Think you can take a lesson from the lovebirds at Dunder Mifflin? Jim and Pam met there and their love blossomed. So why can't an office romance work for you, too?

Wednesday, we talked about how "what the heart wants, the heart goes after" and how hard it is to have any control over that. Today, let's dig a little deeper, try a little harder: We're going into the advantages and disadvantages of forbidden love in the copy room.

Now that Valentine's Day is more than three weeks past, it's time to consider romance again, only this time, maybe with more common sense. Now, I mentioned the phrase "office romance" to several of my coworkers, and their reactions were almost unanimous: Don't go there.

And while that is probably good advice, we all know that what the heart wants, the heart goes for (restraining order and all).

March is Women's History Month, with March 8th being the traditional day International Women's Day is celebrated. There are many, many women who have contributed to the technological advances and work regarding mathematics, computers, and software.

Today I've chosen three to highlight: Grace Hopper, Evelyn Boyd Granville, and Augusta Ada Byron, Countess of Lovelace.

If anyone is passionate about Office, it's Steven Sinofsky. Don't know who Steven is? Although now he's president of the Windows division here at Microsoft, he spent years in the Office division as head of product development, but it's as an Office customer that Steven is so excited about many of the changes you saw in Office 2007 and 2010. I interviewed Steven back when Office 2007 first came out and the ribbon was brand new.

Here are some of the things he had to say about it. I chose Steven's comments for today's post because I want you to understand some of the reasoning that went into this major change in how customers now use Office.

Today I'm engaging in a bit of laziness but still trying to help out as much as I can: I'm going through the comments and emails I've received the past few weeks and picking out a few that I think might help the great majority of you. These are comments where people have asked questions, I've provided answers, and we all go on to lead productive, happy lives. But like I have always thought (and said...LOUDLY and often): If one person has an issue, chances are many more have the same issue.

So let's let everyone in on the secrets to success, shall we?

In 1999 African Americans constituted just one quarter of one percent of computer scientists. Indeed, when I began researching African American pioneers in this field, I had a hard time finding a decent number of people who'd been at the forefront, when computer science as a burgeoning field. There are many contemporary experts in the field, yes, but this month, February is Black History Month.

And then it hit me. To be blunt, the opportunities and education available to white Americans have historically not been so readily accessible to African Americans. However, exceptional talent wins through regardless, but that takes time, and computer science is still a young study. And so in a few years' time, if I look back and rewrite this post, I'm sure I'll have much more to say on the matter.

Delving into the history of computer science and its pioneers, I continually ran across the same two names —two fascinating and accomplished men—who've both made great strides in the field of computer science and its related technologies. By the advances they've achieved, they are Americans ahead of their time.

Update: See near the end of this post for the latest Office how-tos on embedding Excel and PowerPoint files.

Hi everyone,

My name is Larry Waldman and I'm a program manager on the Excel team. This week the Crabby Office Lady was nice enough to let me combine a couple of Office's cool features to highlight one of my favorite little tricks. (Note that this post and these features refer to the Office Web Apps.)

First we've got a feature called "Excel embedding" that lets you put Excel files—yes, interactive Excel files—into your web pages by using Office Web Apps and SkyDrive. You may have seen Crabby's earlier posts about embedding Excel (or PowerPoint) files into web pages and making sure they ARE interactive. Doug Thomas also did an Office Casual video about the free Office Web Apps and SkyDrive accounts.

Also, I've long been a fan of the file templates we have in Office—that's right, Office.com Templates that you see when you click the File tab and click New in Office 2007 or 2010. For me, things really come alive when you start with a fully functional (and premade) Excel template, tweak it as you need, and then plop it on your site. An example (and I got my example below straight from the Office.com Templates site) is worth a thousand words...

Today's final "jargon demystified" post is going to cover the basics of OneNote, that über popular and oh-so-useful (not to mention favorite) Office program for note taking. We're going to define the three most basic of OneNote features today, the ones that seem to be confusing to some of you: notebooks, sections, and pages.

Publisher has a lot in common with Word. Both have to do with text, images, and complicated types of formatting. But consider this: You wouldn't use a hedge clipper to trim your precious baby's toenails, now, would you? So when you're creating posters, greeting cards, catalogs and brochures, or any sort of branded marketing materials, there's only one way to go: Publisher—it's made for these sorts of jobs.

So let's get right to it and call out some of the basic terms you will run across when you start working in this versatile program.

I've never had particularly strong spatial abilities; I nearly flunked geometry in the ninth grade. Even today I probably couldn't find my way out of an origami-folded paper bag.

You too?

Meet Visio, the Office program that provides all the shapes, templates, and connectors (and all that stuff) so that you don't have to be geometrically or spatially inclined, and yet you can create drawings and documents that make you look like you are. People use Visio for a variety of projects, including network diagrams, calendars, flowcharts, office layouts, floor plans, and more.