Photos: From tech exec to politician

These days, the buzzed-about young newcomer to the D.C. scene is actor Kal Penn, best known for playing the inventor of the smokeless marijuana bong in "Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay." But CNET News does not deem smokeless bongs as sufficiently high-tech to include Penn, who has joined the White House Office of Public Liaison, on this list.

However, there's also Chris Hughes, who was one of Mark Zuckerberg's original Facebook co-founders (and Harvard roommates) and who's a rising star in the world of political strategy. While he remains a consultant to the massive social network, he stopped working there full time early in 2007 to head up digital-media initiatives for Barack Obama's then-fledgling presidential campaign.

Obama's use of online networking tools from Facebook to Twitter, as we all know, was phenomenally successful, due largely in part to Hughes' guidance. The 25-year-old graced the cover of Fast Company magazine in April.

Hughes' current title is entrepreneur-in-residence at General Catalyst Partners, a Cambridge, Mass.-based venture firm. But we wouldn't be surprised if he resurfaced in the Beltway in the not-so-distant future.