Google's "Mail Goggles" Aim to Deter Drunk E-mailing

Google has launched its new feature of "Mail Goggles" to prevent people from drunk e-mailing those regrettable messages to their boss telling them what they really think or begging their ex-boyfriend/girlfriend to take them back.

What originated as drunk dialing became drunk texting with the growing number of people using SMS text messaging. But now, more and more people are sitting in front of their computer screens at the wee hours of the morning to send the feared drunk e-mail.

But have no fear, (as usual) Google is here to save the day!

Google has introduced "Mail Goggles," a program that is designed to make sure you really want to send the e-mail message you typed with one-hand while your other hand was holding a beer.

Basically, the Mail Goggles act as a digital breathalyzer, requiring users (after clicking "Send") to answer a series of simple math problems in a certain amount of time to ensure they are in the proper state of mind to know they really want to send that late-night e-mail.

The Goggles can easily been enabled and disabled by the user or set to start working at a certain time of day and turn off at another time of day.

Sorry, Dr. Shamp, it looks like this feature won't work on your iPhone!

To watch a news clip about the launch of Mail Googles, click here.

For more information on this new media topic, visit http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/200/10/google-unveils-mail-googles-to-curb-drunk-e-mailin.html.

Google Plans to e-publish Out-of-Print Books

As the world of books begins to increasingly go digital, American authors and publishers have finally reached an agreement with Google to settle lawsuits over Google's Book Search program. This controversial program is able to scan millions of books and make their contents available on the Internet. The result: Google can sell electronic versions of copyrighted works that have gone out of print.

Although this deal still awaits court approval and the bookshop would only operate in the United States to begin with, this agreement is considered by many to be one of many initiatives under which books are making what may be the biggest technological leap since Gutenberg invented moveable type.

While the ability to browse and purchase books  from online stores like Amazon has previously led to an increase in book sales, in the first nine months of this year, book sales in the United States have fallen 1.5 percent, according to the Association of American Publishers. However, sales of e-books, read on devices like Amazon's Kindle, on personal computers or on mobile phones. Wholesale sales of e-books were up 55 percent from a year ago.

In fact, 40 percent of book publishing professionals think digital sales would surpass sales of paper-and-ink books by 2018, according to a survey published in conjunction with the Frankfurt Book Fair last month.

In the proposed settlement, Google would share online sales revenue with publishers and authors. But publishers are still looking for other new ways to sell books in digital form like subscription plans, where readers would pay a monthly fee for online access to best sellers or making online versions of books free or reduced in price by supporting the version with advertising, similar to the approach adopted by newspapers on the Internet.

For more information on this new media topic, visit http:///www.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/business/worldbusiness/10kindle.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin.

MySpace and MTV Turn Pirated Video Into Ad Dollars

MySpace will partner with MTV Networks (whose channels include Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, VH1 and MTV) and Auditude, a Palo Alto firm that works to identify whether the video clips that users upload to the Web are owned by a television network.

Previously, when footage was uploaded from television shows like the "Daily Show," MySpace might have automatically blocked the clip, or at least taken the clip down upon complaint by Comedy Central.

Now, the users are able to post such clips to the advantage of media companies that will get to monetize and get all the data from this--meaning media companies will be able to know what is being watched, who is watching it and have their programs reap the benefit of this viral promotion.

How does this work?

Auditude will compile all of the video owned by MTV Networks that it finds on MySpaceTV, the second-largest video site after YouTube. Then Auditude will overlay an identifying label specifying the program and offer either the producing channel or MySpace the opportunity to advertise against it. Auditude will also supply viewers with a link to buy and download the full episode.

Auditude requires no additional effort by content owners and can work with a variety of Web video sites, like MySpace TV, YouTube and Veoh.

For more information on this new media topic, visit http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/myspave-and-mtv-turn-pirated-video-into-ad-dollars/.