We’ve all done it…sending out an e-mail message in the heat of the moment, without thinking clearly.
Or, for those who imbibe alcohol, after a few too many.
Now, the intrepid engineers at Google have invented a technology to prevent, ahem, “drunken e-mails.”
Google's "Mail Goggles" kicks in late at night on weekends on your G-Mail account. This is presumably a time when at least some G-Mail users have returned home after considerable revelry. If you make a lot of spelling mistakes, or say something Google’s servers think is best left unsaid, you can’t send your message until you complete an online sobriety test.
Are you really mad at your girlfriend? Your mother-in-law? Your boss? If it’s late at night, and you can’t solve five simple math problems in less than 60 seconds, Goggles won’t let you send them a presumably inappropriate
e-mail.
Goggles is an optional feature. To activate it, click the "Settings" link at the top of a G-mail page, and then go to the "Labs" section.
Even if it's optional, I think Goggles is a little creepy. G-Mail itself is creepy, because it serves up advertisements based on the contents of your e-mails. Supposedly, no human actually reads your communications. Instead, G-Mail’s servers deliver customized ads based on their analysis of the words and phrases you use in your messages.
I suppose one consolation is that if you compose enough drunken e-mails that Goggles rejects, G-Mail may eventually send you a discount offer on your favorite adult beverage.
And that’s worth raising your glass to celebrate, if only briefly.
Copyright © 2008 by Mark Nestmann
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