E-Mailing While Drunk

EWI: E-MAILING WHILE INTOXICATED

It’s Friday night, and what began as an innocent happy-hour margarita morphed into a few pitchers. After all, those tacos were salty.

Bidding friends adieu, you jump into a cab, head home and decide a quick e-mail check is in order. And there it is: a message from your ex. Or your boss. Or that friend you’re secretly mad at. So an- e-mailing-away you go.

If this scenario sounds familiar – e-mailing while tipsy – you may want to thank a new test-phase feature to Google’s free Gmail service that could save you regret the next morning.

It’s called “Mail Goggles,” derived from the slang term “beer goggles.” The service requires you to solve a few easy math problems before hitting “send.” If your logical thinking skills are intact, Google is betting you’re sober enough to work out the repercussions of sending that screed you just drafted.

And if you can’t multiply 2 times 5, give it up.

To activate Goggles, Gmail users should click the “Settings” link at the top of a Gmail page, then go to the “Labs” section.

HAVE ROBOT SUIT, WILL TRAVEL

Sure it might be bulky and a bit heavy, but if a robotic suit can help you walk again, why wouldn’t you try it?

Last week, this suit was made available to rent in Japan for $2,200 a month.

HAL – short for “hybrid assistive limb” – is a computerized suit with sensors that read brain signals directing limb movement through the skin. It could have far-reaching benefits for the disabled and elderly.

The 22-pound battery-operated computer system is belted to the waist. It captures the brain signals and relays them to mechanical leg braces strapped to the thighs and knees, which then provide robotic assistance to people as they walk. The suit comes in three sizes – small, medium and large.

EVERYBODY LOVES TO KISS

You can buy cyber-items for online games and Superpoke someone, virtually of course, on Facebook. It was only a matter of time before a virtual kiss became reality.

Kiss is a social-network “flirting” application that allows people to view images of people in any geographical area and send electronic smooches to the ones they find attractive. They also can initiate online conversations with those they’ve “kissed.”

It’s the brainchild of California entrepreneur Mark Otero, and since it was launched in April, about 3 million users have tried it, Otero says.

Now, Otero and his partner, Ken Walton, have turned those cyber- wet-ones into cold, hard cash by charging members a $7.99 monthly fee – about one-third of which goes to Otero’s company, KlickNation – for the service. So far, he’s signed up about 15,000 subscribers who are billed via their cell-phone companies.

Those revenues, combined with modest advertising income from about 70 other KlickNation applications, should bring in $140,000 this month, Otero says. Based on “very conservative” projections, he figures his Web-based empire will bring in $1 million over the next 12 months.

Now that’s worth a kiss!

HIGHWAY STAR

Do video-game players make excellent drivers? Allstate is hoping to find out. The insurance giant is giving computer games to 100,000 Pennsylvania drivers ages 50 to 75 and plans to compare the accident records of those who play frequently with a control group of nonplayers.

The games, developed by San Francisco-based Posit Science, don’t necessarily involve driving. Instead, they’re meant to reverse cognitive decline and improve visual alertness. Allstate Assistant Vice President Tom Warden said he hopes the software can show “significant benefits here, beyond dollars and cents.”

– From wire reports It’s Friday night, and what began as an innocent happy-hour margarita has morphed into a few pitchers. After all, those tacos were salty.

Bidding friends adieu, you jump in a cab, head home and decide a quick e-mail check is in order. And there it is: a message from your ex. Or your boss. Or that friend you’re secretly mad at. So e- mailing-away you go.

If this scenario sounds familiar – e-mailing while tipsy – you may want to try a new test-phase feature on Google’s free Gmail service that could save you regret the next morning.

It’s called “Mail Goggles,” derived from the slang term “beer goggles.” The service requires you to solve a few easy math problems before hitting “send.” If your logical thinking skills are intact, Google is betting you’re sober enough to work out the repercussions of sending that screed you just drafted.

And if you can’t multiply 2 times 5, give it up.

To activate Goggles, Gmail users should click the “Settings” link at the top of a Gmail page, then go to the “Labs” section.

Sure it might be bulky and a bit heavy, but if a robotic suit can help you walk again, why wouldn’t you try it?

Last week, this suit was made available to rent in Japan for $2,200 a month.

HAL – short for “hybrid assistive limb” – is a computerized suit with sensors that read brain signals directing limb movement through the skin. It could have far-reaching benefits for the disabled and elderly.

The 22-pound battery-operated computer system is belted to the waist. It captures the brain signals and relays them to mechanical leg braces strapped to the thighs and knees, which then provide robotic assistance to people as they walk. The suit comes in three sizes – small, medium and large. You can buy cyber items for online games and Superpoke someone, virtually of course, on Facebook. It was only a matter of time before a virtual kiss became reality.

Kiss is a social-network “flirting” application that allows people to view images of people in any geographic area and send electronic smooches to the ones they find attractive. They also can initiate online conversations with those they’ve “kissed.”

It’s the brainchild of California entrepreneur Mark Otero, and since it was launched in April, about 3 million users have tried it, Otero says.

Now, Otero and his partner, Ken Walton, have turned those cyber wet ones into cold, hard cash by charging members a $7.99 monthly fee – about one-third of which goes to Otero’s company, KlickNation – for the service. So far, he’s signed up about 15,000 subscribers who are billed via their cell-phone companies.

Those revenues, combined with modest advertising income from other applications, could bring Otero’s Web-based empire $1 million over the next 12 months.

Now that’s worth a kiss! Do video-game players make excellent drivers? Allstate is hoping to find out. The insurance giant is giving computer games to 100,000 Pennsylvania drivers ages 50 to 75 and plans to compare the accident records of those who play frequently with a control group of nonplayers.

The games, developed by San Francisco-based Posit Science, don’t necessarily involve driving. Instead, they’re meant to reverse cognitive decline and improve visual alertness. Allstate Assistant Vice President Tom Warden said he hopes the software can show “significant benefits here, beyond dollars and cents.”

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