One source of depression is...

A common source of severe depression, is the inability to achieve a goal, combined with the inability to abandon that goal. So long as both conditions continue, a depression caused by it, cannot end.

Valve, you impress me.

Logging in to Steam, I saw an ad that really impressed me: Valve is offering a copy of Portal free until the 24th to "celebrate" the introduction of steam for the Mac. Personally, I see it as an awesome business decision. Trying to get people to sign up for a service they don't currently have need for is difficult. Offer them a free game, and it gets a lot easier to bring people in. Once in, they'll see the ads, and might be tempted to buy more. This will dramatically increase Steam's popularity on the Mac, which is vital to both its sales and success on the platform. I'm not accustomed to seeing this much intelligence from game companies.

To all those, who want to help their suicidal friends:

SHUT UP. I've been depressed for 20 years. I'm 27. The only useful thing you can do, is honestly say you want them to live, and/or offer the means do so. Everything else, is noise or worse: a source of guilt. If you can't honestly support them, without any extra demands or expectations beyond life, you won't be able to help. If you don't honestly want them to stay, in this world, with you, then you don't matter. To save someone, you have to make them a part of your life. Because, a person who wants to die, doesn't have one of their own anymore.

When someone wants to die, the important question isn't why they want to die, but what reason do they have to live? I don't mean bullshit like jobs, GPAs, College, or any other measurement of success. What in their life actually matters to them? For me, it's people. Only two have said and shown that they actually want me to live. Only two. No one else has bothered to make me a real part of their life. No one else has given me a real reason to live. Until you're willing to take on the burden of someone else's suffering, you'll never be able to save them from it. Don't think you can save someone without putting a piece of your own life on the line. It's painful, it's risky, and there's a lot to lose.