Melissa Hannebrink
- Indexed articles, last 90 days
- 8
- Latest publication
- Oct 1, 2026
- Outlet visibility, for The Union
- Top 1M sites
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 9, 2026
Latest articles
Melissa Hannebrink: When hearing gets harder, technology can help (opens the original)
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Last week, we looked at how technology can help when vision begins to fade. This week, weâll do the same with hearing. About 15% of American adults report some trouble hearing, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Among people between 65 and 74, about one in three has hearing loss. Hearing loss affects more than conversations. Research links it to a higher risk of cognitive decline and dementia. That does not mean hearing loss causes dementia, and
Melissa Hannebrink: Technology can help when vison fades (opens the original)
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Last week I wrote about smart glasses and some remarkable ways they can help people who are blind or have low vision. Smart glasses are part of a much bigger story, because technology has become extraordinarily good at helping people compensate for what their eyes can no longer do. Many useful tools may already be built into the phone, tablet, or computer you own. Accessibility is not all or nothing. You do not have to be completely blind to benefit from it. Someone with macular degeneration may
Melissa Hannebrink: What are your personal technology policies? (opens the original)
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A few weeks ago, I was having dinner at a local restaurant when a man across the room started watching videos on his phone with the volume turned up loud enough for nearby tables to hear every word. Eventually another diner politely asked him to lower the volume. He apologized and turned it down. Soon after, a different man several tables away called his insurance company on speakerphone. Before long, much of the restaurant knew details about his insurance policy and personal information that sh
Melissa Hannebrink: Gmail Is giving political email a special pass (opens the original)
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Every day, Gmail quietly sorts through an astonishing amount of junk so we donât have to. Unwanted sales pitches, mass mailings, questionable offers, and emails we never asked to receive are diverted before they become our problem. So I was irritated when I learned that Google is launching a program that will allow political emails to bypass some of Gmailâs spam filtering. A quick clarification before we dive in: Google is the company, and Gmail is one of its products. Think of it like this:
Melissa Hannebrink: How technology helps us prepare for wildfires (opens the original)
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The end of the fair has always signaled the wrap-up of summer to me. But while summer may be winding down, fire season in our community is not. In Nevada County, our wildfire risk can continue through October and even into November if enough rain does not arrive. Fortunately, technology is changing how firefighters find and track wildfires and how the rest of us can prepare for them. California now uses artificial intelligence with ALERTCalifornia's network of more than 1,200 cameras statewide.
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For The Union, the outlet · Measured Aug 1, 2026
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