Comments on: The Dead Man’s Switch

By: Andrew D

Andrew D — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 19:39:51 +0000

I’ve read that suicide bombers often employ something like this. Once the bomb is armed they hold a button in or something like that. They release the trigger/button/whatever when they are ready for their 72 virgins. But if the police or whoever shoots them, the bomb still goes off.

By: RNB

RNB — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:31:48 +0000

An improvised dead-man switch attached to a nuclear warhead figures in Robert Heinlein’s classic short, ‘The Long Watch.’

By: kikz

kikz — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:24:27 +0000

sorry… sticky z on my keyboard….

By: kikz

kikz — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:23:16 +0000

movie; safe house/patrick stewart
x spook, his mind is degrading due to alheimers.

By: Kimberly

Kimberly — Sat, 31 May 2008 20:59:47 +0000

In Orson Scott Card’s novel “Shadow of the Hegemon” (part of the Ender’s Game series) uses a dead man’s switch in the form of an email. One character knows something about another character’s health, but isn’t ready to tell him yet, so she sets up an email to be sent out every 24 hours unless she stops it so if she dies unexpectedly, the second character will know the information.

By: Christina

Christina — Sat, 31 May 2008 19:58:52 +0000

A really redonkulous Matthew Reilly book called “Area 7″ revolves around a dead man’s switch having been installed directly onto the President’s heart. So if he dies, bombs go off. It is, of course, our hero’s job to make sure that doesn’t happen.

By: shawn

shawn — Sat, 31 May 2008 15:57:21 +0000

Dr. Strangelove! I kept expecting this to come up in the article.

By: Dave L

Dave L — Sat, 31 May 2008 04:24:18 +0000

I operated one of those stand up lifts 20 years ago Mike. If you let off the pedal and weren’t expecting it, your solar plexus was right in the “necking knob” on the forklift steering wheel. It stopped in a hurry if you got off that pedal.

By: Johnny Cat

Johnny Cat — Sat, 31 May 2008 01:58:13 +0000

I used to be an airline fueler, and the Dead Man Switch is this oval/rectangular piece with a handle inside, and controls the air pressure to deliver the JP-4. If you overfill a plane with fuel, it’s not pretty, so the switch is obviously useful. Still, some lazy fuelers would wedge a rag in it, and when caught were summarily fired.

By: john

john — Fri, 30 May 2008 22:51:29 +0000

If you’ve ever had a fluoroscopic study in a diagnostic imaging facility, the foot pedal that the radiologist steps on is a Dead Man’s Switch. It is designed to immediately stop the radiation should the doctor remove their foot for any reason.