Wiktionary
n. A security measure used to switch off a device in an emergency.
Wikipedia
A kill switch, also known as an emergency stop or e-stop, is a safety mechanism used to shut off a device or machinery in an emergency situation in which it cannot be shut down in the usual manner. Unlike a normal shut-down switch/procedure, which shuts down all systems in an orderly fashion and turns the machine off without damaging it, a kill switch is designed and configured to completely and as quickly as possible abort the operation (even if this damages equipment) and be operable in a manner that is quick, simple (so that even a panicking operator with impaired executive function or a bystander can activate it). Kill switches are usually designed so as to be obvious even to an untrained operator or a bystander.
Many kill switches feature a removable barrier or other protection against accidental activation (e.g., a plastic cover that must be lifted or glass that must be broken). Such a removable barrier is commonly called a Mollyguard. Kill switches are featured especially often as part of mechanisms whose normal operation or foreseeable misuse may cause injury or death; designers who include such switches consider damage to or destruction of the mechanism to be an acceptable cost of preventing that injury or death.
Kill Switch (stylized as '' kill.switch'') is a third-person shooter video game developed by Namco in 2003 for PlayStation 2, Xbox and Microsoft Windows. A Game Boy Advance adaptation was released in 2004. The GBA game was created independently of Namco, due to a licensing deal with Destination Software.
As a relatively straightforward third-person shooter, the most distinguishing characteristic of Kill Switch is its cover system, a mechanic that has the player character taking cover behind objects and around corners in a manner similar to Namco's own Time Crisis series of light gun shooters as well as Koei's third-person shooter WinBack and Konami's stealth game Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. However, Kill Switch was the first third-person shooter to feature the cover system as its core game mechanic, and introduced the blind fire mechanic to the cover system (though cover and blind fire mechanics were earlier used in The Getaway).
"Kill Switch" is the eleventh episode of the fifth season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered in the United States on the Fox network on February 15, 1998. It was written by William Gibson and Tom Maddox and directed by Rob Bowman. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Kill Switch" earned a Nielsen household rating of 11.1, being watched by 18.04 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received mostly positive reviews from television critics, with several complimenting Fox Mulder's virtual experience.
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder ( David Duchovny) and Dana Scully ( Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. Mulder is a believer in the paranormal, while the skeptical Scully has been assigned to debunk his work. In this episode, Mulder and Scully become targets of a rogue AI capable of the worst kind of torture while investigating the strange circumstances of the death of a reclusive computer genius rumored to have been researching artificial intelligence.
"Kill Switch" was co-written by cyberpunk pioneers William Gibson and Tom Maddox. The two eventually wrote another episode for the show: season seven's " First Person Shooter". "Kill Switch" was written after Gibson and Maddox approached the series, offering to write an episode. Reminiscent of the "dark visions" of filmmaker David Cronenberg, the episode contained "many obvious pokes and prods at high-end academic cyberculture." In addition, "Kill Switch" contained several scenes featuring elaborate explosives and digital effects, including one wherein a computer-animated Scully fights nurses in a virtual hospital. "Kill Switch" deals with various "Gibsonian" themes, including: alienation, paranoia, artificial intelligence, and transferring one's consciousness into cyberspace, among others.
A kill switch is a security measure used to shut off a device in an emergency.
Kill switch or killswitch may also refer to:
Kill Switch is a direct-to-video 2008 film that was later released for theatrical distribution starring Steven Seagal and directed by Jeff F. King. Steven Seagal plays Detective Jacob King, a tough cop with a reputation for violent street-justice methods. King investigates murders in Memphis, Tennessee, perpetrated by a serial killer known as Lazerus. The film is also notable for featuring one of the last roles of Isaac Hayes.
Usage examples of "kill switch".
Pitt flipped the kill switch and applied gentle but firm pressure on the brakes.
Panic vibrating through him, he finds the jaw levers, opens them, tilts them up, and slapping the kill switch, scrambles down.
Littell hit the kill switch and felt the feed box go cool to the touch.
The chief of staff thumbed the kill switch on the phone and wondered what Plumber meant.
And if the throttle man couldn't do it, the racer could use the kill switch activated by an arm cord.
The motorcycle dropped onto its side and raced around in a full circle, rear wheel and tire screaming against the concrete floor before the kill switch cut in and the engine stopped.
A coil of smoke was rising from one of the consoles, and she crawled forward hastily, trying not to look at the body, groped for the kill switch and cut the power.