Absolute Gadget

"gokdg evening. I Hav beeeeeen tohe pub. I STIOLL LOVE TYOU"

There should be a way to prevent yourself from emailing drunken ramblings that you really shouldn't email, such as the example above. Bing! Oh look, now there is.

Google's Gmail service, which must be good because we use it here in the Absolute Gadget offices, has launched a new feature by the name of Mail Goggles, which prevents drunken fools from sending their drunken foolishness to ex-partners/bosses/parents.

Once activated, the service forces users to answer a series of maths questions before they can send an email. The questions are set by default to pop up late at night over the weekend, and there is an adjustable scale to make them harder, for those drunken maths teachers among you.

Engineer Jon Perlow, who worked on the project, explained how he came up with the idea on the official Gmail blog. "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."

"Hopefully," writes Perlow, "Mail Goggles will prevent many of you out there from sending messages you wish you hadn't."

• 17/07/2010 16:26 - Show them you’re having an appy holiday
• 14/03/2010 18:39 - Comment: Whatever happened to email?
• 24/10/2009 21:56 - Guardian Jobs website hacked
• 04/08/2009 10:13 - The bike that folds smaller than a wheel
• 22/07/2009 14:13 - Paypal works on its Apps

• 24/10/2008 17:17 - One million held back on broadband
• 15/10/2008 00:13 - Apple takes MacBooks to the cinema
• 13/10/2008 13:27 - London and South Wales to get fibre-optic broadband
• 09/10/2008 10:02 - Asus admits to shipping virus-laden Eee box
• 08/10/2008 16:46 - Shining a light on wireless networks