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There is an organisation called BlueHackers.org [0] which was started at the Open Source Developers Conference. It has a strong presence at linux.conf.au as wel

There is an organisation called BlueHackers.org [0] which was started at the Open Source Developers Conference. It has a strong presence at linux.conf.au as well. The organisation started from a very brief lightning talk that went something along the lines of (me paraphrasing from memory): "Who here in this room has experienced depression?" (for which the person asking the question put their hand up. After a few seconds, quite a few people in the crowd had their hands up. "Look around, I want you to know that you are not the only ones who experience this, and there are always people willing to talk." One of the ideas they have is, for anybody who is willing, to put a BlueHackers sticker on their laptop. This little gesture is more than just a decal though, because it informs other hackers that you understand that if they are feeling depressed, they don't need to deal with it on their own. You are telling them that you are willing to discuss anything with them, especially if they are feeling down. I have had the sticker on my laptop for over two years now. Although I haven't had anybody recognise it, or comment on it, or indeed discuss any issues with me as a consequence of it, and although I myself have been lucky enough not to have to experience depression, I am absolutely, 100% willing to respond to anybody who wishes to chat to me about such issues (on the off chance they recognise the BlueHackers sticker). I would love if this idea took off, so that people all around the world could see that there are so many people who are willing to talk. [0] - http://bluehackers.org/ http://bluehackers.org/

EMRo 13y ago
This is amazing. Would love to see something like this for wider communities as well. I have a spot picked out on my laptop already.
sbuccini 13y ago
I don't see a place to buy a decal on the site. Can you point me in the right direction? I'd love to become part of the movement.
- pserwylo 13y ago
  Traditionally, they are handed out for free at conferences. I'm quite confident that if you are going to a conference or a user group, they'd be happy to post some to you (I'm not part of the organisation, just like what they do). If you just want something for your laptop, I suggest printing out on a piece of paper and sticky taping it to your machine[0]. Although a license is not specified, I'm quite confident that from speaking to these people (and their philosophy on open source) they'd be more than happy for people to print and share them. [0] http://bluehackers.org/logos http://bluehackers.org/logos
l33tbro 13y ago
Cool sentiment, but what makes you think other "hackers" have the formal background to reach out and to a depressed person? If i was depressed, the last person I'd want to talk to about it are my hacker friends. The vast majority of the population simply have no idea how to talk to mentally ill people.
- tomphoolery 13y ago
  When I get depressed, which usually happens around this time of year, I typically enjoy talking to other hackers. We can talk about something that isn't our own mind(s). This goes for music, too. A huge key for me is to distract my mind with something that interests me, and makes me feel productive, rather than "sitting & spinning" on a subject that is making me feel bad about myself. Talking about things that interest me makes me feel better about myself. Disclaimer: I have never been psychologically evaluated for depression or anxiety.
- PhasmaFelis 13y ago
  Well, that's part of the problem, the idea that you need a formal background to help a depressed person at all, and that the rest of us should go hands-off and pretend it isn't happening. Sometimes just knowing that someone cares can help. It's not universal, it's not a cure, but it is something.
  - joesmo 13y ago
    Couldn't agree more. Not only is it part of the problem, the so called mental health "professionals" are hardly qualified to help themselves. For all their education, they're no better than anyone else at preventing tragedy or helping others. The only thing they are better at is fooling people into thinking that they are professionals at all. This is a sad story, but as it states at the beginning, Stephen tried to call and talk to the hospital and other "professionals." If these people had any training that qualified them to provide help that laypeople don't, they would have helped. In fact, I'd go as far to say that someone who is not a professional is more likely to help because they might genuinely care for something more than money, something a professional trains not to care about.
hengheng 13y ago
I'd like to get one of these stickers. Can you send them by mail or something?
- hedwall 13y ago
  I found this on the homepage: "We’re seeing a lot requests for the stickers, which is great – we’re happy to post some, but we do need to optimise things a bit otherwise the logistics (and cost) won’t be practical. So here’s the deal for the currently remaining roll of approx 500 stickers. If you are active for a local user group, conference or company, and want a sticker for yourself as well as some to hand out at your next meeting or just among your colleagues, send us an email at l i f e (at) b l u e h a c k e r s (dot) o r g with a brief note on what group/company/conference it is, your address of course, and how many stickers you need. I think numbers of up to a couple of dozen are practical at this stage. Remember, we’ll be printing more stickers anyway so this is just to get things going and spread the word further. We’ll gather the emails and do a mailout about once a week, and of course we’ll reply to let you know when they’ve been posted, and how many you get. Okidoki? By the way, if you’re on Facebook you can also join the BlueHackers cause, again to help make the issue more visible." [1] I don't know if it is still true, but I will try. [1]http://bluehackers.org/2009/02/02/if-you-want-bluehackers-stickers http://bluehackers.org/2009/02/02/if-you-want-bluehackers-st...

EMRo 13y ago

This is amazing. Would love to see something like this for wider communities as well. I have a spot picked out on my laptop already.

sbuccini 13y ago

I don't see a place to buy a decal on the site. Can you point me in the right direction? I'd love to become part of the movement.

pserwylo 13y ago
Traditionally, they are handed out for free at conferences. I'm quite confident that if you are going to a conference or a user group, they'd be happy to post some to you (I'm not part of the organisation, just like what they do). If you just want something for your laptop, I suggest printing out on a piece of paper and sticky taping it to your machine[0]. Although a license is not specified, I'm quite confident that from speaking to these people (and their philosophy on open source) they'd be more than happy for people to print and share them. [0] http://bluehackers.org/logos http://bluehackers.org/logos

l33tbro 13y ago

Cool sentiment, but what makes you think other "hackers" have the formal background to reach out and to a depressed person? If i was depressed, the last person I'd want to talk to about it are my hacker friends. The vast majority of the population simply have no idea how to talk to mentally ill people.

tomphoolery 13y ago
When I get depressed, which usually happens around this time of year, I typically enjoy talking to other hackers. We can talk about something that isn't our own mind(s). This goes for music, too. A huge key for me is to distract my mind with something that interests me, and makes me feel productive, rather than "sitting & spinning" on a subject that is making me feel bad about myself. Talking about things that interest me makes me feel better about myself. Disclaimer: I have never been psychologically evaluated for depression or anxiety.
PhasmaFelis 13y ago
Well, that's part of the problem, the idea that you need a formal background to help a depressed person at all, and that the rest of us should go hands-off and pretend it isn't happening. Sometimes just knowing that someone cares can help. It's not universal, it's not a cure, but it is something.
- joesmo 13y ago
  Couldn't agree more. Not only is it part of the problem, the so called mental health "professionals" are hardly qualified to help themselves. For all their education, they're no better than anyone else at preventing tragedy or helping others. The only thing they are better at is fooling people into thinking that they are professionals at all. This is a sad story, but as it states at the beginning, Stephen tried to call and talk to the hospital and other "professionals." If these people had any training that qualified them to provide help that laypeople don't, they would have helped. In fact, I'd go as far to say that someone who is not a professional is more likely to help because they might genuinely care for something more than money, something a professional trains not to care about.

hengheng 13y ago

I'd like to get one of these stickers. Can you send them by mail or something?

hedwall 13y ago
I found this on the homepage: "We’re seeing a lot requests for the stickers, which is great – we’re happy to post some, but we do need to optimise things a bit otherwise the logistics (and cost) won’t be practical. So here’s the deal for the currently remaining roll of approx 500 stickers. If you are active for a local user group, conference or company, and want a sticker for yourself as well as some to hand out at your next meeting or just among your colleagues, send us an email at l i f e (at) b l u e h a c k e r s (dot) o r g with a brief note on what group/company/conference it is, your address of course, and how many stickers you need. I think numbers of up to a couple of dozen are practical at this stage. Remember, we’ll be printing more stickers anyway so this is just to get things going and spread the word further. We’ll gather the emails and do a mailout about once a week, and of course we’ll reply to let you know when they’ve been posted, and how many you get. Okidoki? By the way, if you’re on Facebook you can also join the BlueHackers cause, again to help make the issue more visible." [1] I don't know if it is still true, but I will try. [1]http://bluehackers.org/2009/02/02/if-you-want-bluehackers-stickers http://bluehackers.org/2009/02/02/if-you-want-bluehackers-st...