Tech solutions for saving drunk people from themselves

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When you can’t count on one hand the number of drinks you’ve had over the course of the night -- was it two tequila shots or three? -- sending an e-mail to an ex-lover, boss or anyone, for that matter, is rarely a good idea.

Google software engineer Jon Perlow found that out the hard way when he suggested to a former girlfriend that they rekindle their relationship, as Perlow explained on the Gmail Blog. So, for his own benefit and for the welfare of the tens of millions of Gmail users, Perlow developed Mail Goggles, an optional test feature that acts as a barrier for those late-night e-mails we so often regret (once sobriety kicks in).

Mail Goggles asks you to solve a series of simple math equations within an allotted time. If you can’t answer, the message won’t send. The feature is only active late on weekend nights -- the most likely time that adults are well-lubricated and eager to divulge their innermost feelings. (Check out this KTLA Channel 5 video, which includes a demo, giggly stories of drunk e-mail shame and a reporter drinking sake live on camera.)

Gmail includes Mail Goggles in its growing list of add-ons from Google Labs. Email Addict is another feature meant to protect users from their own bad habits. It forces them to take a break from work, periodically shutting out e-mail and chat for 15 minutes at a time.

Google isn’t the first company to attempt to trip up a boozer (you know, for their own good). Swedish car maker Saab is currently testing a gadget that will leave drivers stranded when they’ve had one too many. The Alcokey is a breathalyzer built in to the car’s key fob. It can be optionally installed for 250 euros (about $340, though Saab currently has no plans to release it in the United States). If the driver’s blood-alcohol content is above the legal limit, the engine won’t start.

Cellphone manufacturer LG includes a breathalyzer on three of its phones -- the LG-SD410, LG-KP4100 and LG-LP4100. But it’s just for informational purposes. It won’t block calls to your employer or phone you a taxi when you blow a 0.08.

A few iPhone users have already posted their recommended solutions for the all-too-prevalent phenomenon of ‘drunk dialing.’ Spurred by a tipsy text message meant for his girlfriend that found its way to his mom, one Internet forum user, BaldyUK, proposes someone create an application that, when activated, prevents you from calling or texting preset phone numbers in your address book during the late-night hours.

If he were living in Australia, his phone would have already been outfitted with such a feature. Through a service called Dialing Under the Influence, Virgin Mobile subscribers can dial ‘333,’ then enter a phone number, and it will be blocked until the next morning.

In the U.S., some T-Mobile subscribers have found a work-around to save themselves from inebriation-induced embarrassment. The wireless carrier offers a service called Family Allowances for parents to set up blocks on certain numbers for their child’s phone. It turned out to be a fine solution for protecting your sober self against your drunken self, but that wasn’t the company’s intention. ‘Family Allowances allows parents to easily manage when and how their kids use their T-Mobile phones,’ company spokesman Dave Henderson said in an e-mail response to our question about whether T-Mobile deliberately offers a drunk dialing lockout. ‘This was designed for families however, not the scenario you’re writing about.’

It should be entertaining to see who comes up with the best technical solution for averting awkward, alcohol-fueled discussions.

But as for Goggles, some bloggers don’t see it as the clear solution. ‘Some of us actually get better at math after having a few beers,’ wrote one blogger for Sector 930. ‘Maybe highest level asks for a structured proof of something interesting like the Heine-Borel Theorem or its close cousin the Bolzano-Weierstrauss Theorem.’

Looks like this guy’s exes won’t be seeing any fewer sauced salutations.

-- Mark Milian

Top, Mail Goggles photo by Google

Bottom, bottles photo by Mark Milian / Los Angeles Times