Michael Gastner, Cosma Shalizi, and Mark Newman at the University of Michigan have created some cartograms that adjust the maps seen recently that show the results by county in the 2004 US presidential elections. The maps make it appear President Bush had overwhelming support:

A cartogram shows the results were closer:

Slashdot has a story about the some of the concerns being expressed about the 9-year sentence handed down to a Virginia spammer. The prosecutor explains that the case was not just about spamming, but had a lot to do with the fraudulent nature of the business. The defendant was sending spam to sell products that didn’t work, in essence selling modern day snake-oil.