Pflugerville Ag
10-09-2008, 02:43 PM
So I'm sure many of you have been tempted to send an email to an ex, friend, etc late at night after having a few too many beers. Now, Gmail has a new system call "Mail Goggles." The system defaults to come on Friday and Saturday nights (but can be customized for any time). When activiated, you have to answer a couple of math problems in order to be able to send an email. If you are too drunk to answer the questions, it won't send your email.
We all know a wild night can impede your better judgment -- and in the age of electronics, it's all too easy to hit the "Send" button after hitting the bottle. The next time you feel a late-night urge to e-mail an ex, though, Google's got you covered.
Meet Gmail's latest Labs project, Mail Goggles (http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/new-in-labs-stop-sending-mail-you-later.html). The program works like a breathalyzer: Before sending an e-mail, you've gotta prove you're less tipsy than Paris Hilton on a Tuesday. (Or a Wednesday.)
http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/mail_goggles-small.jpg (http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/mail_goggles.jpg)
Mail Goggles works with simple math. Once you set it up, it'll require you to answer a series of math problems before being able to send a message. By default, the program activates on Friday and Saturday nights, though you can customize it for any day or time you might need a watchful eye. You can also set the difficulty level to control how hard the problems will be (1 = a wine cooler with dinner; 10 = eight Jagermeister shots and an indeterminable number of rum-based chasers).
The feature could prevent plenty of next morning regrets, not to mention countless groans from both exes and random girls met in bars ("Who the hell is Joe, and why did he e-mail me at 3 a.m. saying, 'hey u want to hokup tonqiegt/?'"). Now, you might be thinking that it'd be all too easy to open up the desktop calculator and solve the problems, buzzed or not. That's where the difficulty level can help. Set it high enough that your slow-moving self won't be able to find the calculator icon in time, and you're good to go.
All that's left is for someone to invent the text messaging equivalent, and the modern day booty call will forever be silenced. Translation for the ladies: Prepare to start getting a lot more post-midnight voicemails.
http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/007893.html
We all know a wild night can impede your better judgment -- and in the age of electronics, it's all too easy to hit the "Send" button after hitting the bottle. The next time you feel a late-night urge to e-mail an ex, though, Google's got you covered.
Meet Gmail's latest Labs project, Mail Goggles (http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/new-in-labs-stop-sending-mail-you-later.html). The program works like a breathalyzer: Before sending an e-mail, you've gotta prove you're less tipsy than Paris Hilton on a Tuesday. (Or a Wednesday.)
http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/mail_goggles-small.jpg (http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/mail_goggles.jpg)
Mail Goggles works with simple math. Once you set it up, it'll require you to answer a series of math problems before being able to send a message. By default, the program activates on Friday and Saturday nights, though you can customize it for any day or time you might need a watchful eye. You can also set the difficulty level to control how hard the problems will be (1 = a wine cooler with dinner; 10 = eight Jagermeister shots and an indeterminable number of rum-based chasers).
The feature could prevent plenty of next morning regrets, not to mention countless groans from both exes and random girls met in bars ("Who the hell is Joe, and why did he e-mail me at 3 a.m. saying, 'hey u want to hokup tonqiegt/?'"). Now, you might be thinking that it'd be all too easy to open up the desktop calculator and solve the problems, buzzed or not. That's where the difficulty level can help. Set it high enough that your slow-moving self won't be able to find the calculator icon in time, and you're good to go.
All that's left is for someone to invent the text messaging equivalent, and the modern day booty call will forever be silenced. Translation for the ladies: Prepare to start getting a lot more post-midnight voicemails.
http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/007893.html