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Microsoft obsolete , Microsoft is perhaps one of the powerful and biggest companies in the world. In the last financial year, it made an operating profit of approximately twenty billion dollars. However, over the past few years, Microsoft grip on the operating system market and internet related businesses are starting to erode. It is quite a change in attitude compared to six years ago when governments around the world complained that it has a too big of a monopoly. Here are three reasons why Microsoft influence and monopoly are eroding quickly: 1. Microsoft used to be the biggest Internet Company in the world. Microsoft Internet Explorer was only internet browser that everyone should use. However, open source internet browsers such as Firefox and Google Chrome has given consumer free choices. Not only were they free, they were better and faster than their own software. As a result, millions of computer users changed software and started to change their computer habits. 2. The la

  Disney layoffs, Walt Disney Co expects to begin layoffs at its studio and consumer product divisions within the next two weeks, according to two people with knowledge of the matter, in the latest cost-reduction step to emerge from a company-wide review. The studio job cuts will center on the marketing and home video units and include a small number from the animation wing, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plans had not been made public. It is unknown how many jobs will be lost at either division. Staff reductions at the consumer products unit will largely result from attrition, another person said. On Wednesday, Disney began layoffs at the 30-year-old LucasArts games studio it inherited with the acquisition of George Lucas' film company last year, as it focuses on licensing its "Star Wars" brand externally. A Disney spokeswoman had no comment. Disney, headquartered in Burbank, California, started an internal cost-cutting review late l

Williams sisters , Matches for top-ranked Serena Williams and her sister, Venus, at the Family Circle Cup were postponed Thursday after a rain delay of nearly 7 1/2 hours. The long wait wiped out most matches in the busy round of 16, including those of the tournament's headling Williams' sisters. Serena, riding an 11-match winning streak here, was scheduled to play American qualifier Mallory Burdette. Venus will take on Varvara Lepchenko for a spot in the quarterfinals. Second-seeded Caroline Wozniacki moved on without hitting a ground-stroke when opponent Andrea Petkovic withdrew with a calf injury a few hours before their scheduled match. The rain fell steadily at the Family Circle Tennis Center until dinner time when crews were finally able to start drying the large puddles on the gloppy, green clay surfaces. Once play began, ninth-seeded Jelena Jankovic — the 2007 champion here — needed just 64 minutes to oust 19-year-old American Jessica Pegula in straight sets. Pegula, w

Ryan Gosling PETA , Ryan Gosling doesn't think milk does a body good -- at least, not for the cows it comes from. The 32-year-old "Place Beyond the Pines" star sent a letter earlier this week to the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF). In the letter, the actor implores the federation to cease the "barbaric practice" of dehorning cattle by choosing instead to breed hornless (aka polled) cows. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) published Gosling's letter, which was dated April 1 and addressed to Jerry Kozak, president and CEO of NMPF . "I was shocked to learn from my friends at PETA about a practice in the dairy industry called 'dehorning,' which involves painfully burning horn tissue or gouging cows' horns out of their heads, often without the use of any painkillers," Gosling wrote. He added, "The American Veterinary Medical Association, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and third-party animal welfare audi

URI gunman , Many students panicked at the University of Rhode Island Kingston campus Thursday after the report of a gunman in Chaffee Hall led police to lock down the school and initiate an "active shooter" response. "A phone call was made from the URI campus reporting an active shooter on campus," said State Police Col. Steven O'Donnell. After several hours of searching the eight-story tower room-by-room, O'Donnell said police believe there was never a gun or an active shooter, but he said they did recover a Nerf gun. One student told The Associated Press the incident, which was declared over at 2:15 p.m., was prompted by what happened midway through her 11 a.m. physiology class. "All of a sudden, we heard someone yell, 'You're a nice guy! You're a nice guy!' and sounding scared," said Tori Danielson, who was sitting in the back of a lecture hall in a class of more than 350 people. "Everybody started running and scream

Medical marijuana plants for sale at the Farmacy, a California medical marijuana dispensary. ( Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times ) Legalize pot poll , A majority of Americans support legalizing marijuana, a new poll indicates, with the change driven largely by a huge shift in how the baby boom generation feels about the drug of their youth. By 52% to 45%, adult Americans back legalization, according to the survey released Thursday by the Pew Research Center. The finding marks the first time in more than four decades of Pew's polling that a majority has taken that position. As recently as a decade ago, only about one-third of American adults backed making marijuana legal. Two big shifts in opinion go along with the support for legalization and likely contribute to it. Most Americans no longer see marijuana as a "gateway" to more dangerous drugs, and most no longer see i

Target dress apology, Target has outraged customers after labeling one of their plus-size dresses as 'Manatee Gray', while the standard size of the same item was called simply 'Dark Heather Gray'. A shopper was browsing the website when she spotted the unfortunate discrepancy and brought it to the attention of the retailer via Twitter. Target have since fixed the error, explaining that the mix-up was due to a lack of communication between the two different teams of buyers handling the dresses. Offensive mistake: Target sparked an outrage after a plus-size dress (pictured) was listed as 'Manatee Gray' on their website, while the standard size version of the same item was called 'Dark Heather Gray' Admitting their error: Target have since apologized, explaining that the mix-up was due to a lack of communication between the two different teams of buyers handling the dresses Target spokesman Joshua Thomas told Forbes.com that Manatee Gray is a common