Alice's letter in this morning's Dice Advisor has resulted in a slew of emails. She asked you to share some of your smartphone horror stories, and let's just say there's a lot of horror out there. (You can read her letter at the end of this post.) For example: We've all been in some kind of worship service or assembly where someone's phone goes off and they rush to silence it. Aside from a quick chortle, no one thinks much of these anymore. But sometimes, people have a ring tone that is, let's say, special. Take this gentleman:

I've been a Rolling Stones fan for 40 years so when you call me, you'll hear "Gimme Shelter" as my ringback tone until I answer and we're connected.  Unfortunately, my ringtone is also a well-known Rolling Stones tune so during church one Sunday, to my horror, the congregation heard "Sympathy for the Devil" until I could turn the damn thing off.

At least something positive came out of it: Now there's an announcement made to turn off all cell phones and pagers. Another reader shared this:

...a dear friend of mine was asked to sing at a gentleman's funeral. As she stood in front of the family and friends her phone, which she had failed to mute, began to ring a (resounding) "for he's a jolly good fellow." Needless to say the funeral was not the same after that.

Mortifying, eh? Finally, I've read stories about private investigators who've tracked down errant spouses by reviewing their cell records. Turns out all that effort isn't always necessary. We got the story of someone who…

...worked in a bar and was apparently having a fling with the bar owner. Needless to say she pocket dialed her husband while having a less than business encounter with her boss in the back seat of his car...  OUCH!

I don't think any word says it better than that. Here's Alice's letter. If you've got a story of your own, please let us know by posting it as a comment below.

When Newbies Get Smartphones - The Horror

Being technically advanced sometimes means having to wince when a newbie loved one sends emails in all caps, or thinks LOL means "Lots of Love" (thus sending very disturbing messages during a funeral), or has yet to master the mute button. But few newbies got the snowball of notoriety as "Concertgoer X" did during a literally show-stopping performance of the New York Philharmonic last week. The man, described only as a senior, was apparently given a new iPhone in place of his Blackberry. He told the New York Times that while trying to find a way to mute the phone for the performance, he accidentally set the alarm. Near the end of the symphony, the dulcet tones of iPhone's Marimba met Mahler's Ninth Symphony. That led to shouting concert-goers and the eventual halting of the performance by conductor Alan Gilbert. So, my question to Dice users out there—has something like this happened to you or someone you know? Share your technical etiquette horror stories and we'll send a Dice coffee mug to the best one we hear. Please put "Horror Story" in the subject line and send it to alice@dice.com. I can't wait to check my inbox. All the best, Alice