Oct. 5--There's no DeLorean or flux capacitor involved, but it does feel like going back in time.

In honor of its 10th birthday, Google posted its oldest available search index last week, which provides a picture of the Internet in January 2001.

Pre-war on terror, pre-personal music player, pre-mortgage meltdown.

A 2001 search for Barack Obama brings 771 results. Today's search returns 62.1 million. John McCain had 228,000 hits on the old search and 60 million in the current one.

Since Apple's iconic iPod wasn't introduced until late 2001, the older search tells us iPod stands for "Insurance Products on Disk," or "International Programme of Ocean Drilling."

Sept. 11 is a filing date for meeting minutes from various organizations. Osama bin Laden is a shadowy figure on the periphery of American consciousness.

The downside to going back in time comes when links are followed. Many of the Web pages indexed in the 2001 search are no longer available.

See the Google 2001 search at www.google.com/search2001.

Video games give drivers a tuneup

Allstate is working on a pilot project aimed at sharpening the minds of older drivers.

The insurance company partnered with InSight to develop a suite of five video games designed to "reverse age-related cognitive decline and greatly improve a driver's visual alertness," according to a company press release.

One of the games, "Jewel Diver: Divided Attention," involves tracking jewels in a simulated ocean while fish of all colors and sizes aim to distract. According to Allstate data, the average 20-year-old can successfully track almost 25 percent more than the average 50-year-old and almost twice as many as an 80-year-old.

The games are currently being tested in Pennsylvania. Allstate will try to determine if a group of drivers exposed to the games fares better on the road than a group that hasn't. Should the test go as planned, Allstate expects to roll out the system nationwide, and also offer discounts for drivers who score well.

Nintendo unveils new gaming device

Nintendo on Thursday unveiled a new version of its DS Lite mobile gaming device, the DSi.

The hand-held gadget features a pair of touchscreen displays and can be manipulated with traditional controls -- directional pad and buttons -- or with a stylus pen. The new version has slightly larger screens than the original, as well as a pair of cameras.

But don't hold your breath -- the DSi will be released in Japan Nov. 1 and isn't expected to hit North America until mid-2009.

Nokia's newest to challenge iPhone

It took a while, but Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer, has finally fired back at Apple's iPhone.

The company Thursday released its first touch-screen phone, called the 5800 Xpress Music. Similar in shape to the iPhone and touchscreens from other companies, the 5800 features 3G network capabilities, along with GPS and Wi-Fi.

Nokia believes the 5800 has a leg up on the iPhone for a number of reasons, including higher screen resolution, removable storage and a 3.2-megapixel camera capable of recording video. The iPhone has only a 2-megapixel camera, and can't currently capture video. But with a built-in storage capacity of up to 16 gigabytes, the iPhone will probably still be able to store more.

Look for the new handset in the U.S. sometime next year.

--Contact the writer: 444-1387, bryan.redemske@owh.com

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