Reader's Digest (U.S.)

Key Takeaways Forgetting a changed passcode, too many wrong tries, a cracked screen or someone else changing it can leave your iPhone disabled; most fixes will factory‑reset the device, so make sure your data is backed up to iCloud first. Plug the phone into a Mac or PC, put it into recovery mode (button combos vary by model), then use iTunes (PC/older macOS) or Finder (Catalina and later) to choose Restore—the phone will erase, download the latest iOS and let you set it up again.

Some home habits become second nature. You turn off the lights when you leave a room. You lock the front door. And in the middle of summer, you might leave the ceiling fan running, convinced it’ll keep the room cool until you get back. It’s an easy assumption to make—and one that has fueled plenty of debate. But does leaving a fan on all day actually work?

What do you get the country that has everything for its milestone birthday? We certainly didn’t want to show up to this party empty-handed, so we decided on the ultimate Reader’s Digest gift. We’ve curated fascinating and quirky facts about U.S. history that you never knew, odes to all the things we love about America and the most delicious, most interesting, most fun reasons to visit each and every state. Yes, it’s as fun as it sounds, and don’t worry—we won’t keep it a surprise.

The big weekend is finally here! No, I do not mean the nation’s 250th birthday, though that’s also exciting. Of course, I am talking about another milestone national event, one that celebrates two of our country’s major exports: entertainment and sports. Yes, it’s the long-anticipated Taylor Swift–Travis Kelce wedding at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Excuse me, the rumored wedding.

If your idea of a good shopping trip includes name brands for wayyyy less and that little thrill of scoring something chic without the designer price tag … well, same. (I mean, who doesn’t love a good deal?) Luckily for us, one of America’s favorite off-price department stores is getting even bigger, with 12 new locations on the way—some of which could be popping up surprisingly close to you.

If you ask me what I think of as “so American,” my brain short-circuits a little bit. Visions of flags, fireworks and all things red, white and blue on the 4th of July immediately pop into my head. But beyond that, I draw a blank. Everything else is pretty universal, as far as I can tell. Well, my friends who live overseas would like a word. They remind me quite how American something like football is. Not soccer—American football, which you don’t actually use your feet for.

It’s all over the news: The president stands accused of raiding federal funds for personal projects. Members of Congress are caught paying and accepting bribes. Rival parties divide voters, then submit multiple conflicting sets of election results from the same state. Florida, predictably, is at the center of the mess. There are riots. The whole dispute ultimately gets handed to a special commission to sort out, and the country doesn’t have a new president for months after the election.

By 2:43 p.m. on a Monday, I had become one with my chair. Not in a peaceful, ergonomic way. More in the “has anyone seen her blink lately?” way. I had answered emails, edited copy, opened the same tab three separate times and ignored my water bottle so thoroughly that it may as well have been decorative. My body was technically present, but my brain had started giving me the spinning rainbow wheel. This is the part of the workday when I usually make one of two bad choices.

As someone who is used to text invitations or “fancy” evites, I was delighted to get a real paper invitation in the mail that was legit fancy. Like, the kind of fancy where I stood in my closet for 20 minutes wondering if my nicest going-out blouse would cut it. It was a milestone birthday party for a wealthy acquaintance—not a close friend, but someone I was hoping might become one—and the invite was very clear: No gifts, please.

We all have an idea in our heads of what we want our proposal to look like—maybe in Paris under the Eiffel Tower (a girl can dream, right?), or an over-the-top sunset beach setup with candles everywhere—but real life doesn’t always follow the script. And while there really isn’t one “right” way to propose, the internet seems more than ready to debate otherwise.