Funky ringtone sets local man apart from crowd.

Jerry Fringle doesn't describe himself as a standout in social circles. The self-proclaimed techno-geek is more at home with gigabytes and bandwidth than he is interpersonal style and ease. Regardless, on Sunday morning Fringle was glowing about his brief encounter with the spotlight at a local eatery Saturday evening. "Me and my Call of Duty teammates were at our annual 'in-person' meeting at Chili's. The Morticians, that's my team's name, were brainstorming for a new urban recon strategy when my new Blackberry Thunder goes off. Everybody just freezes and looks at me, because check it out," Fringle continues, "My ringtone is more than just a ring. It plays Still Ballin' by Tupac."

By all accounts, the wireless industry's bold theory appears to be true: A sizeable chunk of customers actually give a shit what their mobile phones sound like. What's more, some will even pay to hear a specific song - one that often only plays to a captive audience of appreciative co-workers as the phone is left unattended in a nearby cubicle. "It's important to understand the fact that when bystanders hear an Usher song playing on tiny speakers in sombody's coat pocket, they're going to assume that individual is close friends with Usher," claims Nara Silz, Vice President of Product Development at Verizon.

Silz is not suprised Jerry Fringle's in-your-face urban ringtone put him on the local Chili's hot list. "Irony. That's the secret. People weren't expecting to hear 'Blame it on my momma I'm a thug nigga,' come from Mr. Fringle's phone. People appreciate that kind of originality." As for Fringle, he's not changing anything anytime soon. "It was classic! For a second I thought I heard applause, but it was just in my head. I won't be putting my phone on vibrate for a while."