Google offers an e-mail safety net

At one point or another, everyone has either prematurely hit the send button on an email before it has been finished, or sent along a missive that suddenly has brought a sense of panic and regret. Google has developed a solution to this dilemma. The Internet search giant has added a feature to Gmail called Mail Goggles, which allows users to take a closer look at an email before launch and requires them to do a simple math problem as a safeguard to ensure they are in the right state of mind.

The feature is only available at night and on the weekends, according to the Official Gmail Blog. Jon Perlow, a Gmail engineer who wrote the code, said he developed the feature after his own bad experiences in sending email and text messages in the wee hours of the night.

"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," Perlow said. Perlow added that when you enable Mail Goggles, it will check that you're really sure you want to send it so late at night and put you through a simple math routine that will make you stop, think and perhaps think twice.
 
For more on this new gadget:
- check out this CIO Today article