Okay, there is at least a random chance that some of us or someone in our family got a new smartphone as a gift this year. Maybe you hand the old phone down to one of the kids for a wifi device. Maybe you thought better of trading it in, and having your data end up on the streets.
There are the usual perennial articles on this subject Such as this one from a site that appears somewhat reputable, or this one from BusinessInsider.
Note: Most GSM phones can be used to call 911 in the US/Canada even without a sim card present. Donations to Charities or Women's Shelters or Homeless service agencies is always an option as long as you wipe the phone completely.
So what does the Savvy Soylentil do with the old Smartphone?
[Update: removed derogatory phrasing that was present in original submission. -Ed.]
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 28 2015, @10:56AM
in this case blame the so called 'casual racism' was in the original submission
i think the eds mostly try not to frig with submissions too much (unless they are really lacking). sometimes they slip up, but from a submitter's pov i'd prefer to see not too many changes except usual typo, spelling and grammar fixes
sn is also far more friendly to free speech, which i think is otherwise dying (even on the internet). free speech is full of racism, hatred, bigotry, etc. of course you're always welcome here, but if you don't like free speech and are content with censoring things that you don't like because you think they're racist, you might be happier taking your oppressive bullshit to a more sjw-friendly forum
(Score: 5, Informative) by martyb on Monday December 28 2015, @01:15PM
That is exactly the case. As an editor, I am often challenged to find a balance between minimal intervention and maintaining (for lack of better phrasing) 'a consistent tone' of this site. What follows is my personal view and is NOT an official position of SoylentNews in any fashion.
background: I am heavily invested in the success of this site. I participated in the original slashcott. I have invested a great deal of time and effort pursuing our vision of an open platform for discussion. (I'm approaching 1300 stories edited, I've tested a number of features prior to rollout, especially UTF-8 support. I spent a summer vacation reviewing all of the original incorporation legal docs.) Many a long day at work has been followed by an evening of editing stories. And it has all been worth it. I'm in this for the long run.
That said, I also subscribe to the adage "Say what you mean, mean what you say, but don't say it mean." In this particular case, it was unnecessary for the point of the story (what to do with old smartphones) to make any kind of comment concerning any other nationality or group. The community called me out on this and I agree that the phrasing was insensitive. I have updated the story, accordingly. Thank you for holding us to a very high standard.
Wit is intellect, dancing.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by FatPhil on Monday December 28 2015, @04:16PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves