Microsoft will hold its fourth Microsoft Research Silicon Valley Road Show at its campus in Mountain View, Calif., next Thursday, May 22. The event, which will showcase examples of all kinds of cool things the Redmond giant is working on, including an Xbox-based programming game for kids to program a virtual robot, is free to the public. But space is limited, so go here to register and enter the RSVP code “RoadShow08.”

The New York Times had an article today about the loss of women in the science and technology fields as they hit their 30s and beyond. It cites a report that blames a macho culture intrinsic to those fields. But it’s possible that readers in the tech field missed it as it only ran in the Style section of the paper’s web site rather than the Technology section. Because apparently the loss of female programming and engineering talent has nothing to do with technology and everything to do with the latest swimsuits. An article on the Wii Fit however, was deemed worthy of appearing in both sections.

I actually think the “macho culture” inherent to these fields has less to do with the lack of women sticking around than the persistent assumption that’s behind the NYTimes confining the article to the Style pages. The assumption is that work-life balance is a female issue. Aside from tales of overt sexual harassment, the main trends that emerge in the report are that women need to “act like a man” to succeed (code for working a lot and not talking about family), and that the hours are not conducive for working mothers.

Women aren’t less capable of doing math and science, but they do tend to be less available when it comes to working long hours after having a child, unless they have a husband with a 9-5 job. Those all-night programming sessions or the week-long visits to foreign fabs to make sure a chip design is implemented correctly are costly to families. For the type of competitive person who ends up in the technology field, deciding between giving 110 percent to solving a technological problem and giving 90 or even 100 percent when junior is sick, is too frustrating. So they back off, because if the game is rigged so you can’t win, smart people pick a new game.

These women aren’t dumb, but their employers might be. The Silicon Valley startup culture demands a person give 110 percent and can be gruelingly inflexible. Academia and research labs are similar. But after a child –or maybe a heart attack — people tend to look at the rigged game and decline to play. So either the culture in technology will be forced to change, or it will continue to feed on canon fodder in the form of youth and single men. Regardless, it’s not just a female problem.

• WebWorkerDaily — How reading RSS feeds for a week changed one woman’s life.
• OStatic – Five free apps to lock down your public Wi-Fi hotspot session.
• NewTeeVee — StumbleUpon’s video discovery service has added support for six different content sites.

• Refresh The Net: The geography of Internet Infrastructure.
• Earth2Tech: The risks of venture capital in Cleantech.
• NewTeeVee: Oh No… Chinese P2P Site, PPLive Sued for … Surpise…Copyright infringement.
• OStatic: Coming Soon, open source multi touch displays
• WebWorkerDaily: What Web 2.0 service will you pay for?

My doctor says I shouldn’t get angry, that I need to let things go. But how do I keep my cool when some idiot discount phone company spams me incessantly? In the last 12 hours I have received about a dozen calls from Startec. The bastards are so desperate for business that they call me and pretend to be “Om Malik” and speak to me in Hindi and Urdu, hoping that I’ll talk to them.

I told these idiots that I don’t want anything, and that if you’re going to bother someone during work hours, you’re only going to alienate them as a potential customer. That hasn’t stopped them from calling back — again and again. They are calling my mobile number, which is what makes the whole thing so aggravating. I am surprised that a buyout firm like Platinum Equity is involved with this piece-of-shit operation. I interview Tom Gores for Red Herring during the heyday of the telecom boom. I guess there are slim pickings for telecom buyout guys these days, hence investing in Startec. Sorry for ranting!

The CEO of California utility PG&E, Peter Darbee, recently said that he’d like to use the company’s deep pockets to buy solar thermal plants. Turns out that’s just the beginning of the things he’d like to change about how utilities operate. Check out Earth2Tech’s video clip of a roundtable discussion with Darbee as he weighs in on electricity pricing, regulations, smart meters, and working with Google on plug-in hybrids.

Skype co-founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis along with ex-Skyper Geoffrey Prentice are raising a new fund for their investment vehicle, Atomico. The plan is to raise a total of 300 million euros ($450 million), 100 million euros of which is coming from Zennstrom, Friss & Co. (which makes raising the whole amount relatively easy.) I have heard this from multiple (and reliable) sources, so I feel comfortable reporting this.

Atomico has become an aggressive investor in Europe and has backed many online video startups, such as Deca, WooMe and Seesmic. While some of their investments — like FON and Joost — are having a bit of a bumpy ride, Atomico can count the $280 million sale of Last.fm to CBS as a win.

The new fund will make them a disruptive player in the EU venture world, and their entrepreneurial record will make them an attractive option for European startups.The presence of another deep-pocketed investor combined with a limited number of quality deals in Europe is likely to boost valuations — good news for startups. Other VCs should take note.