Engineers at Google have come up with a way to help prevent people who are prone to typing tipsy and sending out e-mails they may regret in the morning, according to the official Gmail Blog.
The feature, called Mail Goggles, is part of the free Gmail service that launched Oct. 6 .
Iain Moffat, manager of the UF Open Systems Group, said the new feature provides Gmail users with more creative options than students who only have UF WebMail accounts.
Most e-mail systems are similar, though, and it's an advantage for students to use their UF accounts because the messages all stay on the same server.
But Goggles are probably going to be a novelty feature of the Gmail services, Moffat said, and the feature will likely appeal to a younger crowd.
"It's too bad they can't help with texts," he said
The Goggles can be activated to kick in late at night and on the weekends.
The feature requires users to solve a few simple math problems after clicking "send" to verify they are in the right state of mind.
Google's strategy is that if you can solve the problems correctly within the allotted time, your logical thinking skills are intact, and you are sober enough to send your messages.
Gmail engineer John Perlow designed the Goggles with his own weaknesses in mind.
On Gmail's blog, Perlow said he, too, has sent messages he has later regretted.
For instance, he once told a girl he had a crush on her via text message. He also sent a late night e-mail to his ex-girlfriend, expressing his desire to get back together, he said.
Gmail can't always prevent its users from sending messages they may later regret, Perlow wrote, but Goggles is an attempt to help.
MaryKate Morency, UF marketing senior, said she is excited about Gmail's Goggles.
Although she tries her best, Morency said she occasionally comes home after a long night and writes an e-mail to some friends filled with spelling mistakes or confusing sentences.
Once she activates Goggles, she said she would likely be unable to solve the math problems and would have to wait until the following morning to message her friends.
"It will save me the bit of hassle of having to check my account the next morning to see if I have to rewrite my friends and clarify what I was trying to say," Morency said.
"Generally, it isn't anything too bad, but there have been a few times where I totally regretted putting my drunken shenanigans in writing."
