In the past, when science fiction writers imagined how machines would be our faithful servants, they mostly envisioned robots performing useful tasks like making breakfast and doing laundry. They had no idea that in the post-millennial age, the finest technological minds would be working tirelessly to provide multiple solutions to a single issue of immeasurable import: How can insentient devices protect us from our embarrassing propensity to drunk dial/email/text?

"Stop sending e-mail you later regret," the Official Gmail Blog intones ominously. The new Mail Goggles has been compared to a Breathalyzer: "When you enable... 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?" But how would people know how you feel if you didn't accidentally tell them? (If you're a daytime drinker, you might want to adjust the settings.) Having a digital babysitter sounds soothing, though. Sometimes, we just want to be told what to do. [Wired]