Mail Goggles gives you a chance to rethink that late night email
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It's Drunk Dialing 2.0: Rather than rudely calling ex-flames and mortal enemies at 2am after a drinking binge, the digerati have turned to drunk emailing. And of course, once it's sent, it's sent... and any attempts to "recall" your hazy mumblings with technology are simply doomed to make things even worse.A plug-in for Gmail, Mail Goggles (which is not, as some have suggested, a joke) aims to make these late-night missives a thing of the past, or at least give you a chance to rethink sending them. The idea is simple: By default, Mail Goggles only kicks in betwen 10pm and 4am, Friday and Saturday night. If you try to send a message during these times, you'll be presented with a series of simple math questions. The goal is to slow you down enough before your message goes out, a more complicated version of "are you sure?" that gives you a chance to call it off before it's too late.
The time periods that Mail Goggles are active can be configured after you activate the software. (Gmail users will find it by clicking Settings, then Labs, then scroll down a bit.) It can of course be disabled at any time, too.
Mail Goggles is actually a very simple rendition of a feature that's been a longtime component of email client Eudora. Called MoodWatch, the tool would scan all your outgoing messages for "aggressive language" (and especially curse words) and warn you if you're about to send a message that was too graphic for general consumption. Similar idea, and definitely more practical in a business setting if you want to avoid telling off your boss while he's at lunch.
Never mind the broken romances, Mail Goggles may actually have a more practical use in today's tough times: Try setting it for business hours so you won't send a scathing flame mail to your stockbroker.
Eh, on second thought, fire away.
14-10-2008, 00:17
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