Author Archives: Brenda Bell

Online Clipboard

Posted on by

Ever wanted a quick way to share some text but it’s too big to paste into Skype and email’s too slow for true collaboration?

Check out pastebin.com. Simple with support for syntax highlighting and automatic expiration.

Adding a COM port to a Windows Fusion VM on Mac OS X

Posted on by

This article applies to the following:

  • Mac OS X 10.8.2
  • VMWare Fusion 5.0.2
  • Windows XP SP3
  • RadioShack USB-to-Serial Adapter
  • Macbook Pro Retina

Install the Mac OS X drivers:

  • Download http://www.xbsd.nl/pub/osx-pl2303.kext.tgz and unzip to a temporary directory.
  • Open a terminal window and execute the following commands:


    • cd /path/to/osx-pl2303.kext
    sudo cp -R osx-pl2303.kext /System/Library/Extensions/
    cd /System/Library/Extensions
    sudo chmod -R 755 osx-pl2303.kext
    sudo chown -R root:wheel osx-pl2303.kext
    sudo kextload ./osx-pl2303.kext
    sudo kextcache -system-cache

  • Launch System Preferences and verify the drivers loaded properly. Under Network, you should see a device labeled PL2303.

Since Mac OS X and Windows can’t use the device at the same time, you’ll need to unload the kext. Open a terminal window and execute the following command:

sudo kextunload /System/Library/Extensions/osx-pl2303.kext

Note that you’ll need to repeat this command if you reboot your MacBook.

Install the Windows drivers:

  • Download the 260-0183 RadioShack driver from the RadioShack support site. Extract the files to a temporary directory.
  • Use the VMWare menu to connect the Radio Shack USB Device to the VM. Windows will launch the New Hardware applet. When prompted, instruct Windows to install the driver from the temporary directory containing the extracted driver files.
  • Launch Device Manager and verify the RadioShack device appears under Ports (COM & LPT).

If you want to know what respect looks like, this is as good as it gets

Posted on by

High school basketball player passes ball to mentally challenged player on the other team

If all of our coaches, teachers and parents showed the same level of leadership, commitment and high moral standards as those who played a part in shaping the values of the young people in this video, I don’t think we’d have to worry nearly as much about gun violence, gangs, drugs or a hundred other things that affect the adults our children become.

… like Mitchell’s coach who was 110% committed to placing the morale of one student above winning.

… like Mitchell’s parents who have obviously supported him and refused to allow his limitations to get in the way of him leading a full, productive and happy life.

… like the parents of those students who immediately and without reservation started to cheer for Mitchell the moment he took to the basketball coach.

… and like the parents of that young man from the opposing team who seized an opportunity to do something really wonderful for another human being.