SFX (magazine)

SFX is a British magazine covering the topics of science fiction and fantasy.

Description

SFX magazine is published every four weeks by Future plc and was founded in 1995. The magazine covers topics in the genres of popular science fiction, fantasy and horror, within the media of films, television, videogames, comics and literature. According to the magazine's website, the SF stands for "science fiction", but the X doesn't stand for anything in particular.

Matt Bielby was the editor for the first 11 issues. He was followed by Dave Golder who left the magazine in 2005 but later returned as its online editor. Golder was replaced by David Bradley, who edited for over nine years before being promoted to Group Editor-in-Chief, handing over the issue editor role to Richard Edwards, who had been deputy editor. Other members of staff include features editor Nick Setchfield, reviews editor Ian Berriman and community editor Jordan Farley.

The magazine has featured a column written by David Langford since issue one. Additional contributors have included Simon Pegg, Mark Millar, Paul Cornell, Jayne Nelson and Bonnie Burton. SFX also publishes regular special editions.

SFX

SFX may refer to:

Special effects

Science fiction

Music and entertainment

Technology

SFX (Science Fiction Expo)

SFX (Science Fiction Expo) is a convention in Toronto, Canada. The convention began as a featured event of the Canadian National Expo, now known as Fan Expo Canada. SFX was first added in 1999 and the name is a slang acronym, standing loosely for Science Fiction Exposition. It was the second featured event ever added to Fan Expo Canada created by Hobby Star Marketing Incorporated. SFX traditionally runs within the Fan Expo Canada event for all four days (Thursday through Sunday) typically held the weekend before Labour Day during the summer in Toronto, Canada, at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

SFX was originally launched as one time event for Fan Expo Canada, but the popularity of the feature has made it a mainstay of the convention. Fan Expo Canada is now one of the largest events of its kind in world, filling the entire South building of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre with over 91,000 attendees in 2012. SFX as a brand is now retired, and has been completely folded into Fan Expo Canada as of 2012.

SFX (software)

SFX was the first OpenURL link resolver or link server. It remains the most widely used OpenURL resolver, being used by over 2,400 libraries.

Librarians Herbert van de Sompel, Patrick Hochstenbach and their colleagues at Ghent University in Belgium developed the OpenURL framework from 1998 to 2000. At that time they called it by the working title Special Effects (SFX). As part of the OpenURL development, they implemented the linking server software called SFX server. In early 2000, Ex Libris Group acquired the SFX server software from Ghent University. Ex Libris re-engineered the software and marketed it to libraries as an autonomous component of the OpenURL framework.

Ex Libris continues to develop the software and add enhancements recommended by its customers. SFX is the most widely known OpenURL link server within the library and scholarly publishing community, and occasionally the product name has been used as a generic term for OpenURL link servers.

References

Further reading