaysia - and that is, in Singapore, the gummint let the techies do their stuffs WITHOUT placing any sort of artificial interference, whereas in Malaysia, there are LOTS AND LOTS of interferences - on religious ground, on racial ground, on language ground, on belief system, et cetera.
So, by the author's own definition, BOTH Singapore and Malaysia can be said to be "Techie Friendly", but if one considers the stiffling environment in Malaysia versus an open-minded attitude the Singaporean government is taking, Singapore is one aspect MUCH FRIENDLIER to techies than Malaysia.
1. What effect will this type of memory device has under radiation bombardments?
If this memory is to be used on spacecrafts, it has to be able to withstand radiation bombardments.
2. What effect will magnetic forces (and/or electro-magnetic forces) has on this type of memory?
If this memory is to be applied in miniature appliances, the chances that these appliances be in contact with (or being put next to) magnets or under magnetic fields is very large. So, will the amorphous (disordered atomic structure) and crystalline (regular, highly repetitive, and ordered atomic structure) stage be reversed/change/effected due to the magnetic effects?
We do have to be concerned with the effects, because we just do not know what this type of memory device will ultimately be used on - it could be used on embedded devices to control anti-lock brakes on cars, for example - and if the memory device is "affectabled" by either magnetic or radiations, then, this type of memory device should not be used to power computers which controls critical functions that may affect the safety of human lives.
Just because you do not see the rules doesn't mean there is no rules.
The project is not a project with no rule.
There _are_ at least TWO rules to the project - They don't come as "rules" but they are essentially rules nevertheless -
1. Concept.
URL: www.msdi.co.uk/project/theconcept.htm
[the concept]
as part of royal holloway's media arts course, students were asked to create a piece of interactive media. i decided upon a project to explore the nature of the concept of "interactivity". is it really neccesary to have projects that are only limited by the users minds, or is there a need to provide rules and routes that must be obeyed?
2. Challenge .
URL: www.msdi.co.uk/project/challenge.htm
[the challenge]
the challenge, for you the user, is to enter the project, look a the website that's presented to you, and then suggets another site that you think has a link to what you see.
ahem?
well, if for example you were presented with http://www.mcdonalds.com you might suggest http://www.peta-online.org/, the site for the people for the ethical treatment of animals. you could be abstract or obvious, it's up to you.
The service is indeed a very welcome addition to those who want to register their own domains. However, it (currently) still lacks info regarding the downstream registrars of either CORE or TUCOWS.
I hope that not that distance in the future we can have the info on the TUCOWS/CORE registrars.
Again, kudos go to the people who offer the registrar ranking online.
"Because in the case of the Chinese Embassy we hit exactly what we were aiming for (+/-1cm). Unfortunatly what we were aiming for was the wrong target."
Seems like you have bought the entire "intel screwed up" theory stock, hook and barrel. Everybody knew that we WANTED to hit the Chinese embassy. It's the RIGHT target.
Those intel guys who were sacked or gotten "warnings" are fallguys. Their only fault is that they have become the scapegoats for a political decision that went sour.
To do translations from English to German or to italian or French is not a trivial task, but they are so much more easier than automate and put up websites that have to carry both English (or other romanized) language, PLUS the double-byte encoded languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Korean (using Unicode or other encoding methods)...
So... if anyone have done the above that I've mentioned, I'd appreciate if someone can share a clue or two.
Before the days of cavemen/cavewomen, people used to "draw" things on the sand.
In the days of the cavemen/cavewomen, people discovered that charcoal can be used to draw things on the walls, so charcoal was it.
Then people discovered that they can don't have to write on cavewalls no more. They can write on animal skins. So animal skins were it.
A little time afterwards, people discovered that knives, or things sharp enough that they can carve into woods and bamboos. So wood and bamboo were it.
Afterwards, they drew/wrote on cloth, then, one wiseguy invented paper, and paper was hot.
Very hot.
Paper had been used by humans for more than one thousand years, believe it or not.
Now, people "discover" yet another new toys - and it is computer.
Suddenly, they think paper is no longer chic.
Suddenly, everybody and their mothers-in-law wanna write/drew/scawl on 'puters, and if you can utter "'puter" in any gathering, you're the "in" person.
Almost everybody forget that paper is still around, and it is handy, and you do not need to carry batteries to write anything on paper.
But who can stop the vogue-ous 'puters?
Now every single school district in the world are clammering to be "post-modern", and they think that they would do their "job" best by providing students with 'puters.
The one thing everyone has forgotten is, computer is a tool. It is not an be-all-and-end-all. It *IS* just a tool. Just like pencil and paper.
Has anyone heard of the KISS principle - that is Keep It Simple, Stupid !
Why can't anyone keep the entire thing simple, and let the students use their pencil and paper?
What is education? What is learning?
What is education without learning to WRITE?
How can one learn to write CORRECTLY when all they've gotten are laptops and keyboards? What people do on keyboard is TYPING, it is NOT writing.
Is this another case of "When all you got is a hammer, everything looks like nails to you"?
Who needs all those "experts" on the schoolboards when they can't even think straight?
According to the story, a microchip on the patch will determine what the body needs, and delivers the necessary nutrients accordingly.
Well.... unless there is a new way of determining nutrient-needs using the non-invasive method has been developed, I do not see how can a microchip on a patch would "know" what the body needs.
It can analyse the sweat content, body temperature, heartbeats, blood pressure et cetera, but I do not think we have yet the technology of knowing exactly what the body of a living thing needs by having a microchip-on-a-patch.
So.... is it possible that a microchip is IMPLANTED inside the soldier's body, and _another_ microchip on the patch communicates with its cousin inside the body and deliver whatever nutrients that have been requested?
If so, there lies a vulnerability....
If every soldiers on the field have implanted microchips in their bodies, and everyone of them carries a nutrient patch with them, then, the easiest way for the enemy to attack is to SABORTAGE the functioning of the microchips, screwing up the nutrient delivery procedures, and causes an inner-body biological upheaval.
The soldiers then will now have ONE MORE warfront to fight, the one INSIDE their bodies.
I have the feeling that DoD doesn't really care for the wellbeing of the soldiers. If they have, they wouldn't even want to mess with the soldiers' bodies like that.
Slashdot Mirror
You said:
"Congratulations to the Debian crew for this.
Non-Debian users benefit from the pressure
that Debian puts on other distros -- just by
existing -- to mind their P's and Q's when
it comes to Free software, and for proving
that elegant upgrade systems don't have to
be glitzy or labyrnthine."
I am not here to flame up a distro-based religious war, but I really wonder how being late all the time can be considered as an "elegant" trait ?
I mean, Debian is famous (notorious) for its lateness. Its "official" version almost always lag behind, compare with others.
True, being fast doesn't mean sharp, but Debian's lateness is something else altogether.
I mean, look at the "potato" release - or should I say, has yet to be released - other distros are carrying newer version of the utilities and kernel code already, in their RELEASE, OFFICIAL versions.
True, Debian does put a lot of effort into its Ps and Qs, but Ps and Qs alone is not _everything_. Sometimes a user needs some advance feature offered by a newer version of a certain utilities, and because of Debian's insistence on getting EVERYTHING in line, most of the time the utilities in Debian distros are of older version, and the user who needs the new feature ain't gonna get it.
That is why sometimes I am forced to use distros other than Debian.
But anyway, congratulation to Debian, the Debian folks have worked hard to earn the prize, despite the too often lateness for Debian releases.
You mentioned:
"I would like to see this format take off
though. Even though there is no sound
support like Flash, it makes up for it in many
other ways."
I haven't have the time to digest all the SVG docs yet, so, please permit me to ask this question :
Is it possible that SOUND is added as an add-on - sort of like a plugin or tag-on thing - for SVG ?
In other words, is the SVG implementation flexible enough to allow other types of addons ?
You said:
"just letting you know that Malaysia might
not be so happy being considered a third
world country
Do you mean Malaysia now considers itself as a FOURTH world country?
You said:
"SVG is cooler in every way except it's not
out and supported by browsers yet. Which,
unfortunately, may be enough to kill it."
Although I know what you say is true, you must NOT give up right now.
After all, there is _still_ a "browser war" going on out there, albeit with a much more _quiter_ war-front. So, with Mozilla is still in its milestone 17 formation stage, and other milestones to come, we should put all our effort into "convincing" the mozilla development team that SVG is super-cool enough for them to support the format.
And when mozilla picks it up, you bet others will follow.
If Microsoft cheated monies from rich-bad-mofo-companies and then give the money to the poor, then Microsoft can be regarded as the modern day "robin hood".
But the thing is, Microsoft is itself a rich-bad'mofo-company, and it is cheating monies from little mom-and-pop companies which don't have the money to have in-house attorneys to oversee every-single legal-documents they sign.
And in third world countries, Microsoft is cheating the people of those countries by pressuring many third world government to sign contracts with them so to "legitimize" the use of M$ products in their government computers.
In Malaysia, for instance, for every single government computer purchase, 250 dollars must be paid to Microsoft, no matter if the computer comes with M$ windows or not, and no matter if the M$ windows has been already paid for (included in the purchase price of the computer). The Malaysian government, just like many other government of the Third World Countries, are afraid of the US company's power in impose "injunctions" and stuffs like that that will resulted in the US congressional action that may include trade sanctions and all other stuffs.
You see, nobody in the Third World COuntries wants to be accused by Microsoft as a "pirate" because if you still want to trade with Uncle Sam, you must prove to Uncle Sam that you are NOT a "pirate", and to do that, you have to sign an agreement with Microsoft, saying that you will pay a certain amount of money on ALL computer purchases.
That is what Microsoft is doing in many Third World Countries, and the case of Malaysia that I have just pointed out above is just one of the many.
Actually, what we truly need is finding better ways to get the space junks out of the sky.
Putting useful stuffs up there may be wonderful, but till now, no one, - not Uncle Sam, and not the Ruskies either, - has come up a economically viable way to get the junks - stuffs that are NO LONGER NEEDED - down from the sky.
How I wish I was the inventor of the BRICK.
No, not that brick with the techical thing inside, but the BRICK that becomes the BUILDING BLOCK of all building.
See? If I were the inventor of the BRICK, I can sue not only Apple, but also Cobalt, and all other people who do "blocks" on everything - and that includes LOTS of builders, architects, engineers worldwide !
Shooooot !
Normally, I wouldn't want the church to get involve in the Net politics, but this time, I think we should get them (Protestians, Catholics and Orthodoxes) involved since the Book Of Corinthian was published WAY BEFORE any soccer club in Brazil decided to trademark the name "Corinthian".
If someone, like a rich soccer club, wants to step on the toe of an individual, they may well do it. But if they are faced by a whole group of powerful churches, they may have to think again what they want to do.
Of course, that's only my opinion.
In search of a fairer system, I think we have to start from the beginning - and that is, we do need to rethink what copyrights really mean.
The problems you have outlined are all very real, and they are all because someone is using the copyright issue to squeeze money out of the people.
I read somewhere (perhaps in
Think of it, if in the current use of copyright laws were used back in the era of Beethoven or Bach, those of us who enjoy the symphonies of those great master would have to fork out $$$ for our enjoyment ! One can't even play the ta-ta-ta-taaa (of the 5th symphony) without violating Beethoven's copyright !
And that's what the people in the future era would be facing, if we allow our copyright laws to be altered to suit the greedy lawyers.
Hopefully one day someone will get to their senses and stop all these madness.
Have you tried SIAG office?
It is available at www.siag.nu
Try Mandrake 7.1, it is very easy to set up, and the easy-to-set-up thing is very important when you want to do the set-up thing some 2,500 times.
The author of the article mentioned about "Techie Friendly" as it means English Speaking, Technologically Up-To-Date, and people who are generally knowledgable about the tech stuffs.
I would very much like to point out that there are MORE dimension to this "friendly" definition - that is, it not only takes the knowledgable people who speaks English, one also has to consider the ENVIRONMENT of which all these things are taking place.
Take for instance - Singapore versus Malaysia.
In both places, people speak English.
In both places, the gummints are pushing
technology.
But there is ONE thing that is VERY DIFFERENT between Singapore and Malaysia - and that is, in Singapore, the gummint let the techies do their stuffs WITHOUT placing any sort of artificial interference, whereas in Malaysia, there are LOTS AND LOTS of interferences - on religious ground, on racial ground, on language ground, on belief system, et cetera.
So, by the author's own definition, BOTH Singapore and Malaysia can be said to be "Techie Friendly", but if one considers the stiffling environment in Malaysia versus an open-minded attitude the Singaporean government is taking, Singapore is one aspect MUCH FRIENDLIER to techies than Malaysia.
Questions -
1. What effect will this type of memory
device has under radiation bombardments?
If this memory is to be used on spacecrafts, it has to be able to withstand radiation bombardments.
2. What effect will magnetic forces (and/or
electro-magnetic forces) has on this
type of memory?
If this memory is to be applied in miniature appliances, the chances that these appliances be in contact with (or being put next to) magnets or under magnetic fields is very large. So, will the amorphous (disordered atomic structure) and crystalline (regular, highly repetitive, and ordered atomic structure) stage be reversed/change/effected due to the magnetic effects?
We do have to be concerned with the effects, because we just do not know what this type of memory device will ultimately be used on - it could be used on embedded devices to control anti-lock brakes on cars, for example - and if the memory device is "affectabled" by either magnetic or radiations, then, this type of memory device should not be used to power computers which controls critical functions that may affect the safety of human lives.
This is just my humble 2 cents.
There _is_ an upgrade plan for owners of Casio E-100 and E-105. For details, please check out this website: http://support.casio.com/tradein.htm
Of course, the offer only valid for residents of United States. That means, everybody else got fscked !
Please pardon me for asking this obviously ignorant question -
What is "Pocket PC"?
Is "Pocket PC" a newer version of Windows CE?
How does it compare to the (older versions) of Windows CE? Is it blated?
Is "Pocket PC" slim and elegant? How does it compare with other embedded OS, such as pico-BSD and RTL (Real Time Linux)?
Has anyone ever did any comparison (feature and/or performance) on "Pocket PC" versus other embedded OS ?!
Can anyone please reply?
Many thanks in advance.
Just because you do not see the rules doesn't mean there is no rules.
The project is not a project with no rule.
There _are_ at least TWO rules to the project - They don't come as "rules" but they are essentially rules nevertheless -
1. Concept.
URL: www.msdi.co.uk/project/theconcept.htm
[the concept]
as part of royal holloway's media arts
course, students were asked to create a
piece of interactive media. i decided
upon a project to explore the nature of
the concept of "interactivity". is it really
neccesary to have projects that are only
limited by the users minds, or is there a
need to provide rules and routes that
must be obeyed?
2. Challenge .
URL: www.msdi.co.uk/project/challenge.htm
[the challenge]
the challenge, for you the user, is to
enter the project, look a the website
that's presented to you, and then
suggets another site that you think has
a link to what you see.
ahem?
well, if for example you were presented
with http://www.mcdonalds.com you
might suggest
http://www.peta-online.org/, the site for
the people for the ethical treatment of
animals. you could be abstract or
obvious, it's up to you.
get it? good.
How about an uneven curvature?
The service is indeed a very welcome addition to those who want to register their own domains. However, it (currently) still lacks info regarding the downstream registrars of either CORE or TUCOWS.
I hope that not that distance in the future we can have the info on the TUCOWS/CORE registrars.
Again, kudos go to the people who offer the registrar ranking online.
You said:
"Because in the case of the Chinese Embassy
we hit exactly what we were aiming for
(+/-1cm). Unfortunatly what we were aiming
for was the wrong target."
Seems like you have bought the entire "intel screwed up" theory stock, hook and barrel. Everybody knew that we WANTED to hit the Chinese embassy. It's the RIGHT target.
Those intel guys who were sacked or gotten "warnings" are fallguys. Their only fault is that they have become the scapegoats for a political decision that went sour.
To do translations from English to German or to italian or French is not a trivial task, but they are so much more easier than automate and put up websites that have to carry both English (or other romanized) language, PLUS the double-byte encoded languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Korean (using Unicode or other encoding methods)...
So... if anyone have done the above that I've mentioned, I'd appreciate if someone can share a clue or two.
Thanks in advance.
Before the days of cavemen/cavewomen, people used to "draw" things on the sand.
In the days of the cavemen/cavewomen, people discovered that charcoal can be used to draw things on the walls, so charcoal was it.
Then people discovered that they can don't have to write on cavewalls no more. They can write on animal skins. So animal skins were it.
A little time afterwards, people discovered that knives, or things sharp enough that they can carve into woods and bamboos. So wood and bamboo were it.
Afterwards, they drew/wrote on cloth, then, one wiseguy invented paper, and paper was hot.
Very hot.
Paper had been used by humans for more than one thousand years, believe it or not.
Now, people "discover" yet another new toys - and it is computer.
Suddenly, they think paper is no longer chic.
Suddenly, everybody and their mothers-in-law wanna write/drew/scawl on 'puters, and if you can utter "'puter" in any gathering, you're the "in" person.
Almost everybody forget that paper is still around, and it is handy, and you do not need to carry batteries to write anything on paper.
But who can stop the vogue-ous 'puters?
Now every single school district in the world are clammering to be "post-modern", and they think that they would do their "job" best by providing students with 'puters.
The one thing everyone has forgotten is, computer is a tool. It is not an be-all-and-end-all. It *IS* just a tool. Just like pencil and paper.
Has anyone heard of the KISS principle - that is Keep It Simple, Stupid !
Why can't anyone keep the entire thing simple, and let the students use their pencil and paper?
What is education? What is learning?
What is education without learning to WRITE?
How can one learn to write CORRECTLY when all they've gotten are laptops and keyboards? What people do on keyboard is TYPING, it is NOT writing.
Is this another case of "When all you got is a hammer, everything looks like nails to you"?
Who needs all those "experts" on the schoolboards when they can't even think straight?
Gimp anyone?
And by the way, what is Gimp doing nowadays?
Back in the days of 1.1.9, they told us that Gimp 1.2 is coming. Now it's 1.1.19, and still nothing comes.
Hmmmm.... is this another example of the breakdown of open-source?
Without nanotech, the post-human era will largely be a cockroach world.
With nanotech, it'd be armies of miniature exo-droids fighting the cockroaches.
Here is a summary of VQF vs. MP3 I gleaned from http://perun.elfak.ni.ac.yu/~milko/vqf/VQFvsMP3.h
1. MP3 psychoacoustic model excludes
completely some high frequencies when
it decides that they are irrelevant.
2. MP3 preserves power spectra peaks, and
VQF does not preserve the peaks at the
highest frequencies that good.
3. VQF has problems with the Pre-Echoes,
which is solved in MP3 by a technique
called "window switching".
**To know what's the "pre-echoes", go here:
http://perun.elfak.ni.ac.yu/~milko/vqf/more.htm
And from the conclusion of that page:
Conclusion?
It seems that MP3 has a better
psychoacoustic model. VQF sounds
(and looks) more natural.
Certainly, both formats need more
development...
So... come back to our topic at hand...
How will Ogg Vorbis fair against both VQF
and MP3 ?
According to the story, a microchip on the patch will determine what the body needs, and delivers the necessary nutrients accordingly.
Well.... unless there is a new way of determining nutrient-needs using the non-invasive method has been developed, I do not see how can a microchip on a patch would "know" what the body needs.
It can analyse the sweat content, body temperature, heartbeats, blood pressure et cetera, but I do not think we have yet the technology of knowing exactly what the body of a living thing needs by having a microchip-on-a-patch.
So.... is it possible that a microchip is IMPLANTED inside the soldier's body, and _another_ microchip on the patch communicates with its cousin inside the body and deliver whatever nutrients that have been requested?
If so, there lies a vulnerability
If every soldiers on the field have implanted microchips in their bodies, and everyone of them carries a nutrient patch with them, then, the easiest way for the enemy to attack is to SABORTAGE the functioning of the microchips, screwing up the nutrient delivery procedures, and causes an inner-body biological upheaval.
The soldiers then will now have ONE MORE warfront to fight, the one INSIDE their bodies.
I have the feeling that DoD doesn't really care for the wellbeing of the soldiers. If they have, they wouldn't even want to mess with the soldiers' bodies like that.