transport

n 1: something that serves as a means of transportation [syn: {conveyance}]

2: an exchange of molecules (and their kinetic energy and

momentum) across the boundary between adjacent layers of a

fluid or across cell membranes

3: the commercial enterprise of transporting goods and

materials [syn: {transportation}, {shipping}]

4: a state of being carried away by overwhelming emotion:

"listening to sweet music in a perfect rapture"- Charles

Dickens [syn: {ecstasy}, {rapture}, {exaltation}]

5: a mechanism that transport magnetic tape across the

read/write heads of a tape playback/recorder [syn: {tape

drive}, {tape transport}]

v 1: move something or somebody around; usually over long

distances

2: move while supporting, either in a vehicle or in one's hands

or on one's body; "You must carry your camping gear";

"carry the suitcases to the car"; "This train is carrying

nuclear waste"; "These pipes carry waste water into the

river" [syn: {carry}]

3: hold spellbound [syn: {enchant}, {enrapture}, {enthrall}, {ravish},

{enthral}, {delight}] [ant: {disenchant}]

4: transport commercially [syn: {send}, {ship}]

5: send from one person or place to another; "transmit a

message" [syn: {transmit}, {transfer}, {channel}, {channelize}]

transparent

1. Not visible, hidden; said of a system which

functions in a manner not evident to the user. For example,

the {Domain Name System} transparently resolves a {fully

qualified domain name} into an {Internet address} without the

user being aware of it.

Compare this to what {Donald Norman

(http://www.atg.apple.com/Norman/)} calls "invisibility",

which he illustrates from the user's point of view:

"You use computers when you use many modern automobiles,

microwave ovens, games, CD players and calculators. You don't

notice the computer because you think of yourself as doing the

task, not as using the computer." ["The Design of Everyday

Things", New York, Doubleday, 1989, p. 185].

2. Fully defined, known, predictable; said of a

sub-system in which matters generally subject to volition or

stochastic state change have been chosen, measured, or

determined by the environment. Thus for transparent systems,

output is a known function of the inputs, and users can both

predict the behaviour and depend upon it.

(1996-06-04)