I’m sure we have all sent an email that we have regretted. Were you one of the many people who thought it was a good idea to send that email begging your gitlfriend/boyfriend to take you back or telling your boss exactly what you think of them after a few drinks? If so Google may have developed the product for you. Mail Goggles is an extension to Google mail which forces users to take a series of sobriety tests when trying to send those late night emails. ‘And what better way to verify if you’re in the right state of mind to send an email than by giving you a simple maths puzzle to solve?’ the official Google blog said.

Mail Goggles gets you to answer maths questions before you send an email

‘By default the tool is only active between 10pm and 4am on Friday and Saturday, as that is the time you are most likely to need it.’

This new feature is being tested at the moment and if the pilot is a success we could see this being a standard feature of Google Mail. Once enabled the user will be able to adjust the ‘danger zone’ to suit their needs.

Similar ideas have seen the first breath activated mobile phone which will only let you use your phone if your blood alcohol level is below a certain level.

At the Future of Web Apps conference last week I went to a very interesting talk by Suw Charman-Anderson, a social software consultant, working with companies in the UK and US on social media and Web 2.0 projects.

Suw highlighted some scary facts about email, including:

• 38% of people get more than 100 emails per day
• 13% get more than 250 emails
• 22% of people spend more than 4 hours a day on email
• 35% of people say they check every 15 minutes, but when observed actually check every 5!

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