I am trying to set up a dev environment on my local machine that accesses a MySQL DB on AWS, but I keep getting a \"Can\'t connect\" message.
mysql_connect(\
I suppose this is firewalled by Amazon, try using a SSH tunnel:
http://blogs.oracle.com/divyen/entry/connecting_mysql_server_on_amazon
Note: Do not open MySQL to the public internet, not even when using IP filtering. SSH tunnels are way more secure. Best part of it: The tunnel could be accessible with localhost:3306 on your machine, no need to change the config : )