diff --git a/app/lib/simulator/Simulator.coffee b/app/lib/simulator/Simulator.coffee
index 521e810c7..f92bccb98 100644
--- a/app/lib/simulator/Simulator.coffee
+++ b/app/lib/simulator/Simulator.coffee
@@ -207,7 +207,12 @@ module.exports = class Simulator
   transpileSpell: (thang, spellKey, methodName) ->
     slugifiedThangID = _.string.slugify thang.id
     source = @currentUserCodeMap[[slugifiedThangID,methodName].join '/'] ? ""
-    @spells[spellKey].thangs[thang.id].aether.transpile source
+    aether = @spells[spellKey].thangs[thang.id].aether
+    try
+      aether.transpile source
+    catch e
+      console.log "Couldn't transpile #{spellKey}:\n#{source}\n", e
+      aether.transpile ''
 
   createAether: (methodName, method) ->
     aetherOptions =
diff --git a/server_setup.coffee b/server_setup.coffee
index ff04b7b15..d15035c53 100644
--- a/server_setup.coffee
+++ b/server_setup.coffee
@@ -47,8 +47,7 @@ setupExpressMiddleware = (app) ->
   app.use(express.bodyParser())
   app.use(express.methodOverride())
   app.use(express.cookieSession({secret:'defenestrate'}))
-  if config.isProduction
-    app.use(express.compress())
+  #app.use(express.compress()) if config.isProduction  # just let Cloudflare do it
 
 setupPassportMiddleware = (app) ->
   app.use(authentication.initialize())