dynamizer

Sun hires Python pros in dynamic languages push

Correction 10:45 a.m. PST: This blog initially misspelled the name of one of the Python programmers hired by Sun. His name is Frank Wierzbicki.

Sun Microsystems has hired high-profile Python programmers Ted Leung and Frank Wierzbicki, stepping up its bet on open source and scripting languages.

Sun has already hired other open-source luminaries such as Debian Linux founder Ian Murdock, in an effort to capitalize on open source and diversify beyond its roots in Java and Solaris.

Python is one of several dynamic, or scripting, languages that have grown in popularity over the past several years. Developers are … Read more

Panasonic sensor tackles key photo problem--dynamic range

SAN FRANCISCO-- Panasonic showed technology on Monday that could shift the digital photography trend of high-dynamic range photos off the computer and directly into a camera image sensor.

And it works through a variation of a familiar photographic technique called exposure bracketing. For years, photographers challenged by tough lighting conditions have taken multiple pictures of the same scene at different brightness levels--bracketing--to help ensure one photo has a good balance shadow and highlight details.

More recently, with the advent of computers, these bracketed exposures can be combined into a single high-dynamic range (HDR) image that captures both bright and dark … Read more

Shirt lights up when love is near

With Valentine's Day just two weeks away, ThinkGeek is stepping to the aid of the gift-challenged with a proximity-based T-shirt that lights up when your paramour is near.

Suffering the aching emptiness and despair of being apart from your loved one? The 8-Bit Dynamic Life Shirt will register a meager two and a half pixelated hearts. But snuggle up to the object of your affection (who, incidentally, must be wearing a matching black and red T-shirt for this display of devotion to work), and all five hearts on both garments light up in a blaze of cheeky romance and … Read more

CNET Live - Episode 31 - Show Notes

We had a fun show today digging through weird gadgets from Japan thanks to Dynamism.com. Plus after last week's 10-hour Holiday HelpDesk marathon, a half hour FLEW by.

Watch the show on CNET TV.

Things we Crave

NEC's portable desktop

GPS-enabled cameras

First Look

Dell XPS M1730

Guest Japanese gadgets from Dynamism.com.

Panasonic noise-canceling MP3 player

Panasonic's 2-pound laptop

That weirdlittle robotic MP3player from Sony, the Rolly.

Paul Allen's project with Spring wireless, the tiny little FlipStart.

Best of the Web

Googlemapsfor mobile.

Ask Anything

How do Iunlock my cell phone?.

Download of the … Read more

Digital armor to protect tanks

Depleted uranium armor may provide great protection against other tanks, but it's useless against hackers bent on penetrating the networks that tankers and other crews increasingly rely on to move and shoot.

Looking to fill the order for "digital armor," General Dynamics Canada and Secure Computing have teamed up to develop Meshnet, a hardware/software firewall designed to protect networks and digital devices inside tanks and other military vehicles from hostile computer and virus attacks.

Without adequate firewall protection, a tech-savvy enemy could infiltrate the net to eavesdrop, ambush or "blind" a crew by cutting … Read more

Philips creates window with artificial daylight

The Philips Dynamic Daylight Window opens a window (pun intended) to an innovative idea. It's almost like the Transitions eyewear folks had a Vulcan mind meld with Philips' Ambilight engineers: The result is a window that lets you control how much lighting you want to let through, with part of the adjustment creating an artificial window-blind effect, according to Coolest-Gadgets, and the other adjusting the light itself so the sky can look a different color. Besides everyday use for homes in sunny climes, it could help with such setbacks as jet lag and Seasonal Affective Disorder. The only catch … Read more

NSA rings up a secure (and rugged) smartphone

Finally, here's a phone plan that allows you to switch from the U.S. government's Secret Internet Protocol Router Network to the Unclassified but Sensitive Internet Protocol Router Network with a single keystroke.

The National Security Agency has authorized military and government personnel to order up a bunch of General Dynamics' Sectera Edge secure, wireless smartphones, which will not only allow them to make secure calls but also to e-mail and Web-browse in either classified or unclassified mode.

The phones will still operate right along with everyone else on the existing high-speed Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), … Read more

Trimaran gets some respect from the Navy

Maybe it's the trimaran's festive appearance that put off the scrambled-egg crowd, but one still wonders why the U.S. Navy took so long to adapt this 4,000-year-old Polynesian technology to its combat ship inventory.

In any case, they're making up for it now with the new Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), which promises to deliver more payload per ton of displacement than any previous U.S. warship, all on a high-speed, stealthy trimaran hull made of aluminum and steel.

The LCS is the Navy's response to asymmetric threats in coastal waters. The trimaran hull enables … Read more

The 'explosion-proof' computer

Turns out the "explosion-proof" computer that's been making the rounds on the gizmo circuit may be safe to use at the gas pump, but it won't do you any good to sit on it while cruising Karbala.

The Ruffneck Zone 1 Computer can be used for virtually any application, in the harshest of environments by the most careless and abusive operators, according to Computer Dynamics. It has a 15-inch touch screen that's readable in any light condition (including direct sunlight), is impact-resistant and can be operated by gloved hands. But no, it's not bomb-proof.… Read more