Encyclopedia

Virtual enterprise A Virtual enterprise (VE) is a temporary alliance of enterprises that come together to share skills or core competencies and resources in order to better respond to business opportunities, and whose cooperation is supported by computer networks.
Virtual ethnography Virtual ethnography is a new development in the field of Ethnography. It extends the traditional notions of field and ethnographic study from the observation of co-located, face-to-face interactions, to physically distributed, technologically mediated interactions in virtual networks and virtual communities.
Virtual Execution System The Virtual Execution System(VES) provides an environment for executing managed code. It provides direct support for a set of built-in data types, defines a hypothetical machine with an associated machine model and state, a set of control flow constructs, and an exception handling model.
Virtual file system A virtual file system (VFS) or virtual filesystem switch is an abstraction layer on top of a more concrete file system. The purpose of a VFS is to allow for client applications to access different types of concrete file systems in a uniform way.
Virtual finance Virtual finance is a branch of game design theory which is concerned with monetary aspects of virtual worlds, such as massively parallel multi-user games. Like real finance, virtual finance is concerned with issues like inflation, money forgery and convertibility of virtual monies.
Virtual finite state machine A finite state machine (FSM) defined in a virtual environment is called virtual finite state machine (VFSM). VFSM is a software specification method used to describe the behaviour of a control system using assigned names of input control properties and of output actions.
Virtual folder In computing, a virtual folder generally denotes an organizing principle for files that is not dependent on their physical location in a folder. Instead, they are some scripts which coalesce results from some datastore, which may be a database or a custom index, and presents them visually in the format in which folder views are presented.
Virtual function In object-oriented programming, a virtual function or virtual method is a function whose behavior, by virtue of being declared "virtual", is determined by the definition of a function with the same signature furthest in the inheritance lineage of the instantiated object on which it is called. This concept is a very important part of the polymorphism portion of object-oriented programming (OOP).
Virtual Fishtank The Virtual Fishtank by Nearlife allows users to log on to the website, design their own virtual fish and then release them into the Virtual FishTank exhibits at either the Boston Museum Of Science or the St. Louis Science Center.
Virtual globe A virtual globe is a 3D software model or representation of the Earth or another world. A virtual globe provides the user with the ability to freely move around in the virtual environment by changing the viewing angle and position.
Virtual ground Virtual ground (sometimes called virtual earth) is an important concept found in electronic circuit designs. It identifies a point in a circuit as being held close to the circuit's ground or reference level electric potential.
Virtual Global Taskforce Virtual Global Taskforce is a group of Law enforcement agencies from around the world working together to fight Child_porn and Lolicon online. The aim of the VGT is to build an effective, international partnership of law enforcement agencies that helps to protect children from internet criminals and eliminate photographs or cartoons of child erotism.
Virtual herbarium In botany, a virtual herbarium is a web-based collection of digital images of preserved plants or plant parts. Each virtual specimen is accompanied by information on where and when it was collected, by whom, its correct botanical name, and often information on associated species and ecological preferences.
Virtual high throughput screening Virtual high throughput screening or virtual screening is a computational technique used in drug design research. It involves the rapid assessment of large libraries of chemical structures in order to guide the selection of likely drug candidates.
Virtual Health Library The Virtual Health Library (VHL) is an on-line (digital library) and common space for the convergence of the cooperative work of producers, intermediaries, and users of information on health sciences, built and developed by the Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information (also known as BIREME) in 1998. The VHL promotes the development of a network of sources of scientific and technical information with universal access on the internet.
Virtual Heritage Virtual heritage is a term used to describe works dealing with information and communication technologies (ICT) and cultural heritage. Virtual heritage and cultural heritage have independent meanings: cultural heritage refers to "properties and sites with archaeological, aesthetic and historical value" (UNESCO World Heritage); and virtual heritage refers to instances of these properties and sites within a technological domain.
Virtual channel In telecommunications, a logical channel number (LCN), also known as virtual channel in North America, is a channel designation which differs from the actual radio channel or frequency on which the signal travels.
Virtual Channel Memory Virtual Channel Memory, or VCM, is a memory architecture which was originally developed by NEC. VCM creates a state in which the various system processes can be assigned their own virtual channel, thus increasing the overall system efficiency by avoiding the need to have processes share buffer space.
Virtual image In optics, a virtual image is a representation of an actual (source) object that we see due to curving (converging or diverging) rays of light. No image can be captured using a screen where the virtual image seems to be, because, curved light rays don't draw the image on that plane (as opposed to a real image where curving rays actually draw a representation of the source object on a plane).
Virtual inheritance In C++, virtual inheritance is a kind of inheritance that solves some of the problems caused by multiple inheritance (particularly the "diamond problem") by clarifying ambiguity over which ancestor class members to use. It is used when inheritance is representing restrictions of a set rather than composition of parts.
Virtual Instrument Software Architecture Commonly known as VISA, this is a widely used I/O API in the Test & Measurement industry for communicating with instruments from a PC. VISA is an industry standard implemented by several T&M companies, such as Agilent Technologies and National Instruments.
Virtual Interface Architecture The Virtual Interface Architecture (VIA) is an abstract model of a user-level zero-copy network, and is the basis for InfiniBand and iWARP. Created by Microsoft, Intel, and Compaq, the original VIA sought to standardize the interface for high-performance network technologies known as storage area networks (SANs).
Virtual IP address A virtual IP address (VIP) is an IP address that is not connected to a specific computer or network interface card (NIC) on a computer. Incoming packets are sent to the VIP address, but all packets travel through real network interfaces.
Virtual Iron Virtual Iron Software, located in Lowell, Massachusetts, provides software for virtualization and management of a virtual infrastructure. Virtual Iron is one of the first companies to offer virtualization software to fully support Intel-VT and AMD-V hardware assisted virtualization.
Virtual keyboard A virtual keyboard is a feature of a computer program or a program in and of itself that acts as a virtual extension of a controller, often with fewer buttons than a keyboard would have. In the world of desktop PCs, the Windows XP program On-Screen Keyboard acts as a virtual keyboard that can be operated with a computer mouse.
Virtual knot In knot theory, a virtual knot is a generalization of the classical idea of knots in which virtual crossings are allowed; equivalently, it is an equivalence class of Gauss diagrams (which may or may not represent a classical knot) under the Reidemeister moves.
Virtual learning environment A Virtual learning environment (VLE) is a software system designed to facilitate teachers in the management of educational courses for their students, especially by helping teachers and learners with course administration. The system can often track the learners' progress, which can be monitored by both teachers and learners.
Virtual Library museums pages The Virtual Library museums pages (VLmp) form a leading directory of online museums around the world. The resource was founded by Jonathan Bowen in 1994, originally at the Oxford University Computing Laboratory in the United Kingdom.
Virtual machine In computer science, a virtual machine is software that creates a virtualized environment between the computer platform and its operating system, so that the end user can operate software on an abstract machine.
Virtual management Virtual management seeks to separate certain responsibilities of managers from the actual site of production, the workers and resources at that site. It orients managers more directly to the needs of a service economy - wherein "commodity" and "product" relations are no longer a source of sustainable competitive advantage, due to global competition or inability to predict liability.
Virtual memory Virtual memory or virtual memory addressing is a memory management technique, used by computer operating systems, more common in multitasking OSes, wherein non-contiguous memory is presented to a software (aka process) as contiguous memory. This contiguous memory is referred to as the virtual address space.
Virtual microscope The Virtual Microscope project is an initiative supervised by Rutgers University to make [and behavior] of some small [[organisms explorable online. The server is located in the northern USA and the images are from Antarctica and the Baltic Sea.
Virtual mock Virtual Mocks are a way to mimic the behavior of real objects in a controlled way. A computer programmer typically creates virtual mocks to test the behavior of some other object just like mock objects, although Virtual Mocks can be used to mock concrete classes.
Virtual model A Virtual Model, in the general sense, is a model of a physical object, be it a person, a room, a house, a city or a planet. This model is a digital description of the object (typically greatly simplified) that can be used in a computer simulation or Virtual Reality.
Virtual music scores In the first years of the 1980s, Emanuel Dimas de Melo Pimenta (Brazil, 1957) started to create graphical music scores in four dimensions, with the aid of computers. He was pupil of Hans Joachim Koellreutter (Paul Hindemith, Hermann Sherchen, Marcel Moyse) among others.
Virtual Museum of Computing The Virtual Museum of Computing (VMoC) is an eclectic collection of links and online resources concerning the history of computing. It includes links to other related museums, both real and virtual, around the world, as well as having its own virtual galleries of information.
Virtual Museum of New France The Virtual Museum of New France (French: Le Musée virtuel de la Nouvelle-France) was established by the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation on January 22, 1997. As an entirely virtual museum, it has no physical exhibits and only exists on the World Wide Web at www.
Virtual network A virtual network provides the functionality, or application programming interface (API), of links between nodes, as in a computer network. The implementation of these virtual links may or may not correspond to physical connections between nodes.
Virtual Network Computing Virtual Network Computing (VNC) is a desktop sharing system which uses the RFB (Remote FrameBuffer) protocol to remotely control another computer. It transmits the keyboard presses and mouse clicks from one computer to another relaying the screen updates back in the other direction, over a network.
Virtual office A virtual office is a service that is offered through serviced offices which allows clients to use a prestigious office address and professional reception service, without renting a physical office. This provides a cost effective alternative for small business owners that work at home or for travelling business people.
Virtual organization * A Virtual Organization is an organization existing as a corporate, not-for-profit, educational, or otherwise productive entity that does not have a central geographical location and exists solely through telecommunication tools.
Virtual Object System The Virtual Object System (VOS) is a computer software technology for creating distributed object systems. The sites hosting Vobjects are typically linked by a computer network, such as a local area network or the Internet.
Virtual Orchestra Virtual Orchestra Is a term used to identify a variety of different types of technology and art forms. Most commonly used to refer to orchestral simulation, either for pre-recorded or live environments, it also has been used to describe other activities, such as IRCAM’s Virtual Orchestra database.
Virtual particle In physics, a virtual particle is a particle-like abstraction used in some models of quantum field theory. Virtual particles exhibit some of the phenomena that real particles do such as conservation of charge.
Virtual phone number A Virtual Phone Number or Virtual Number, is a telephone number without an associated phone line. Usually these numbers are programmed to be forwarded to either a Voice over IP service, or to a different phone line, fixed or mobile.
Virtual plague A virtual plague or virtual virus is an infection that can be transferred between the characters of players in a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). Just as a disease can spread in the real world, virtual world diseases can spread between characters in these games.
Virtual press conference The virtual press conference is much like a news conference. It is a conference where the speaker is sitting in a chair in a studio for example whilst the video and audio are relayed via satellite to another location.
Virtual private database A virtual private database or VPD masks data in a larger database so that security allows only the use of apparently private data. Separate sites, departments and/or individuals transparently see and manipulate data specific to their needs and to their security classifications.
Virtual private network A virtual private network (VPN) is a private communications network often used within a company, or by several companies or organizations, to communicate confidentially over a public network. VPN traffic can be carried over a public networking infrastructure (e.
Virtual private server A virtual private server (also referred to as virtual dedicated server or virtual server, and abbreviated VPS or VDS) is a server run through virtualization in tandem with other virtualized servers on one physical computer. The practice of partitioning a single server so that it appears as multiple servers has long been common practice in mainframe computers, but has seen a resurgence lately with the development of virtualization software and technologies for other architectures.
Virtual Path Identifier Virtual Path Identifier refers to an 8-bit (user to network packets) or 12-bit (network-network packets) field within the header of an Asynchronous Transfer Mode packet. The VPI, together with the VCI (Virtual Circuit Identifier) is used to identify the next destination of a cell as it passes through a series of ATM switches on its way to its destination.
Virtual Physiological Human The term Virtual Physiological Human (VPH) indicates a shared resource formed by a federation of disparate but integrated computer models of the mechanical, physical, and biochemical functions of living human body in both physiological and pathological conditions. This goal is coherent with those set by the international Physiome Project.
Virtual Places Virtual Places is a technology of the early '90s that was the first to bring live human presence to the World Wide Web, enriching information publishing, commercial enterprises, and virtual communities. See also Vpchat, a web service using Virtual Places technology.
Virtual Places Chat Virtual Places Chat is software that uses the paradigm that any web page on the Internet is a chat room – a Virtual Place – if one or more people are viewing the page with the VPchat program. A web browser is an integral part of VPchat.
Virtual Pool 64 Virtual Pool 64 is a pool simulation game that was released for the Nintendo 64 by crave Entertainment in 1998 solely in North America. It is part of the Virtual Pool game franchise (which also includes the PC games Virtual Pool, Virtual Pool 2, Virtual Pool Hall and Virtual Pool 3).
Virtual Population Analysis Often referred to by the acronym VPA, is a modelling technique commonly used in fisheries science for reconstructing historical fish numbers at age using information on death of individuals each year. This death is usually partitioned into catch by fisheries and natural mortality.
Virtual Private LAN Service Virtual private LAN service (VPLS) is a way to provide Ethernet based multipoint to multipoint communication over IP/MPLS networks. It allows geographically dispersed sites to share an ethernet broadcast domain by connecting sites through pseudo-wires.
Virtual radar Due to size and cost limitations, Trainer Planes are not able to accommodate a traditional radar system. ”Virtual Training” capability consists of implementation of a virtual radar capability as well as a ground based mission management and debriefing capability.
Virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a technology which allows a user to interact with a computer-simulated environment, be it a real or imagined one. Most current virtual reality environments are primarily visual experiences, displayed either on a computer screen or through special stereoscopic displays, but some simulations include additional sensory information, such as sound through speakers or headphones.
Virtual reality in telerehabilitation Virtual reality in telerehabilitation is one of the newest tools available in that area. The computer technology that allows us to develop three-dimensional virtual environments consists of both hardware and software.
Virtual reality therapy Virtual reality therapy (VRT) is a method of psychotherapy that uses virtual reality technology to treat patients with anxiety disorders, post traumatic stress disorder, and several other medical phobias. New technology also allows for the treatment of addictions.
Virtual representation Virtual representation was a concept in colonial-era Britain, based on the belief that a Member of Parliament "virtually represented" every person in the colonies, and there was no need for a specific representative from each colony. Specifically, virtual representation was the antithesis of "No taxation without representation" in the Thirteen Colonies.
Virtual retinal display A virtual retinal display (VRD), also known as a retinal scan display (RSD), is a new display technology that draws a raster display (like a television) directly onto the retina of the eye. The user sees what appears to be a conventional display floating in space in front of them.
Virtual Radio Virtual Radio is an internet radio player for mobile phones, operating on the Symbian operating system. As of April 23, 2006, it operated on "Nokia S60, SonyEricsson, Motorola, Siemens SX1, BenQ, Arima and Sendo X" phones.
Virtual Reality in the schools VR in the Schools is a peer-reviewed publication of the Virtual Reality and Education Laboratory (VREL), published by East Carolina University. VR in the Schools addresses issues of incorporating virtual reality into the education system.
Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP) is a non-proprietary redundancy protocol described in RFC 3768 designed to increase the availability of the default gateway servicing hosts on the same subnet. This increased reliability is achieved by advertising a "virtual router" (an abstract representation of master and backup routers acting as a group) as a default gateway to the host(s) instead of one physical router.
Virtual serial port Virtual serial port is a trade term used by certain vendors of COM port redirector software that emulates a serial port (RS-232, RS-422, and RS-485). Virtual serial ports are created by special software which enables extra serial ports in the operating system without using additional hardware (such as expansion cards, etc.
Virtual sex Virtual sex is when two or more people gather together via some form of communications equipment to sexually arouse each other by transmitting sexually explicit messages. Virtual sex describes the phenomenon, no matter the communications equipment used.
Virtual shopping Virtual shopping is a form of e-commerce giving the ability for individuals to shop remotely via a computer network connection, normally on the Internet using the World Wide Web. In particular, the term virtual shopping mall is sometimes used for the electronic equivalent of shopping malls, with a selection of online shops on one website.
Virtual school A virtual school is simply a school where students of all ages can do their coursework online. Most states in the United States have their own virtual school, and many of them have students numbering in the thousands.
Virtual sim A copy of most of the data in a physical SIM (contact list, SMS, Cell ID) which is stored in phone memory to avoid burning out the SIM memory due to frequent read/writes. Changes to the virtual SIM are flushed to the physical SIM when the phone is turned off.
Virtual sit-in A form of electronic civil disobedience deriving its name from the sit-ins popular during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, a virtual sit-in attempts to re-create that same action digitally using a DDoS. During a virtual sit-in, hundreds of activists attempt to access a target website simultaneously and repetitively.
Virtual storage access method Virtual Storage Access Method (VSAM) is an IBM disk file storage scheme first used in the OS/VS2 operating system and later used throughout the MVS architecture. VSAM comprises four access methods: Key Sequenced Data Set (KSDS), Relative Record Data Set (RRDS), Entry Sequenced Data Set (ESDS) and Linear Data Set (LDS).
Virtual studio A Virtual studio is a television studio that allows the real-time combination of people or other real objects and computer generated environments and objects in a seamless, Virtual reality-like manner. A key point of a virtual studio is that the real camera can move in 3D space, while the image of the virtual camera is being rendered in real-time from the same perspective.
Virtual Studio Technology Virtual Studio Technology and its acronym VST refer to an interface standard for connecting audio synthesizer and effect plugins to audio editors and hard-disk recording systems. VST and similar technologies allow the replacement of traditional recording studio hardware with software counterparts.
Virtual team A Virtual Team — also known as a Geographically Dispersed Team (GDT) — is a group of individuals who work across time, space, and organizational boundaries with links strengthened by webs of communication technology. They have complementary skills and are committed to a common purpose, have interdependent performance goals, and share an approach to work for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.
Virtual tour A virtual tour (or virtual reality tour) is virtual reality simulation of an actually existing location, usually comprising 2D panoramic images, a sequence of hyperlinked still or video images, and/or image-based models of the real location, as well as other multimedia elements such as sound effects, music, narration, and text. As opposed to actual tourism, a virtual tour is accessed on a personal computer (typically over the Internet).
Virtual tourism Virtual tourism refers to pre-planning alternative touristic activity before your departure, by integrating multiple digital resources to explore regions of the world without having to physically travel. It helps focus attention onto people, places and exploring changes over time!
Virtual Tape Library Virtual Tape Library (VTL) is a data storage virtualization technology used typically for archival storage purposes. In generic terms, a VTL presents a storage component (such as disk) as tapes available for use with tape drive and media changer emulations.
Virtual Theatre The Virtual Theatre was a computer game engine designed by Revolution Software to easily produce adventure games for computer platforms. The engine allowed their team to script events, and move animated sprites against a drawn background with moving elements using a point-and-click style interface.
Virtual user interface A Virtual User Interface is a desktop interface to a virtual world. The Virtual User Interface or VUI (pronounced Viewy) is a terminology that is used to describe the interface to a collection of three dimensional applications, functions and services running in a virtual world.
Virtual University of Pakistan Virtual University of Pakistan is a distance learning program launched by the Pakistan government. Virtual University broadcasts lectures of all its BCS, MCS and several other degree courses through cable broadcast.
Virtual Value Chain The virtual value chain, created by John Sviokla and Jeffery Rayport, is a business model for the information services industry. This value chain begins with the content supplied by the provider, which is then distributed and supported by the information infrastructure, and then the context provider supplies actual customer interaction.
Virtual Villagers Virtual Villagers is a 2006 village simulator from independent game publisher Last Day of Work. The player trains their villager's to farm, breed, build, research, and heal, in an effort to solve puzzles and start island events.
Virtual water Virtual water refers to the water required in the production of a good or service. For instance, it takes more or less 1,200 cubic meters of water to produce one metric tonne of wheat (depending on where and how it is grown).
Virtual work A force F, which may be real (actual) or imaginary (fictitious), acting on a particle is said to do virtual work when the particle is imagined to undergo a real or imaginary displacement component D in the direction of the force. Thus, virtual work is the mathematical product (FD) of unrelated forces and displacements.
Virtual world A virtual world is a computer-based simulated environment intended for its users to inhabit and interact via avatars. This habitation usually is represented in the form of two or three-dimensional graphical representations of humanoids (or other graphical or text-based avatars).
Virtual War Virtual War signifies the increased utilization and dependency on technology during the course of warfare. It includes the time/space separation between an attacker and the intended target which results in the "sanitization" of war.
Virtual Wards A virtual ward is a cadre for providing support in the community to people with the most complex medical and social needs. The concept was developed in Croydon Primary Care Trust (South London) - and virtual wards are now being introduced in several parts of the UK (including Croydon, Brent, Hillingdon and Bracknell PCTs).
Virtual Woman Virtual Woman is a software program that combines elements of a chatterbot, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, a video game, and a virtual human. It claims to be the oldest form of virtual life in existence, as it has been continuously running or in use since the late 1980s.
Virtual-OS Virtual-OS is an open source web operating system or distributed web desktop developed by Advanced Webhosting Network that seamlessly combines SaaS and upcoming Web 3.0 technology in a persistent multitasking environment.
VirtualBartender.beer.com Virtual Bartender, an example of viral marketing, is an online video feature that allows visitors to interact with a barmaiden (Playboy Model Tammy Plante). When Tammy recognizes a request, such as "pour me a beer," "dance on the bar" or "fight like a Jedi," she happily carries out the task and then returns to her idling position to await your next request.
VirtualBox VirtualBox by InnoTek is an x86 virtualizer for Windows and Linux 32-bit hosts supporting Windows, Linux 2.x, OS/2 Warp, OpenBSD and FreeBSD as guest operating systems"Status: Guest OSes" page on VirtualBox website.
VirtualGL VirtualGL is an open source program which redirects the 3D rendering commands from Unix and Linux OpenGL applications to 3D accelerator hardware in a dedicated server and displays the rendered output interactively to a thin client located elsewhere on the network.
Virtualization In computing, virtualization is a broad term that refers to the abstraction of computer resources. One useful definition, from independent IT analyst firm Enterprise Management Associates, is "a technique for hiding the physical characteristics of computing resources from the way in which other systems, applications, or end users interact with those resources.
Virtualization engine In computing, a virtualization engine is the concept of giving a holistic view of all the resources in the entire network infrastructure. The holistic view is independent of the physical data storage devices and their geographic location.
Virtually fibered conjecture In the mathematical subfield of 3-manifolds, the virtually fibered conjecture of Thurston states: every closed, irreducible, atoroidal 3-manifold with infinite fundamental group has a finite cover which is a surface bundle over the circle.
Virtually Missouri Virtually Missouri brings together collections, databases, and online exhibits from a variety of institutions around Missouri and showcases their broad array of holdings. Collections include images, newspapers, rare books, sound recordings, and cultural objects.
Virtualtourist Virtualtourist (VT) is a free travel oriented community website featuring user-contributed travel guides for locations world wide. More than 700,000 members provide content that highlights the places they live in or have visited with photographs, comments, detailed tips and reviews about their trips.
Virtuaroid Virtuaroids, or VR's for short, are immense mech robots that the player utilzes in the Sega action game Virtual On. There are many types of VR's and many of them have different attributes, weaknesses , and strengths, that help a player format to his/her own playstyle.

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