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Reuters - The wait is almost over.

AFP - Prime Minister Julia Gillard Sunday warned critics of the planned merger between Singapore and Australia's stock exchanges against seeking to "disturb" long-standing foreign investment processes.

Across Eastern Europe, Russia, Kazakhstan and the Gobi Desert -- it certainly was a long way to go without getting lost.

Four driverless electric vans successfully ended an 8,000-mile (13,000-kilometer) test drive from Italy to China -- a modern-day version of Marco Polo's journey around the world -- with their arrival at the Shanghai Expo on Thursday.

The vehicles, equipped with four solar-powered laser scanners and seven video cameras that work together to detect and avoid obstacles, are part of an experiment aimed at improving road safety and advancing automotive technology.

The sensors on the vehicles enabled them to navigate through wide extremes in road, traffic and weather conditions, while collecting data to be analyzed for further research, in a study sponsored by the European Research Council.

"We didn't know the route, I mean what the roads would have been and if we would have found nice roads, traffic, lots of traffic, medium traffic, crazy drivers or regular drivers, so we encountered the lot," said Isabella Fredriga, a research engineer for the project.

Though the vans were driverless and mapless, they did carry researchers as passengers just in case of emergencies. The experimenters did have to intervene a few times -- when the vehicles got snarled in a Moscow traffic jam and to handle toll stations.

The project used no maps, often traveling through remote regions of Siberia and China. At one point, a van stopped to give a hitchhiker a lift.

A computerized artificial vision system dubbed GOLD, for Generic Obstacle and Lane Detector, analyzed the information from the sensors and automatically adjusted the vehicles' speed and direction.

"This steering wheel is controlled by the PC. So the PC sends a command and the steering wheel moves and turns and we can follow the road, follow the curves and avoid obstacles with this," said Alberto Broggi of...

I've spent so much time playing "Rock Band" and "Guitar Hero" over the last five years that, by now, I ought to be able to give Eric Clapton a run for his money.

That's what I thought, at least, before tackling "Rock Band 3" (MTV Games, for Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360, Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3, Nintendo's Wii, $59.99). Yes, I can still pretend I'm a rock star by strapping on the familiar plastic guitar and jamming along with Jimi Hendrix's greatest hits. But "RB3" also features a much more demanding Pro mode, and mastering "Crosstown Traffic" is suddenly a lot tougher.

Those who aspire to true guitar godhood will need to invest an extra $150 for Mad Catz Inc.'s Pro Guitar peripheral, a solid piece of equipment with electronic frets and actual strings. For gamers who really want to learn how to play, "Rock Band 3" includes an exhaustive tutorial; after a weekend I was able to pull off a passable version of Joan Jett's "I Love Rock and Roll."

Mad Catz has also developed an $80 keyboard for "Rock Band 3," and it adds a whole new dimension to group play. Casual ivory-ticklers can play along using just five keys; Elton John wannabes can learn to use all 25. The set list includes piano-heavy acts like The Doors and Yes, and you can liven up all your old downloaded tracks by playing the guitar or bass parts on the keyboard.

"Rock Band 3" is the kind of classy production we've come to expect from developer Harmonix. It's great for people who just want to have fun at parties, and for those who seriously want to learn musical skills. Four stars out of four.

In contrast, "Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock" (Activision, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, $59.99) shows the rhythm-game genre at...

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