Ever returned to your desk after office drinks, or a long lunch, and sent an email you later regret? Relax, Google’s saving your bacon.

Just a week after announcing its global alternative energy policy, the many-tentacled search giant is back focusing on the personal.

The company has announced a new add-on to its email program, called Mail Goggles, which requires you to answer a series of maths problems, within a time limit, before it allows you to send an email.

Mail Goggles has gone live today, ready to protect against inappropriate email this weekend.

Gmail users switch-on the faux pas feature by clicking Settings, then Labs, then checking Enable next to the newly-appeared Goggles.

Then head to Gmail’s General tab (also under Settings) to set which days, and/or time of day, you want Mail Goggles to operate. For those poor at maths even when sober, degree of question difficulty can also be tweaked.

Your correspondent has duly installed Mail Goggles (see screenshot top of story).
|
And I can report that on its hardest setting, it looks as if Goggle’s five-questions-a-minute paradigm (386 + 179, anyone?) lwould definitely slow you down after a couple of chardonnays.