Friday, February 6, 2009

Mail Goggles make sure you don't hate yourself in the morning

Have you ever played Drink and Dial? Had that irresistable urge after a few too many mojitos to call someone you've not spoken to in ten or twenty years and share your great mood? Or get that deep dark secret off your chest? Tell your boss what you really think of him or her? Woken up the next morning wondering why you're feeling crummy and then remembered with that sinking sense of dread just exactly what you shared in your tipsy candor?

I haven't ever been that silly, of course. I am a staid and pragmatic marketer. I did have a friend- yeah, that's the ticket - who, long ago when she was single, after a dinner of more wine than food, while at a conference in a city not her own, found an ex-boyfriend's number in the local phone book and gave him a call at or about midnight. She just wanted to catch up and reminisce about past good times, as I recall, but his wife was not as jovial as she expected her to be when she answered...but I digress.

In today's digital world, you don't have to fumble through the phone book. You can text or email whomever you wish from your contact list and bare whatever soul-searing secret you want. Google Labs has something on tap called Mail Goggles to save you from yourself. It forces you to do a few simple math problems to make sure you are coherent enough to get that email off your chest. It looks like, should you not pass the math test, Google won't send the mail.

Worth a look, but far better simply to just stay completely away from the computer in the wee hours after a few drinks. If you cannot say Google Goggles three times really fast, don't touch your email.

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