Photo by Wonderlane
If you use Gmail and just log in and use it without checking out Gmail Labs features, you may be missing out on some useful functions. I know a lot of people who still have never heard of Gmail Labs, so this is for them. When you’re logged into Gmail, click on Settings, then Labs, and it will open up the Gmail Labs functions. They say the lab features are crazy experimental stuff that may change, disappear, or break at any time, but it’s fun to check out what is there. You can enable or disable any of the available features, but they are disabled by default.
Have you ever emailed someone late at night when you’ve had one too many drinks and then regretted it? Now you have Mail Goggles. If Mail Goggles is enabled, then when you try to send something after a certain hour (that you can specify ahead of time), you will have to answer a few simple math problems in order for the email to be sent. After all, if you don’t know what 5 + 7 is at that moment, you really don’t need to be emailing your boss, your ex, or any combination of that! If you enable Mail Goggles, the default time that it will be in force will be late nights on the weekend, but you can change that if you have different habits than the default. 
There are lots more cool Labs features like being able to insert a picture into an email instead of attaching it, check the Sender Time Zone, which will show a green phone if it is an appropriate hour to be calling that time zone (handy for those international friends and coworkers), and many, many more items - more all the time.
The newest Gmail Labs feature that I know of is called Suggest more recipients. Based on groups you email often, Gmail will suggest people you might want to include. So if you start emailing three people out of your usual family or friends group, Gmail will ask if you want to include that fourth person you always forget!
Gmail Labs feature can now make your chat sessions better, handle your email any way you want, and pretty much run your life for you. You’ll still have to wash your own clothes, but other than that the Labs features have it covered.
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Great observations about gmail. What I also love is the user interface has stayed the same. That is amazingly considerate in my opinion. Hotmail, on the other hand, keeps “improving” their format. The changes always seem to include new advertising methods–always at the expense of user efficiency.
Very true – those who just want to use gmail don’t have to keep searching and wondering where their favorite features are; it stays the same.