I just thought of a computer program that could make me a billionaire

[Tobin S.]

Have you ever angrily written an e-mail and sent it off only to wish you hadn't sent it a short time later? Well, let me introduce you to the Extracticator. Just hit a button after sending the e-mail and you can take it back by deleting it from the recipients inbox as long as it's still unread.

Yes, Bill Gates, you've got some competition now.

[woo me with science]

1. Oh dear.

What did you send?

[MiddleFingerMom]

2. Not "oh dear"...

.
.
.
...it's the mythical and much-needed "Oh SHIT" button!!!
.

[woo me with science]

9. I stand corrected.

You are right, of course. :-)

[Tobin S.]

3. Nothing recently, but I've done it in the past

And I've heard of a lot of people sending stuff that they later regretted.

[woo me with science]

8. That would be a good OP question in itself.

I can remember having that feeling but don't remember what I sent.

[Tobin S.]

11. Post 'er up there. We can get the companion thread thing going.

:thumbsup:

[lunatica]

4. It's the Delete 2.0 version!

Everyone needs one!

[hippywife]

5. You can do that within a closed system.

Such as long ago, when on AOL, I could unsend messages to another AOL user. I can also do that at work within Outlook.

I think something like that across different networks, providers, and systems may require lots of agreements being signed.

:hi:

[Tobin S.]

7. I had no idea

You mean some other genius has independently come up with this idea as well? What are the odds?

[hippywife]

16. Not taking anything away from you, Tobin.

It is still a good idea and you came up with it independently, not knowing it already existed. :D

[krispos42]

6. I've heard there's a "no drunk email" option now

Where you have to do a simple math problem before the email can be sent. No problem if you're sober, but more difficult if you're shitfaced.

[Tobin S.]

10. There have definitely been some times when I would have benefited from that

I don't get on the e-mail now when I drink beer. I just hang out in the lounge and irritate people I don't know. :)

[MiddleFingerMom]

12. So....

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
...you're drunk THIS early on a Sunday morning?
.
:rofl:
.

[Tobin S.]

13. It's after........11:30 here, pal. Close enough.

And I work third shift as well. So there.

Actually, I'll be getting with the drinking program here at about 1pm when the Reds game comes on. :beer:

[MiddleFingerMom]

17. I was focused more...

.
...on the "irritate" part than the time-of-day part. :rofl:
.
.
Worked third-shift for many years and LOVED it. About 3-4 times
a year, I would stop by for a beer or two at a nearby bar that
opened at 7 AM.
.
I would tell the daytime folks when I went into work, after a
while JUST to see the concerned looks on their faces and field
their questions about the "problem" that had me drinking at a
time of day when most other folks are eating their Cheerios.
.
.
.
.
.
M-m-m-m-m-m... Beerios.
.

[gmoney]

14. Gmail sort of has that...

You have an option to "buffer" outgoing messages for I think maybe 30 seconds before they're actually pushed on to the recipient. I guess it's more of an "oops didn't mean to hit send" solution more than it is a "calming down after 20 minutes and deciding not to call your boss a moran" option.

[Tobin S.]

15. Humanity needs the "calming down after 20 minutes and deciding not to call your boss a moran" option

I didn't know that about gmail and I have a gmail account. It's more of spam receptacle actually.

[greenmutha]

18. gmoney is right, Gmail already has that...

New in Labs: Stop sending mail you later regret
Monday, October 06, 2008 | 6:25 PM
Posted by Jon Perlow, Gmail engineer

Sometimes I send messages I shouldn't send. Like the time I told that girl I had a crush on her over text message. Or the time I sent that late night email to my ex-girlfriend that we should get back together. Gmail can't always prevent you from sending messages you might later regret, but today we're launching a new Labs feature I wrote called Mail Goggles which may help.

When you enable Mail Goggles, it will check that you're really sure you want to send that late night Friday email. And what better way to check than by making you solve a few simple math problems after you click send to verify you're in the right state of mind?

By default, Mail Goggles is only active late night on the weekend as that is the time you're most likely to need it. Once enabled, you can adjust when it's active in the General settings. Hopefully Mail Goggles will prevent many of you out there from sending messages you wish you hadn't. Like that late night memo -- I mean mission statement -- to the entire firm.


More here:

http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/new-in-labs-stop-sending-mail-you-later.html