Computers, Google, Webware, Web
Gmail Now Letting You Un-Send Regrettable E-Mails
Back in October 2008, Google brought Mail Goggles to its Gmail labs, a feature that required you to finish a series of math problems in an allotted amount of time before it let you send an e-mail. This way, if you got a little too happy at happy hour, you'd find a barrier between you and that lengthy e-mail to your ex. Call it EWI-prevention (E-Mailing While Intoxicated).
The problem with Mail Goggles is that it wasn't going to stop you from sending regrettable e-mails while you were sober -- and what happens if being drunk turns you into a math whiz? The ideal solution would be to give us less tactful users the chance to undo that sent message before anyone else reads it. If Microsoft Outlook had such a feature, it would have helped us last a bit longer at that last IT job we had.
Leave it to Google, though, to bring to life the greatest e-mail feature nobody ever knew they wanted. If you go into Gmail Labs (the beaker icon up top, or the Labs tab under settings), you can enable "undo send," which will hold any e-mail you send in a queue for five seconds before actually sending it on to the intended recipient. This brilliant little service gives you a chance to hit the "undo" link at the top any time during that five seconds and stop that message from going through.
This is quite the breakthrough for those of us prone to sending ill-advised, angry, swear-laden e-mails (of which you can see some of the most unfortunate examples in the gallery below). Thanks, Google. [From: Download Squad and CNET]
Death of Print
Elle Girl
In April 2006, Elle Girl's print edition was closed down, but the Web site lives on at ellegirl.com.
CosmoGirl
Though it will be folded into Seventeen magazine, the teen version of Cosmopolitan will publish its last print issue in December 2008. It will live on at CosmoGirl.com.
Christian Science Monitor
Founded in 1908 by Mary Baker Eddy, this venerable paper will move all its daily content to the Web starting in 2009, though it will still publish a weekly print version.
Radar Magazine
Was it too snarky for its own good? We'll never know, but this modern-day successor to '80s-era Spy magazine shut down in October. AMI, owner of the National Enquirer, bought RadarOnline.com, however, which will focus on celebrity gossip a la TMZ.com.
US News and World Report
Once a serious competitor to Time and Newsweek, US News and World Report is now best known for its College guides, which it will continue to publish. The weekly newsmagazine, however, will be turned into a monthly, and all daily operations are moving to the Web at usnews.com.
Related links:
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dustin said 9:53PM on 3-22-2009
AOL has had this feature for years. Granted, it only works for sending emails to other AOL users, but they give you the ability to unsend an email all the way up until the time that it is read. Just letting you know that this idea isn't that innovative.
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JH said 2:18PM on 3-23-2009
Outlook does have that feature if you use it with Exchange. Furthermore, Outlook lets you set up the period of time you want it to wait before sending/receiving mail. You can set that to an hour if you want and also set up a rule that turns on your coffee pot to sober you up while you wait...
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