from mysql -> simpledb

I'm experimenting with migrating our database from MySQL to Amazon's SimpleDB. Why would I wander from the secure confines of such an established technology?

• Simplicity: Database administration is a can of worms. SimpleDB means I don't have to worry about indexing, sharding or scaling.
  
• Cost: I get to shut down my MySQL server instance, saving $75 / month (hey, every little bit counts.). In addition, I won't have to worry about the costs of launching and managing more servers as Routefriend scales. The SimpleDB costs are negligible.
  
• Flexibility: SimpleDB is a schema-free database. It is easy to do anything on the fly, including creating and deleting tables ('domains'). This offers some interesting new algorithmic possibilities for Routefriend.
  

IE compatibility finally achieved

I've just spent the last two days getting Routefriend to work on IE. In the end, problems I was having were traced to two sources:

• the array.indexOf() javascript function isn't supported by IE7
• the GLatLng() function from the Google Maps API requires initial latitude, longitude values in IE7.

The Google Maps API issue was especially complicated to debug as the javascript code is minimized...so errors come up, for example, as problems with "c()" as opposed to "GLatLng()".