Google’s Goggles poses simple math problems that may be complicated for those intoxicated
Drunken e-mails may seem like a good idea when they are being sent, but the next day they don’t always have the same effect.
Google has a new application called Goggles, created to try and prevent people from sending drunken e-mails between the hours of about 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.
It helps prevent intoxicated individuals from sending e-mails by asking them to solve simple math problems. It doesn’t seem like it would be difficult, but while intoxicated it could be complicated.
Bradley mail and G-mail are very similar because Google sponsors Bradley e-mail.
“Bradley mail can use all of the applications that G-mail can because we are in collaboration with them,” Associate Provost for Information and Resources Technology Chuck Ruch said. “I also doubt that the reason that the math problems are used had anything to do with being able to tell if someone is sober or not.”
Ruch said he thinks the application was made to prevent a “robot” from sending out spam.
If a lot of spam e-mails are sent from multiple sources, it’s hard to find out where the e-mail really came from, he said.
“It happens a lot more than people think,” Ruch said. “That is why there are a lot of verification codes when signing up for things online.”
Freshman family and consumer science major Kendra Shambaugh said she thought the application is really useful.
“I think that it is a good idea, but I also think that some people aren’t going to want to go through the hassle of doing the math problems every time they want to send an e-mail while they are intoxicated,” she said.
Freshman health science major Kelly Short said she doesn’t think there is a big need for the application.
“If someone is going to be drunk and send an e-mail then they should be able to take responsibility for exactly what it says,” Short said. “There are also people who work later, and I think it just creates more of a hassle for them because they aren’t going to want to do a math problem every time they send an e-mail.”
Freshman food and nutrition major Brooke Jensen said she thought the program is a good idea and she thinks it would be interesting if that was on Bradley mail.
“I think that it is beneficial because a lot of people regret what they say when they are drunk, and this is a way to help and prevent it a little more,” Jensen said.
The program doesn’t exactly prevent people from sending drunken e-mails, but it does produce a challenge for them.
Freshman nursing major, Glenna Murphy said she thought it would be humorous to receive them, but sending them might be a different story.
“I think that the people sending them should deal with the consequences of what they said drunk or sober,” Murphy said.
