At the moment no official way exists. Only custom solutions. In this interesting document (PDF) there is one of the ways mentioned: mysqldump -uroot blog users > users_dump.
Sql mysql -P9306.
Sphinx provides you full text search option. You can say its a mini search engine embedded in your app. And with no doubts its better Mysql Index.
If you just want to index auto incremented integer coloumns then there seems no point adding sphinx in your app. Still database size matters. Checkout some the previously asked questions to get better idea what suits your needs.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.