Newbie Question - Runtime Data Feed

Hi

 I am looking at developing a web application which will be show a map with 
certain location "Hot Spots" on it.
 These hotspots will show a circle with the number of faults for the given 
location in it.  This will retreived form a database.
 As time goes by the value the faults will change and therefore the map will 
reflect the changes, i.e. the number in the circles will change dynamically.  
The user must also be able to right click on the hotspot and then select 
certain drill-down options.
 There is also a future requirement for a scaled down version to be available 
on a PDA.

 I need to either:
      {a) Push the updates to the map.
      (b) Poll the server at regular intervals.

 Having no experience of Flash or Flex (apart from that as a web user) I have 
been looking around trying to find the best solution to my problem.

 It would seem that Flex will be able to do what I want, but I'm not sure if it

is the best solution.  I've also read about Flash and Macromedia Communications

Server.

 To be honest I'm a bit confused by all the different apps available to me in 
the Macromedia suite.

 So basically my question is, which is the best solution for me to do what I 
need to do?

 I don't want to start going down one road and learning Flex in detail, whan it

would be much easier and quicker to develop the app using Flash.

 Any advice will be greatly appreciated

 Steve