Money for nothing on Spotify

Spotify has a really good offering (tons of free music), but they must also have an outstanding sales department. How else are they able to convince companies to buy ads with a pitch like this: ”Our product is free for everyone, but those who want to can pay to not have to listen to your advertisements.”

Taste that thought again – people are willing to pay for what they are already getting for free, just so they don’t have to listen to what you have to say. How awful or intrusive or boring is your message when people would rather pay money for nothing than pay attention to you?

The HRC is a joke

The charade that is the UN Human Rights Council has gone on long enough. Instead of protecting the rights of humans in Sri Lanka (yes, you guessed it – that’s where the term “human rights” comes from), the HRC in its May 27 resolution chooses to protect the rights of governments to oppress the humans who happen to live in their countries. This is the exact opposite of human rights, and the HRC should not be allowed to use the term in its “work”.

Twenty-six of the 47 HRC members represent Asian and African governments. (Remember that the UN is an assembly of governments, not of countries.) Among those who chose to applaud the Sri Lankan government were such human rights beacons as China, Egypt, Indonesia, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Pakistan. It’s like asking football hooligans to decide the Fair Play Prize at the World Cup.

This has nothing to do with Sri Lanka, of course. It has everything to do with oppressive governments looking for a free card to treat their citizens any which way they like.

It is our moral obligation not to let them get away with it.

The one commandment

Here is a group of words I found in Sam Harris’ Letter to a Christian Nation that I think is a more useful moral guide than the Bible’s ten commandments:

“Do not injure, abuse, oppress, enslave, insult, torment, torture or kill any creature or living being.”

Nothing about graven images, honoring the sabbath or coveting your neighbors’ ass. Pretty cool, isn’t it?

The part of “no” I don’t understand

It has been popular for years now to express exasperation by asking “What part of ‘no’ don’t you understand?”

For me, the part I don’t understand is when people say no without even wanting to know the question. They say no because it’s more convenient. They couldn’t be bothered seeing others as human beings who just have a different agenda – people who are “not taking ‘no’ for an answer”, something we are encouraged to do to get ahead in life.

Saying no without explaining why – that’s the part of “no” I don’t understand. So now you know.

noreply@henrikharr.com

Now there’s an e-mail address you will never see. Today’s rant is namely about no-reply e-mails, which I have royally had it with. The message I’m getting from the dorks who send these out is “we are now going to inconvenience you, but we don’t want you to inconvenience us.”

Screw that. Today communication goes both ways, and it’s disrespectful not to repay the courtesy of hearing what people have to say. I have likewise exhausted my reserves of patience for people who have their computers send out automatic responses (no-reply ones, of course) moaning about how many calls and e-mails they get, and how they can’t possibly be expected to help you. “Please check our web site. Or just send us some of your money and be on your way.”

If you people keep this up, I promise you soon won’t have the inconvenience of customers showing interest in your products. We will be spending our money and efforts elsewhere.

Lattefarsan is here!

Today is the official release date of my first book! It’s called Lattefarsan and deals with the lighter side of paternity leave.

As of now, it can only be purchased in three places: 1) Kaffecompagniet on Birkagatan 10 in Stockholm; 2) Bokia in Sandviken and 3) by e-mailing order@lattefarsan.se.

It costs just below 120:- in shops, and 100:- plus postage (36:-) online.

Come and get it!

Stokke

Last year, I sent $300 dollars in cash to Kristine Landmark, the CEO of Stokke A/S, a Norwegian company that makes hip baby carriages (see image). Her sales rep for Sweden had lent me a brand-new wagon for free and I though I’d show my gratitude. (And defend what’s left of my journalistic integrity.)

I never heard back from her. Not a word. She probably just pocketed the money and bought herself a new pair of shoes. La, la, la. So now, instead of having a fan she has a disillusioned could-have-been customer who feels a little cheated.

It didn’t have to be this way, Kristine. Just e-mail me “thank you” and I’ll be your friend again.

Throwing spaghetti

Yesterday I sent a message to world-famous ultra-marathon man Dean Karnazes, a new hero of mine, to ask if he would run a marathon with me in 2012. Last week I wrote to Queen Rania of Jordan asking her to push for paternity leave for Jordanian men.

I haven’t heard back from neither. Is it unlikely that they will answer me? Yes. Is it ridiculous to ask? Hell no. Tom Peters says “Are you throwing enough spaghetti at the wall so that some of it will stick? Whoever does the most stuff has the highest chance of doing well. It’s about getting stuff done.”

So here I am throwing spaghetti. Sooner or later, I’m sure something will stick. Wish me luck!

P.S. I love that Peter Gabriel was awarded the Polar Prize today. Not only is he a great musician – he has a first name for his last name. Respect.

Who pays for the Guernsey fire department?

Any follower of this blog knows that there lives a communist in me. Now she has reared her righteous head again, an appearence brought on by an advertisement for Royal Terrace Luxury Penthouses in Guernsey. Their seven selling points for convincing rich people to get a place on the island are:

• No capital gains tax
• No estate duty
• No inheritance tax
• No purchase or sales tax
• No VAT
• No capital transfer tax
• Personal income tax capping

In other words, it’s a paradise free from the need to contribute. Don’t get me wrong – I’m all for being allowed to enjoy the fruits of your labors. But I also believe in everybody pitching in to support the community they enjoy the benefits of.

If any of these self-obsessed coldhearts ever become trapped in a burning luxury penthouse, I hope the firefighters ask for a valid credit card before turning on the hoses.

Pricks.

Leningrad

“The Fuehrer has decided to wipe the city of St Petersburg from the face of the earth. We have no interest in the preservation of even a part of the population of that city.”

– Excerpt from the instructions of Hitler’s high command, September 29, 1941.

If I live to understand what possesses a person to write something like this, let alone try to carry it out, it will have been a life well spent.

Resting in peace

I attended the funeral of a friend yesterday, and for all my raving against religion I can’t imagine a better place for a funeral than a church. Don’t know if I would want a completely secular service. Maybe something on a hilltop or near a stream. Still, I have to admit that the churches have the paraphernalia down pat, so it would be a tough act to beat.

And another thing for when I die – I want a gospel choir or something. People need the release of singing out loud, and Swedish crowds sing whispering. It just turns out painful.

Changing the roofscape

As all you hundreds of thousands of followers of this blog know, I wonder why the rooftops of eco-friendly Stockholm aren’t littered with solar panels.

I have now found out why. We already knew the things are forbiddingly expensive (at least half a million kronor for a good-size solar patch), so they have been subsidized by the government by as much as 70 percent. But only for public institutions.

Now Dagens Nyheter tells me the rules are being changed to include businesses and individuals, too. So already next month, Swedes will hopefully be able to apply for state funds of up to two million kronor, but no more than 60 percent of the total cost.

I write “hopefully” because there is one last obstacle: Sweden has to run it by Brussels first ...

Generation Me

I used to work for a company that sold services in employer branding, i.e. we helped employers understand what they need to offer in order to attract talented people. There, the main concern among employers was to figure out how to pander enough to the spoiled generation now entering the workforce.

This is great news to those who are getting older. If the main attraction of hiring young people was low costs, then today’s youngsters are removing what is their biggest advantage by demanding in-house gyms, year-end bonuses and “inspiration trips” to the south of France.

This sounds like a golden opportunity for us old folks, since we can say “Screw all the freebies as long as you pay me a decent wage. And throw in some dental insurance while you’re at it, ‘cause they’re starting to come loose.”