Mail Goggles Aims To Prevent E-mail Regret

If you've never fallen into the tar pit of drunk dialing or drunk e-mailing -- let's not forget drunk eBay'ing or drunk blogging -- then you may be in a minority (not that I'd know). Often the results of such actions are simply embarrassing but there can be rather unfortunate consequences. Well, for a moment forget getting to the moon or clean-energy alternatives or the G1. Google has a new challenge it is seeking to solve with Mail Goggles. And if you think I'm kidding, just open your Gmail account, click "settings" and then "labs" and there it is.

The new feature has gotten plenty of attention from the Washington Post to the Associated Press. It works by forcing you to solve math problems during late-night hours on the weekend when you might be consuming certain adult beverages. Provide the correct answers and you can send as per usual. Struggle with the answers and, well, it might better if you sleep on the e-mail and consider hitting send in the morning. From the Google engineer, Jon Perlow, who posted the entry on the official Google blog site: "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 email to my ex-girlfriend that we should get back together."

There are plenty of other opportunities for technology and engineering to solve the pressing issues of our times. And whether you think the glass is half full or half empty when it comes to reaching that goal -- sometimes maybe it's worth focusing on what happens when you put the glass down.