Though we imagine the Dutch to be a rather unexcitable lot, I did anyway, it turns out they have a history of getting rowdy at football games (yes, if this all happened back in the States I be calling it “soccer”). So it can’t be so much of a surprise that fans rioted again in April. What is surprising is that mobile phone companies got involved in the investigation. This AP report tells the story:

Phone companies voluntarily handed over the mobile phone numbers of people who were in or around Feyenoord’s Kuip stadium on the day of the match — traceable using broadcasting masts in the area.

So that’s what the aGPS sticker on our cellphones is about.

Via Engadget.

tags: 5-0, agps, cell phone, cellphone, crime, engadget, feyenoord, football, gps, hooliganism, location aware, location aware technology, mobile, mobile phone, mobile phone companies, mobile phone numbers, police, police investigation, riot, rioting, rioters, sms, sms message, sms messaging, soccer

In remembering James Henry Smith, a zealous Pittsburgh Steelers fan who died of prostate cancer in early July, his family asked the Samuel E. Coston Funeral Home to do things “as he would have wanted them to be.” For the viewing, the funeral home arranged a living room ensemble with the TV and recliner just as Smith liked it on game day. An AP article describes it:

Smith’s body was on the recliner, his feet crossed and a remote in his hand. He wore black and gold silk pajamas, slippers and a robe. A pack of cigarettes and a beer were at his side, while a high-definition TV played a continuous loop of Steelers highlights.

The article quotes tearful friends and family pleased with the unusual viewing.

Thanks to Church of the Customer for the heads up.

Photo (above right): this is not a recliner, it has nothing to do with Smith. Maybe this image would have been better?

tags: family, football fan, football, funeral home, game day, gold silk, james henry smith, memory, pittsburgh, pittsburgh steelers, pittsburgh steelers fan, prostate cancer, recliner, remeberance, silk pajamas, steelers, team colors, zeal, zealous fan