计算机专业英语阅读材料（2）

　　计算机英语(24)

　　Artificial Life

　　A scientific research area devoted to the creation and study of computer simulations of living organisms .Computer viruses have forced a renewal of the debate on the definition of life .Besides forcing us to re-examine our definition of life ,artificial life research may create more effective technology .By applying artificial life concepts to real-life problems ,we can program computer-generated solutions to compete for survival based on their capability to perform a desired task well.

　　人工生命

　　致力于建立和研究计算机模拟生命组织(有机体)的一种科研领域。计算机病毒已迫使关于生命定义的辩论重新展开。除了迫使我们重新检查生命定义之外,人工生命研究可能会创造更有效的技术。通过将人工生命概念应用于现实生活问题,我们可以对计算机生成的解决方案编程,以在其有能力很好地完成所要求任务的基础上为生存而竞争。

　　计算机英语(25)

　　Alias

　　An alternative name for software ,hardware ,or user that points to the real name .For example ,on your computer ,you can name your hard drive Thelma instead of the insipid manufacturer identification ,like Q540.An alias applied to a software program will allow it to be opened via different names or icons in different windows .Most E-mail providers allow you to choose an alias in place of your real user name on the network ,so a message addressed to joesmith@smith.com will get to a user registered as mjsmith .Alias is a secondary or symbolic name for a file ,a collection of data ,or a computer device .In a spreadsheet ,a range name ,such as Income ,is an alias for a range ,such as A3..K3.In networks ,group aliases provide a handy way to send electronic mail to two or more people simultaneously.

　　别名

　　指对软件 、硬件或有真实名称的用户的替换名称。例如,在你的计算机上,你可对硬盘驱动器命名为Thelma,而不是命名为枯燥无味的厂商标志,如Q540。软件程序的别名将使软件通过不同窗口中的不同名称或图标打开。大多数E-mail提供者允许你在网络上选择一个别名来代替真实用户名。因此,发送给 joesmith@smith.com 的一条消息将被送到以mjsmith注册的用户。别名是一个文件、一组数据或一台计算机设备的第二个名字或符号名。在电子数据表中,像Income这样的区域名是一个区域的别名,如A3..K3。在网络中,组别名提供了同时向两个或多个人发送电子邮件的便利方法。

　　计算机英语(26)

　　Video Wall

　　A wall of multiple rack-mounted video monitors or rearprojection displays that together produce a very large image or combinations of images .Video walls can be dramatic attention-grabbing devices for advertising or art ,when a single image is spread across many adjacent monitors .Video walls can be fed from computer output or from real time television signals .Software divides the image and routes the pieces to each monitor ,and can create special effects .

　　视频墙

　　是由多个安装在机架上的视频监视器或后投影式显示器组成的大屏幕,一起生成一幅非常大的图像或图像组合。当单幅图像分散在许多相邻监视器上时,视频壁可成为用于广告或艺术的引人注目的装置。视频壁可由计算机输出或实时电视信号传送信号。软件将图像分割并向每个监视器传送图像片断,而且可产生特殊的效果。

　　计算机英语(27)

　　Whois

　　A Unix utility ,run by a whois server ,that enables users to locate the electronic mail address ,and often the telephone number and other information ,of people who have an account on the same computer system .In Novell networks ,a command that displays a list of all users logged on the network.

　　Whois

　　由whois服务器运行的一种Unix实用程序,它可使用户对那些在相同计算机系统上有一个账号的人们对电子邮件地址(常常是电话号码或其他信息)定位。在Novell网络中,是显示登录在该网络上的所有用户清单的一个命令。

　　计算机英语(28)

　　Wild Card

　　Characters, such as asterisks and question marks, that stand for any other character that may appear in the same place .Microsoft Windows 95 uses two wild cards :the asterisk(*) which stands for any character or characters, and the question mark(?), which stands for any single character.

　　通配符

　　诸如星号和问号这样的字符,它们代表可能出现在同一地方的任何其他字符 。Microsoft Windows 95使用两种通配符:星号(*)──代表任何一个或多个字符;问号(?)──代表任何单个字符。