VMware Tools can't shrink ed/x/ubuntu 10.x ext4 partitions

Apparently it's a known issue that VMware tools toolbox cant shrink ed/x/ubuntu ext4 partitions. Until this is fixed by VMware one workaround from http://www.insomnihack.com/?p=387 suggests creating a large file of zeros then deleting it then using vmware-vdiskmanager on the command line.