It's a new day here at SmartShanghai. We're putting the pedal to the metal on the Information Superhighway with an emerging technology called "Social Networking." It's kind of like conventional social interaction but without all of the stuff that makes it so crappy, like eye contact, civility, or using actual words to convey ideas when a pithy acronym will suffice.

First off, did you know that we have a Twitter feed? Yeah. You can follow us @smartshanghai for links to stories, ticketing info, breaking news, promos and deals around town and random musings that can be expressed in 140 characters or less.

We're on the Weibo, too. Here is our feed. Again, you can follow us @SmartShanghai. ... Read on

The Ice Cream Truck people are holding their Design, Art and Fashion Fair over at Wharf 1846 this weekend. It happens twice a year, but this time around, it's been extended to two full days of live music, art exhibits and installations, catwalk shows, workshops -- plus plenty of chances to buy all manner of knickknacks and eats, all while eyeballing PYTs in their finest neon.

TICT's got some big names on board for this one. Some highlights: sample sale from Swedish clothing brand Cheap Monday, DIY shoe corner with Vans, vintage photo reel and ... Read on

If you've been considering going to Fight Night at MAO Livehouse tomorrow night and still haven't gotten tickets, take notice: Big Bamboo, the organizers behind the pro boxing competition, say that ticket supplies are almost out. At the time of writing (around 2pm), they only have 47 tickets left.

All of our SmartTickets ones have been sold out, but tickets are still available online here, or in person at any of the Big Bamboo locations.

This one looks set to be a big one, with fighters ... Read on

Jimmy Edgar (that's him there, on the right) may be hogging column inches, but there's half a dozen other international guests in town this weekend. Here are a few in no particular order of goodness: tonight there's hip hop at the Geisha from JZ's tour DJ Neil Armstrong, Australian DJ Cherokee is at Zeal, there's techno at the Shelter with a live set from Neil Landstrumm, Alex Flatner's over from Berlin for a set at Lola and ... Read on

Based on the life of musical legend Nina Simone, Black is the Color of My Voice opened last night over at Anken Green, marking new theater troupe Play the Spotlight’s Shanghai debut.

That it’s a one-woman show, even if it is written and performed by insanely talented Apphia Campbell, had us doubting. Solo stage shows, it’s fair to say, can be at best confusing, and at worst unengaging.

Shanghai, we were wrong! Campbell transfixed, she ... Read on

Graffiti artist Futura will be at the Apple Store on Nanjing tonight. He’ll be talking about his work as one of the first artists to legitimize graffiti as a recognized art form. That’ll probably take a backseat to an obligatory spiel about the special edition headphones he designed for Beats by Dre, though, since it was Beats that organized the whole thing as part of Apple’s Artist Series.

In any case, it could still be a good (and free!) way to ... Read on

Shanghai should be getting its own leg of the Summer Sonic Festival, which takes place over two days in Tokyo and Osaka every August. Right now the details are sketchy but if the organizers pull off their plan, it will be by far the largest music festival yet to launch in China.

Organizers have their sights on Shanghai Stadium and the surrounding area as a probably location. Dates: August 17 and 18. The line-up? ... Read on

Starting today, the Shanghai Metro is offering a combination subway and superspeed Maglev pass in one handy ticket. 55rmb gets you a one-way Maglev ride, as well as unlimited use on the city's subway system for the day. Roundtrip on the Maglev plus single day Metro pass will run you 85rmb.

Pretty good deal, considering ... Read on

So yeah, activist/artist Ai Weiwei made a rock album. He just released the first single, "Dumbass," as a music video. The track is also up on AWW's soundcloud page, where it's tagged as "Heavy Metal." It's... uh... not that. I guess it could charitably be described as nü metal with subtle trip hop influences. But that's hardly the point, is it?

As with that ridiculous "Gangnam Style" parody video he did (just Google it, I don't even want to link it), AWW proves ... Read on