Comcast Domain Helper is Nothing More Than Hijack Virus

As a web developer, I need to see errors. If a page is not found, I need to see the browser error. Comcast has this incredibly irritating Domain "Helper" that they automatically put on every subscriber's computer. If a page is not found or times out, Comcast hijacks the page and returns a Comcast search page powered by Yahoo. I can't even put into words how aggravating that is!
I consider that to be a virus. It hijacks my browser without my permission or knowledge.
I have formally complained to Comcast, and it was the devil to get rid of. You have to opt out of the domain helper in the master account holder's Comcast account preferences.
The worst part is, if you reset your modem, it comes back!
So I got rid of it months ago, and then boom it's back.
I guess my next steps are to actually change the IP on my wireless router to Google.
Here are some other posts about it:
http://www.webmasterworld.com/firefox_browser/3966582.htm
http://osxdaily.com/2009/08/09/stop-comcast-from-dns-hijacking-redirects/
http://blog.comcast.com/2009/07/domain-helper-service-here-to-help-you.html

Flash Crashes Firefox

Man, I had a crazy time trying to get flash to work in the latest version of Firefox (3.6.12). I am stubborn and don't usually give up but after trying everything I could think of I finally had to admit defeat and just go back to an earlier version of Firefox. I'm now back on a version of 3.5 and am having no problems.
That's seriously sad because Firefox "used" to be my favorite browser.
UPDATE 11/30/11
I have found something that works.
This issue seems to be related to hang protection that was added to Firefox. To disable follow these steps:
1. In the Location bar, type about:config and press.
2. The about:config page should appear. In the Filter box, type dom.ipc.plugins.timeoutSecs
3. Double click the setting and change the number to -1 to disable hang protection.

Finally, a fix for me!

CFDocument and Really Large Files

I've been having a bit of trouble lately generating a large pdf on a shared server. The file was so large it would time out. (a little over 4 megs)

I finally got it to work by streamlining the cfdocument and wrapping it in a cfthread.

Here's the CFcocktail for large pdf files:

1. Use gif images (I have no idea why this makes the file size smaller but it does, even when the gifs are larger than the jpgs)

2. Put all images in the same folder as pdf creation and make sure to put localurl="true" in the cfdocument tag

3. Make sure the page validates before you wrap it with cfdocument

4. Import your stylesheet



5. Finally, if the file is still too large, wrap it in a cfthread

I tried a lot of different combinations, and this was the only way I could get the file to generate.

Another little neat trick, to make the file open automatically after it's generated is to put this after your tag:



That will prompt a download after the file is generated.