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Testing the Ikarao Shell S1 karaoke speaker during my review has been one of the highlights of my job as tech reviewer. Now that it’s $100 off, reaching the price of $249.99 (originally $349.99) after the on-page coupon, it’s at its lowest price ever, according to price-tracking tools. While you might’ve never heard of the brand before, I can attest that this speaker is quality, and now, it’s a bargain for its price.

Ikarao Shell S1 Smart Karaoke Speaker

Battery Life: 9 hours, Connectivity: USB, AUX In/Out, HDMI, Wifi, OTG, and Bluetooth V5.4.

$349.99
at Amazon

Get Deal

Get Deal

$349.99
at Amazon

It bewilders me why no company before thought of doing what Ikarao has done with the Shell S1: Combine a touchscreen tablet, two Bluetooth microphones, and powerful sound to a small portable speaker. None of those things are new technologies, yet it took until Ikarao thought of it to make it happen.

The Shell S1 is their newest and most affordable karaoke speaker. And it’s loud enough to host a house party with its 104dB stereo speaker (it fills my whole 1,300 square foot home with sound loud enough to have a party). The two wireless microphones have a 20-hour rechargeable battery life while the speaker itself lasts about nine hours if you’re using the screen. The screen is a 10.1-inch touchscreen tablet that lets you control the music. It comes with an integrated Spotify app but unfortunately no YouTube app (it does have a direct link to it using a web browser).

You can hook up the speaker to a TV to have more people sing along with you, but you’ll need to hook up an HDMI cable. There is a casting option but it’s done through a third-party app that you need to download. It’s not as easy as AirPlay or connecting an HDMI cable.

If you’re looking for a reliable and compact karaoke machine that you can hook up to your TV and play for hours, the Shell S1 at $250 is the best you can get right now.

Digg, the dominant link aggregator of the mid-2000s, is attempting yet another comeback. Kevin Rose, one of Digg’s original founders, has acquired the brand name for an undisclosed sum and is teaming up with Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian to build a new-ish social network. The plan was announced this morning in articles on Techcrunch and in the New York Times.

There aren’t many concrete details in these articles about what the site will look like, though they do note it will use AI as a key moderation tool. “Online communities thrive when there’s a balance between technology and human judgment,” Ohanian told Techcrunch, adding that, “AI should handle the grunt work in the background while humans focus on what they do best: building real connections.” Rose surveyed current Reddit moderators in an attempt to learn what improved moderation tools could look like.

That’s about it in terms of specifics—both pieces focus less on the tech and more on the founders themselves. But we do know the new Digg won’t look like an “old school forum” according to Rose. He said that, in a few years, it “will be an interface that is unlike any other that you’ve seen.” Whatever that means.

Digg was founded in 2004—more than two decades ago, an eternity in internet terms—by Rose and other collaborators. Reddit arrived on the scene around a year later, in 2005, founded by current CEO Steve Huffman, the late hacktivist Aaron Swartz, and Ohanian. The two websites fought to be the dominate link aggregator for a half-decade, a competition Reddit eventually won. One way of looking at this history is that Reddit ultimately won over users, though you could also argue that Digg destroyed itself: An extremely buggy and widely unpopular 2010 redesign, launched under Rose’s leadership, prioritized the posts of certain contributors and ultimately led to a mass exodus of users. The site never recovered and was soon more or less sold off piecemeal in 2012.

How to sign up for early access to the new Digg

Invitations to the new version of the site will be sent in the next few weeks—you can sign up here to try it if you’re curious. With any luck it won’t just be yet another place to yell about screenshots taken from other social networks; the internet sure could use something that’s actually new. Only time will tell, though.

Tax season is the perfect time to review your Roth IRA contribution strategy. While Roth IRAs offer incredible tax advantages, they come with specific rules that can trip up even savvy investors. After all, the humble Roth IRA is one of your most powerful retirement savings tools—when used correctly.

You have until the April tax return deadline to set up and fund an IRA for the prior tax year. This means you have until April 15, 2025 to open and contribute to a Roth for 2024. We’re also in the window where you can fund your 2025 IRA at the same time. Additional contributions for 2025 can be made until April 15, 2026, and so on. Keep in mind, filing for an extension to submit your return does not extend the deadline for IRA contributions.

Here key contribution guidelines to know about Roth IRAs right now, so you can maximize your retirement savings and avoid potential penalties.

Rule 1: Earned income

The most fundamental rule for Roth IRA contributions is simple: You can only contribute money you’ve actually earned. This means your contributions must come from:

• Wages from a job

• Salary

• Tips

• Commissions

• Self-employment income

• Bonuses

• Alimony

Important nuances to remember:

• Investment income, Social Security benefits, and pension payments do not count as earned income

• If you’re a stay-at-home spouse, you can still contribute based on your working spouse’s earned income

• For students or part-time workers, your contribution is limited to your actual earned income for the year

Rule 2: Annual contribution limits

The IRS sets specific limits on how much you can contribute to a Roth IRA each year. For 2024, these limits are:

• Under 50 years old: $7,000 maximum annual contribution

• 50 and older: $8,000 (includes a $1,000 catch-up contribution)

These limits are aggregate across all your IRAs. So if you have multiple Roth or traditional IRA accounts, the total contributions cannot exceed the annual limit.

Attempting to contribute more than the annual limit will result in a 6% penalty tax on the excess amount unless promptly removed. If you exceed the Roth IRA contribution limits, you have until the tax filing deadline, plus extensions, to withdraw the excess contributions and any income they earned.

Rule 3: You can’t contribute more than you earn

This rule is a direct extension of the earned income requirement. Your Roth IRA contribution cannot exceed your total earned income for the year. For example:

• If you earned $5,000 in part-time work, your maximum Roth IRA contribution is $5,000

• If you only earned $3,000, you can only contribute up to $3,000

• If you earned $0, you cannot make any Roth IRA contributions

Pro tips for Roth IRA contributions

As a rule of thumb, keep detailed records of your earned income. I know I rely on automated contributions to stay within limits, as well as make sure I’m maxing out my fund.

Remember that contribution limits can change annually, so stay informed. Tax season is an excellent time to review your Roth IRA strategy. For me, this means making contributions as early in the calendar year as I can. I highly recommend getting ahead by maxing out 2025 as soon as you can, and then contributing larger lump sum right at the start of 2026. At the end of the day, compound interest is the name of the game, and early investing means more time for compounding to work.

There used to be a clear progression in home ownership: You bought a “starter” home when you were young, built equity, then cashed in when prices rose and leveled up to something bigger, newer, or with the features you really want. And if you bought a house that didn’t live up to expectations, or if your situation changed without warning (hello, unexpected third child!), you would list the place and move to a better option.

But increasingly, that seems like an artifact of a bygone age. It’s easy these days to feel “stuck” in your current home—because of that amazing mortgage rate you locked in years ago, the eye-watering cost of a house these days, or some other issue. If that’s you, don’t despair: Maybe you can’t sell and move right now, and an expensive whole-house renovation or addition might not be in the cards, but there’s a lot you can do with your current home to make it work for your family and lifestyle without needing to launch a Kickstarter.

Work with it

If you’re stuck in your current house, your first step is to assess what you have and look for ways to make it work for you. This doesn’t have to involve an expensive major renovation or addition project—there are probably a lot of resources already in your current home that you’re not using to their full potential, such as:

• Closets are potentially versatile spaces that can become home offices, pantries, or even small spare bedrooms.

• Home offices don’t have to be their own room—aside from that tiny closet, you can fit an office under a lofted bed, in the corner of your bedroom, or under a flight of stairs.

• Hallways are often overlooked as usable space, but if yours are wide enough, you can cram seating or library space and even a sleeping area into your hallways.

• Second (or third) bathrooms might not be in the cards if your house (and budget) are small, but if you just need a practical solution, you can actually create a usable bathroom just about anywhere in your home without any plumbing whatsoever.

• Storage is one of the biggest reasons people feel like they’ve outgrown their homes, but you might be surprised at how much extra storage you can carve out of your house if you put your mind to it.

• Laundry facilities in the house are one of the greatest gifts of the modern age. If your current home lacks a washer, a portable washing machine might make things more tolerable for you until you can find a place with laundry hookups.

By using every inch of your home’s potential you can find ways to make it meet your needs—at least for a while.

Start over

Sometimes all you need to make a house work for you is a reset. A cluttered, crowded house can have a negative impact on your mental health in general, which will obviously affect your feelings toward your home. Rooms filled with boxes can’t be used for their intended purpose, and the constant sense of disruption and unfinished business can make a home feel less than comfortable. Decluttering and organizing your home can make it feel almost new.

And this doesn’t have to be a monumental project requiring time off from work and an extra therapy session—start with one room. Clear it out completely, clean and freshen it up (a coat of paint can make a room feel brand-new), then re-imagine it. Even if it remains a storage room, making it neat and tidy will make it usable, which will make you more positive toward it and thus toward the house. Repeat for each room at your own pace, and you’ll slowly gain back that sense of pride, control, and ownership you had when you first bought the place.

Look outward

Maybe you’ve explored the spare square footage and decluttered like a champ, and there are just things your current home can’t give you. Space is finite, after all, and there may be no super creative solutions to give you that space or functionality you need.

If you’re stuck in your home for the time being, you might find contentment by looking elsewhere for what’s missing in your house. No space for a workout? A gym membership’s got you covered. No spot for even a tiny office? A co-working space nearby might work. If your closets are bursting, hauling seasonal stuff to a local storage unit can give you your house back. While the ideal might be to have all these things conveniently in your house, stashing them away temporarily will at least meet your needs until you can make some real estate moves.

Personalize

It’s funny: You go through all the trouble and expense of buying a house, and then you work very hard to keep the place “neutral” for potential resale. You never use the bathtub, but you keep it because it’s “good for resale value.” You choose paint colors and design elements that are broadly in line with what “most people” want in a house.

This can result in a house that never feels like yours—it’s like living in someone else’s house. If you’re going to be in this house for the time being, one way to feel better about it and make it work for you is to go in the opposite direction: Lean into personalizing the space. Choose colors and furniture pieces that make you happy, display your collections and art pieces, DIY whatever you want or need to in order to use the space the way you want to. If part of what’s driving your desire to move is a sense of not being comfortable in your current home, working to make it as comfortable as possible—resale value be damned—might solve the problem.