Here's link to page describing background of the Avida program.. Longer than the article in this posting, and maybe more informative..
http://devolab.cse.msu.edu/software/avida/background.php
I learned to be skeptical of computer 'evidence' for Darwin ever since the 'methinksitsaweazel' program offered by Dawkins some years ago.
If that is evidence for The Theory, then global warming is real.
Omar.