Kerjack
10-08-2008, 12:35 AM
Fewer regrets with Mail Goggles
Sending ill-considered e-mail whilst drunk or otherwise in a less-than-optimal state of mind is apparently a more common problem than I thought. Common enough that Google Labs has introduced a feature designed to help prevent it.
Mail Goggles (http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/new-in-labs-stop-sending-mail-you-later.html) makes sure you really do want to send that late-night dispatch by forcing you to solve "a few simple math problems after you click send to verify you're in the right state of mind," Google engineer Jon Perlow explains on the Official Gmail Blog. You have to give him credit for citing examples from personal experience: "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."
Ars Technica's Jacqui Chang describes it aptly (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081007-mail-goggles-a-breathlyzer-test-for-your-gmail.html) as "a breathalyer test for your Gmail."
Once installed -- through the "Labs" tag in your Gmail settings -- Mail Goggles is active by default between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, although you can change the settings.
You can set the difficulty of the "simple math problems" on a scale from 1:
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/buzz/library/mailgoggleslevel1.gif
to 5:
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/buzz/library/mailgoggleslevel5.gif
Whatever the setting, you have 60 seconds to solve all the problems correctly in order to send your message.
A lot of folks (http://www.techmeme.com/081006/p114#a081006p114) find the whole idea of Mail Goggles amusing. Michael Arrington points out what he considers a key flaw (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/10/07/april-fools-check-did-google-really-release-mail-goggles/): "if I want to send a drunken email, and all that's standing between me and success are a few math problems, I'm gonna go find that calculator."
Presumably, the theory is that if you're clear-headed enough to go fetch a calculator, then you probably pass the test anyway. Of course, you can also solve any Mail Googles problem just by pasting it into a Google search box and using Google's built-in calculator (http://www.google.com/intl/en/help/features.html#calculator) -- but, again, that requires some thought and forces a pause for further evaluation.
Incidentally, I've always thought that requiring commenters to answer simple math problems would be an interesting alternative to CAPTCHAs. It'll be interesting to see if Mail Goggles inspires more people to run with similar ideas.
Posted by Brian Chin (brianchin@seattlepi.com) Brian Chin at October 7, 2008 9:52 a.m.
Categories: You can't make this stuff up (http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/buzz/category.asp?blogID=18&category=40), Zeitgeist watch (http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/buzz/category.asp?blogID=18&category=41)
Link (http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/buzz/archives/150777.asp?from=blog_last3)
Sending ill-considered e-mail whilst drunk or otherwise in a less-than-optimal state of mind is apparently a more common problem than I thought. Common enough that Google Labs has introduced a feature designed to help prevent it.
Mail Goggles (http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/new-in-labs-stop-sending-mail-you-later.html) makes sure you really do want to send that late-night dispatch by forcing you to solve "a few simple math problems after you click send to verify you're in the right state of mind," Google engineer Jon Perlow explains on the Official Gmail Blog. You have to give him credit for citing examples from personal experience: "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."
Ars Technica's Jacqui Chang describes it aptly (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081007-mail-goggles-a-breathlyzer-test-for-your-gmail.html) as "a breathalyer test for your Gmail."
Once installed -- through the "Labs" tag in your Gmail settings -- Mail Goggles is active by default between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, although you can change the settings.
You can set the difficulty of the "simple math problems" on a scale from 1:
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/buzz/library/mailgoggleslevel1.gif
to 5:
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/buzz/library/mailgoggleslevel5.gif
Whatever the setting, you have 60 seconds to solve all the problems correctly in order to send your message.
A lot of folks (http://www.techmeme.com/081006/p114#a081006p114) find the whole idea of Mail Goggles amusing. Michael Arrington points out what he considers a key flaw (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/10/07/april-fools-check-did-google-really-release-mail-goggles/): "if I want to send a drunken email, and all that's standing between me and success are a few math problems, I'm gonna go find that calculator."
Presumably, the theory is that if you're clear-headed enough to go fetch a calculator, then you probably pass the test anyway. Of course, you can also solve any Mail Googles problem just by pasting it into a Google search box and using Google's built-in calculator (http://www.google.com/intl/en/help/features.html#calculator) -- but, again, that requires some thought and forces a pause for further evaluation.
Incidentally, I've always thought that requiring commenters to answer simple math problems would be an interesting alternative to CAPTCHAs. It'll be interesting to see if Mail Goggles inspires more people to run with similar ideas.
Posted by Brian Chin (brianchin@seattlepi.com) Brian Chin at October 7, 2008 9:52 a.m.
Categories: You can't make this stuff up (http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/buzz/category.asp?blogID=18&category=40), Zeitgeist watch (http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/buzz/category.asp?blogID=18&category=41)
Link (http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/buzz/archives/150777.asp?from=blog_last3)