TechByter Worldwide 2016.09.25: Being Prepared for Broken Windows, Carry a Pocket Full of Portable Apps, Short Circuits, and Spare Parts.

Published: Sept. 25, 2016, 4 a.m.

What happens if you turn on the computer and it won't boot? Now is a good time to prepare for that somewhat unlikely possibility. When you're using a computer that isn't yours, having a thumb drive with a bunch of portable apps can be helpful and obtaining them is easy. In Short Circuits: Some things that look like fraud might not be, but paying close attention to the details is really important and now you can get free access to virtual private network technology when you use the Opera browser. In Spare Parts, only on the website: Steve Wozniak, one of Apple's co-founders, will be the keynote speaker at a conference in San Francisco next month, self-employed professionals who need accounting software might want to look at an updated offering from a Canadian company, and Ashland College enrolls more than 1000 inmates in a distance-learning program.