OT: Gmail 'Mail Goggles' stymie drunk e-mailing
Yesterdays Wafflez
Gmail 'Mail Goggles' stymie drunk e-mailing:
The Associated Press
3:03 PM EST October 7, 2008.
The Mail Goggles feature requires you to solve a few easy math problems
in short order before hitting "send." If your logical thinking skills
are intact, Google is betting you're sober enough to work out the
repercussions of sending that screed you just drafted.
© Google
Here's the scenario: It's Friday night, and what began as an innocent
happy-hour margarita morphed into a few pitchers. After all, those tacos
were salty.
Bidding friends adieu, you jump in a cab, head home and decide a quick
e-mail check is in order. And there it is: a message from your ex. Or
your boss. Or that friend you're secretly mad at.
If you're the kind of person who types tipsy and regrets it in the
morning, Google's "Mail Goggles," a new test-phase feature in the free
Gmail service, might save you some angst.
The Goggles can kick in late at night on weekends. The feature requires
you to solve a few easy math problems in short order before hitting
"send." If your logical thinking skills are intact, Google is betting
you're sober enough to work out the repercussions of sending that screed
you just drafted.
And if you can't multiply two times five, you'll probably thank Google
in the morning.
To activate Goggles, Gmail users should click the "Settings" link at the
top of a Gmail page, then go to the "Labs" section.
There's no shame in admitting that sometimes you need a little extra
help. Gmail engineer Jon Perlow designed Goggles with his own weaknesses
in mind.
"Sometimes I send messages I shouldn't send. Like the time I told that
girl I had a crush on her over text message. Or the time I sent that
late night e-mail to my ex-girlfriend that we should get back together,"
he wrote when announcing Mail Goggles on a company blog.
© 2008 Microsoft