Cool Hunting

by Ariston Anderson

The days of drunken dialing are long gone and, thanks to a new software called Google Mail Goggles, impulsive emails might be a thing of the past too. In an era when you're more likely to send a Facebook message or email on your iPhone than pick up the phone after a heavy night's drinking, the folks over at Google Labs understand your pain. They're no stranger to sending midnight pleas to exes and crushes or even "memos" to the entire staff, filling up their outbox with messages they'll regret in the morning.

It works by activating the service and customizing when you want the Goggles to stop you. For example, Friday and Saturday nights from 11pm-4am might be a good idea (unless you're a daytime drinker). When you're in that window, you have to answer a series of simple math problems that might not be so difficult sober but if you're having trouble answering them, you get a gentle reminder from Google that perhaps it's not the best idea to press send after all.

It's no longer one of the current offerings in Google Labs but check out developer Jon Perlow's Official Gmail blog post to learn more.