Those on the East Coast of the United States who are expecting more than a few "fluffy little clouds" to come their way thanks to Hurricane Sandy may not be aware that the originator of that phrase, painter Bob Ross, would have been 70 years-old on Monday.

However, Google is commemorating the event with a Google Doodle that shows Ross in his prime with his permed Afro, beard and a squirrel on his shoulder.

Ross, the creator and host of PBS's The Joy of Painting, died in 1995. However, his legend lives on. In July, PBS released a songified video made up of some of Ross's iconic moments. The video was a sequel of sorts to PBS Digital Studios' Mister Rogers remix in June.

Though mo…
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As Hurricane Sandy moves near the U.S. mid-Atlantic coast, Google is helping those affected prepare for the storm with a dedicated crisis map.

The map tracks Sandy's path, letting users choose between several layers of information, such as the current location of the storm, forecast track, shelter locations, cloud imagery, public alerts and more.

Google has also launched a special Sandy crisis map for New York City, displaying such info as evacuation zones, evacuation centers and Red Cross emergency shelters.

Sandy is a massive category 1 hurricane, expected to bring life-threatening storm surge to the mid-Atlantic coast, Monday evening and early Tuesday.

Also helping…
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More About: Google, Hurricane Sandy, crisis map, trending

1. A Dog Sleeping With His Kittens

This dog has his paws full with three kitties to love.

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While conventional wisdom states that cats and dogs were born natural enemies, this isn't always the case. We have found 10 adorable YouTube videos of feline/canine cuddles to prove the stereotype wrong.

SEE ALSO: 10 Heart-Warming Animal Friendships Captured on YouTube

Take a look through our collection of cute clips. These animals dare to love across the species divide. Share your support for these brave creatures in the comments below.

More About: Video, Watercooler, YouTube, animals, features, humor

In case you hadn't heard the hype, there is a dedicated community of iPhone photographers around the globe. Well, Mashable discovered Android users can definitely hold their own with a camera phone.

Flickr groups such as "Android Photographer" and "Androidography" contain tens of thousands of captivating photos taken using the full gamut of Android devices.

SEE ALSO: 7 Photo Editing Apps to Use With Instagram

You Android users also have access to a wealth of apps -- such as Vignette, Camera 360 and Pixlr-o-matic -- which will help create photos that make all your Instagram followers squeal with delight (or jealousy).

Which mobile device is your favorite for taking photos? Wh…
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More About: Mobile, Photographers, Photos, android, art, features, flickr

When you think of Apple, you think of iPhones or iPods, or perhaps a MacBook, but you probably don't think about home automation. That may change starting Tuesday, when Philips starts selling its Hue light bulbs exclusively in Apple stores across the country, bringing personal wireless lighting into the home.

Philips calls Hue the world's smartest light bulb. It's actually a web-enabled LED home lighting system that, when used with the free mobile app, lets consumers control and play with the lights in their home.

Home automation has, until recently, been out of the price range of the average consumer, but companies like Belkin, with its WeMo, Logitech and more recently, Nest with…
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More About: home automation, led, light bulb

Visit Amazon's homepage, and you'll see the iPad mini featured prominently in an ad -- but it's not what you think.

The ecommerce retailer takes a jab at Apple's tiny tablet, and compares it with the Kindle Fire HD. The top of the ad displays a quote from Gizmodo, which portrays the iPad mini in an unflattering light:

"...your [Apple's] 7.9-inch tablet has far fewer pixels than the competing 7-inch tablets! You're cramming a worse screen in there, charging more, and accusing others of compromise? Ballsy."

Underneath the quote, a bold headline reading, "Much More for Much Less" implies that consumers can get a better quality device for less with the Kindle Fire HD than with the i…
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More About: Kindle, amazon, apple, ipad mini

The new Wi-Fi-enabled Livescribe smartpen with cloud integration almost makes you want to be a student again.

More About: LiveScribe, apps, evernote

The Mashable Media Summit is a rare and unique opportunity to be in the company of leaders from all areas of the industry. In less than one week, you'll hear from new media companies like Facebook, Tumblr and Reddit, as well as more traditional staples in media including The New York Times, Hearst and NPR. You'll hear the full story from every angle this Nov. 2 at the TimesCenter in New York City.

Tickets are on the brink of selling out, so get yours now.

The Mashable Media Summit is a one-day conference that explores how new forms of technology are redefining media. Industry leaders will speak at the TimesCenter in New York City to explore the latest innovations in the space an…
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Emirates topped this week's chart for airline brands with the highest social media engagement.

The Dubai-based airline celebrated its 27th anniversary this week by launching an official Google+ account, which has since attracted more than 100,000 followers. A post on Emirates' Facebook page announcing its new social channel also received more than 10,000 likes in one day. Collectively, these distinctions catapulted the airline to number one, according to data aggregator Starcount.

While British Airways reached half a million Facebook fans this week, the milestone did not prevent it from slipping to second place.

Rounding out the top three is Alitalia, which has benefited greatly…
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More About: Facebook, Google, Social Media, airline

While Hurricane Sandy isn't expected to hit south of Washington directly, the streets along the east coast of Virginia are already flooding. Schools have closed, and young kids are showing signs of boredom.

A 12-year-old boy navigates through knee-deep water in the flooded streets of Portsmouth, Va. using an unconventional mode of transportation: an air mattress.

The area is known for flooding due to its low-level location along the Elizabeth River. The boy's family was out of milk, so he turned an inconvenient errand into an adventure, local news station WTKR reported.

SEE ALSO: How Will Hurricane Sandy Affect The Internet? [VIDEO]

"I saw people doing this the last storm th…
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More About: Hurricane Sandy, Watercooler, local news

Flat out of holiday gift ideas for the thrill-seeker in your life? Perhaps a helmet camera will let you live vicariously through their adventures -- from a safe distance, of course. It's also a totally subtle way to ensure they stay safe while living an extreme lifestyle.

The Contour+2 is a durable camera that's designed to withstand wear and tear in the most intense conditions. The camera shoots video in 1080p HD, and makes sharing to Facebook, YouTube or Vimeo really simple.

The package comes with a waterproof case and a variety of adhesive mounts, so you can stick the camera to just about any smooth surface.

It also has a GPS receiver that overlays the camera for spe…
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More About: Gift of the Day, features, hd video camera, holidays 2012

The New York Times suspended the paywall on its site and apps Sunday afternoon, as people turn to online news outlets to get more information about Hurricane Sandy. The storm is scheduled to make landfall in New Jersey Monday night.

The paywall was taken down at 3 p.m. on Sunday, a NYT spokesperson confirmed to Mashable. Visitors will be able to access all content on the site without restriction -- not just storm coverage -- "until the weather emergency is over," the spokesperson said.

Typically, non-subscribers are limited to 10 free articles per month, although there are some ways around that restriction. The paywall is lifted on a case-by-case basis, a Times spokesperson tol…
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More About: Hurricane Sandy, new york times, wall street journal

Cauldrons? Check. Pumpkins? Check. Candy, ghosts and goblins? Check, check, check.

Oct. 31 isn't only about tricks and treats -- it's about stimulating the economy. With 170 million Americans participating in Halloween festivities, there's a lot of cash being spent on ghoulish items.

Personal finance forum WiseBread looked into Halloween spending, and found that from 2007 to 2012, Americans shelled out an average of $28.65 on costumes. What's more, they spent $370 million costumes for pets within those five years. (For some, though, it's worth seeing their pooch dressed as a giraffe.)

Interestingly, people are turning to social media more often to get ideas for the perfect Hallowe…
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It's back to basics for this week's kids apps. We've got some great suggestions for apps for young readers. There are animals to play with and puzzles to be solved. One app helps budding fashion designers by incorporating household patterns into the gameplay.

SEE ALSO: 8 Educational iPad Apps for Grade School Users

The folks at Children's Technology Review have shared five of the top apps from its comprehensive monthly database of kid-tested reviews. The site covers everything from math and counting to reading and phonics.

Check back next week for more Top Kids Apps from Children's Technology Review.

What are your favorite kids apps of the week? Let us know in the c…
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More About: Top Kids Apps, contributors, features, kids apps, trending

Hurricane Sandy might take out power for the server farms for Amazon, Apple and Google, perhaps even taking the Internet with it.

More About: Amazon EC2, Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, Frankenstorm, Hurricane Sandy, trending

As Apple fanatics scoffed at Microsoft's fancy touchscreen Surface tablets, "The Joy of Tech" notes a twinge of envy on the part of some Apple acolytes.

More About: Microsoft Surface, Sunday Comics, The Joy of Tech, apple, trending

IBM has successfully created a processor powered by 10,000 carbon nanotubes instead of silicon transistors.

More About: IBM, microprocessors, moore's law, trending

The workplace is quickly being infiltrated by a new breed of mobile superhero -- workers who rely on and use mobile apps to increase productivity.

More About: infographics, mobile phones, trending

1. Griffy

This is Griffy, whose formal name is Gryffindor, named after one of the four houses at Hogwarts. We adopted him when he was two, and he's become the sweetest, most loving kitty we ever had. He sleeps curled up in my son's legs each night, on his bed when my son is away, and hangs out in the office with us when we're working from home. He enjoys curling up on the couch and watching football with the guys on Sunday and hanging out on our screened-in porch where he can watch the squirrels and birds all day long. - Andrea Smith is Mashable's Lifestyle editor

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Mashable celebrates National Cat Day by sharing pictures of our staff's cats.

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Only 36 hours after pre-orders began, four out of six of the available iPad mini SKUs are sold out on the Apple online store.

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Donald Trump's offer to the President and Stephen Colbert's witty response, plus large cats and pumpkins ruled the viral video charts this week.

More About: Viral Video Recap, cats, trending

Steve Jobs' yacht was unveiled in a Dutch shipyard on Sunday, where the unusual boat designed by Jobs and famed minimalist designer Philippe Starck was christened "Venus."

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Kayla Arnold, Want Board

Giant, Inflatable Twister Originally from Hammacher.com

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From cool gadgets to delicious treats, this week's Top 10 Pinterest Pins will get you in the mood to pin.

For this week's list, we've included some of the most re-pinned images from across the visual network. There's a little bit for everyone this week -- from seriously cool USB drives to a recipe for mouthwatering pumpkin cupcakes.

If you like Pinterest-inspired activities, you're in luck. We found a tutorial that shows you how to turn a book into a secret compartment, as well as an adorable low-tech photo filter to give your pics a unique look.

SEE ALSO: Build an Amplifying Speaker Out of a Pringles Can

We used Repinly to assess the most popular images from across Pinterest,…
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More About: pinterest, top 10 pinterest pins, trending

Beyond listing your qualifications, LinkedIn is a place to network, share ideas and make connections that will help you find your next project.

More About: Jobs, features, job search series, linkedin, mashable, trending