"Can you hear me now? Goooooood..."

By Linda Sharp

Ringtones are the aural accessories of the cell phone. Like a Claire's boutique for the eardrums.

You can stick with the basic ones which actually sound like a telephone ringing, or download everything from your favorite TV shows, movies, current songs, even commercial jingles. If it's a sound, it can be quickly turned into a ringtone.



Some of my personal favorite tones include the Southpark gang, Donald Trump, and a wonderful version of "Dead Skunk In The Middle of the Road." Each tone assigned by personality to someone in my phonebook. (My sis gets the honor? of Dead Skunk.)

If you're a teen, there is no way in cyberhell that you would be caught having your phone actually RING. That's, like, SOOOOO uncool. Rather, if it's Top 40, it's Top Ringtone. My daughters have everything from Flo Rida to show tunes.

And that's fine. As much as the style of cell phone they carry announces their personality to the world, so do their ringtones.

Well, an enterprising Indian duo believe a ringtone can announce so much more.

Meet Rupert Fernandes and Vijay Prakash, creators of the Condom a Capella - a ringtone in which they repeatedly sing the word CONDOM over and over and over.



Already downloaded 270,000 times - ok, ok - 270,001 times, their ringtone is meant to remove the stigma and embarrassment of this most basic of sex aids and spread the message of safe sex.

I'm serious.

This is a whole campaign in conjunction with BBC World Services to step up and combat the spread of HIV - 2.4 million are estimated to be living with it in India - in a survey conducted among young people, less than a third could speak to any ways to prevent the spread of HIV infection.

Now, I don't know that a simple (albeit funny) ringtone is going to cause a dramatic rise in enlightenment, or a dramatic fall in unsafe sex, but any effort in this regard is a good effort.

But you decide for yourself. Check out Condom a Capella, download it if you like, and then chime in with who in YOUR phone book is worthy of such ringbone - sorry, ringtone.

Can you hear me now? Um, yeah, baybay. Would you like to hear my Marvin Gaye ringtone next? Let's get it onnnn...

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Linda Sharp has contributed to numerous publications, both on the web and in print. She is also the author of “Stretchmarks On My Sanity.”