MessageLabs, the email-filtering company that Symantec acquired in 2008, posted a set of word maps today measuring the frequency of terms in spam emails from a random one-week sampling of junk mail pulled from the most prolific spam-spewing botnets.

FORBES: The Most Common Words In Spam Email

Ever since Googlereleased easy-to-use software tools for its nifty on-screen maps of streets and satellite images a year ago, fans have set off an explosion of creative overlaps, adding their own useful and sometimes quirky data.

FORBES: Magazine Article

That, in turn, has set off a race among companies like SpotCrime to turn crime data into mash-ups of maps and analytics, producing charts and graphs in Web-friendly formats.

FORBES: Colin Drane wants to be the kingpin of criminal data.