Alistair Croll
@acroll.bsky.social
ADHD as a career. Startups (Lean Analytics, Startupfest); fixing government (FWD50); subversive thinking (justevilenough.com) Montreal, or seat 13D.
Pinned
Alistair Croll
@acroll.bsky.social
· Nov 13
Home - JUST EVIL ENOUGH
justevilenough.com
Some big news. I’ve been working on Just Evil Enough with Emily Ross over 7 years, a pandemic, and an ocean. It’s finally headed to print.
You can preorder it straight from us, at justevilenough.com.
When you do, we’ll sign you up for all sorts of content, events, and shenanigans.
You can preorder it straight from us, at justevilenough.com.
When you do, we’ll sign you up for all sorts of content, events, and shenanigans.
Not calling shenanigans yet, but: My partner and I have lived at the same Montreal address since 2018, and voted while living here. I got no voting card; she got a vote-by-mail card she didn’t request. The elections website couldn’t tell us where to vote based on our postal code.
Anyone else?
Anyone else?
April 20, 2025 at 1:47 AM
Not calling shenanigans yet, but: My partner and I have lived at the same Montreal address since 2018, and voted while living here. I got no voting card; she got a vote-by-mail card she didn’t request. The elections website couldn’t tell us where to vote based on our postal code.
Anyone else?
Anyone else?
Shouldn’t Max Headroom be an actual show by now?
March 16, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Shouldn’t Max Headroom be an actual show by now?
Were medieval swordsmen really so clumsy that they kept cutting themselves with their own swords? I mean, “double-edged sword” is a pretty common metaphor, but how bad do you need to be at swordplay for that to matter.
“Sharp pointy jewel-encrusted pommel” maybe.
“Sharp pointy jewel-encrusted pommel” maybe.
March 14, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Were medieval swordsmen really so clumsy that they kept cutting themselves with their own swords? I mean, “double-edged sword” is a pretty common metaphor, but how bad do you need to be at swordplay for that to matter.
“Sharp pointy jewel-encrusted pommel” maybe.
“Sharp pointy jewel-encrusted pommel” maybe.
That’s a nice book neighbor! Thanks for sharing a pic of it in the wild!
Gonna be a good year. Thank you, #JustEvilEnough’s @acroll.bsky.social and Emily Ross, and #MSCHF. “Subvert all the things!”
March 6, 2025 at 10:46 PM
That’s a nice book neighbor! Thanks for sharing a pic of it in the wild!
Yay! Can’t wait to hear what you think. And as they say, all good things…
Quiet patience is not my biggest strength so I’m a very happy camper now that I’ve finally gotten my hands on @acroll.bsky.social’s new book.
February 26, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Yay! Can’t wait to hear what you think. And as they say, all good things…
In Canada, apparently the salt box outside the door doubles as a package delivery area.
Lovely photo to receive from the shipper. As we know all too well from justevilenough.com, last-mile logistics are hard.
Lovely photo to receive from the shipper. As we know all too well from justevilenough.com, last-mile logistics are hard.
February 10, 2025 at 1:17 PM
In Canada, apparently the salt box outside the door doubles as a package delivery area.
Lovely photo to receive from the shipper. As we know all too well from justevilenough.com, last-mile logistics are hard.
Lovely photo to receive from the shipper. As we know all too well from justevilenough.com, last-mile logistics are hard.
Books in hands!
February 8, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Books in hands!
Some elevator rides just hit different.
February 7, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Some elevator rides just hit different.
I can’t remember a podcast that has been as much fun—or as thought-provoking—as this wide-ranging chat about subversiveness, norms, behavior, and political influence with @farrahbostic.bsky.social and the excellent Emily Ross.
I suspect you’ll like it too.
podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/c...
I suspect you’ll like it too.
podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/c...
Just Evil Enough with Alistair Croll and Emily Ross
Podcast Episode · Cross Tabs · 2025-02-06 · 1h 25m
podcasts.apple.com
February 7, 2025 at 1:58 AM
I can’t remember a podcast that has been as much fun—or as thought-provoking—as this wide-ranging chat about subversiveness, norms, behavior, and political influence with @farrahbostic.bsky.social and the excellent Emily Ross.
I suspect you’ll like it too.
podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/c...
I suspect you’ll like it too.
podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/c...
Small brag: We just hit a thousand direct-from-author orders for Just Evil Enough.
That’s 100 people who get extra content, videos, worksheets, event invites, and a Signal channel.
In bookstores/Amazon as audio, hardcover, and audiobook March 7. But you should buy it from justevilenough.com instead.
That’s 100 people who get extra content, videos, worksheets, event invites, and a Signal channel.
In bookstores/Amazon as audio, hardcover, and audiobook March 7. But you should buy it from justevilenough.com instead.
The Subversive Marketing Handbook - JUST EVIL ENOUGH
JUST EVIL ENOUGH is the subversive marketing handbook from Alistair Croll, author of Lean Analytics, and Emily Ross of X.
justevilenough.com
February 5, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Small brag: We just hit a thousand direct-from-author orders for Just Evil Enough.
That’s 100 people who get extra content, videos, worksheets, event invites, and a Signal channel.
In bookstores/Amazon as audio, hardcover, and audiobook March 7. But you should buy it from justevilenough.com instead.
That’s 100 people who get extra content, videos, worksheets, event invites, and a Signal channel.
In bookstores/Amazon as audio, hardcover, and audiobook March 7. But you should buy it from justevilenough.com instead.
Somebody Like I Used To Know is on the airport radio and I can’t not hear “now you’re just a smelly Peter Ustinov”.
February 5, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Somebody Like I Used To Know is on the airport radio and I can’t not hear “now you’re just a smelly Peter Ustinov”.
This was a really fun, sprawling conversation about subversiveness, competition, and the norms that hold Canada back. Plus basketball, AI, Startupfest, and lots more.
Thanks, @trondizzle.bsky.social!
Thanks, @trondizzle.bsky.social!
Co-author of Just Evil Enough: The Subversive Marketing Handbook, @acroll.bsky.social wants to shake up Canada’s go-to-market approach. How much evil in #CDNtech is enough?
Why Alistair Croll wants Canadian startups to be more evil
Entrepreneur and Startupfest founding partner Alistair Croll has co-authored a new book, Just Evil Enough: The Subversive Marketing Handbook.
buff.ly
February 4, 2025 at 3:59 PM
This was a really fun, sprawling conversation about subversiveness, competition, and the norms that hold Canada back. Plus basketball, AI, Startupfest, and lots more.
Thanks, @trondizzle.bsky.social!
Thanks, @trondizzle.bsky.social!
Really feels like everyone who cares about democracy should watch this. Ostensibly about bots, it’s far more.
youtu.be/GZ5XN_mJE8Y
youtu.be/GZ5XN_mJE8Y
The Really Dark Truth About Bots
YouTube video by Benn Jordan
youtu.be
January 11, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Really feels like everyone who cares about democracy should watch this. Ostensibly about bots, it’s far more.
youtu.be/GZ5XN_mJE8Y
youtu.be/GZ5XN_mJE8Y
The torrent of bot accounts on the platform is huge. It’s a hard problem to fix. It also makes me think about online warfare.
If you didn’t like a competing/open platform, flooding it with fake accounts would be a logical attack that harms it without being easily traced.
If you didn’t like a competing/open platform, flooding it with fake accounts would be a logical attack that harms it without being easily traced.
Just going to reiterate -
We are on this bot problem. We shall fight them on the beaches. We shall fight them in the signup process, we shall fight them in the notifications
We are on this bot problem. We shall fight them on the beaches. We shall fight them in the signup process, we shall fight them in the notifications
January 7, 2025 at 6:18 PM
The torrent of bot accounts on the platform is huge. It’s a hard problem to fix. It also makes me think about online warfare.
If you didn’t like a competing/open platform, flooding it with fake accounts would be a logical attack that harms it without being easily traced.
If you didn’t like a competing/open platform, flooding it with fake accounts would be a logical attack that harms it without being easily traced.
The thing I can’t shake after recording my voice reading my words* for 16 hours straight is that nobody can ever trust that it’s really me on the phone ever again.
Literally just made the data for a training set.
* and my co-author’s.
Literally just made the data for a training set.
* and my co-author’s.
December 6, 2024 at 5:44 PM
The thing I can’t shake after recording my voice reading my words* for 16 hours straight is that nobody can ever trust that it’s really me on the phone ever again.
Literally just made the data for a training set.
* and my co-author’s.
Literally just made the data for a training set.
* and my co-author’s.
Wrapped day 5 of recording the audiobook for @evilenough.bsky.social. Just a few pages left. The best part is the studio tech telling me in between chapters how he’s going to apply all the ideas to his own business. Did not expect.
December 4, 2024 at 11:52 PM
Wrapped day 5 of recording the audiobook for @evilenough.bsky.social. Just a few pages left. The best part is the studio tech telling me in between chapters how he’s going to apply all the ideas to his own business. Did not expect.
Around 30% of the folks following me here look like bots (generic posts, stuffed bio, photo straight out of central casting.) Started a week ago. Anyone else?
December 4, 2024 at 11:50 PM
Around 30% of the folks following me here look like bots (generic posts, stuffed bio, photo straight out of central casting.) Started a week ago. Anyone else?
Well this blew up a bit.
Astonishing that English contains two languages; tand that you probably judge someone’s politics based on which one they use.
Astonishing that English contains two languages; tand that you probably judge someone’s politics based on which one they use.
Every American is bilingual. EVERY American.
Just Evil Enough is a book about subverting systems. When we wrote it, we came across a system we're all part of, and never notice. It sort of blew my mind because it's so obvious, and yet completely unnoticed.
Time for a thread.
Just Evil Enough is a book about subverting systems. When we wrote it, we came across a system we're all part of, and never notice. It sort of blew my mind because it's so obvious, and yet completely unnoticed.
Time for a thread.
November 25, 2024 at 11:08 AM
Well this blew up a bit.
Astonishing that English contains two languages; tand that you probably judge someone’s politics based on which one they use.
Astonishing that English contains two languages; tand that you probably judge someone’s politics based on which one they use.
Every American is bilingual. EVERY American.
Just Evil Enough is a book about subverting systems. When we wrote it, we came across a system we're all part of, and never notice. It sort of blew my mind because it's so obvious, and yet completely unnoticed.
Time for a thread.
Just Evil Enough is a book about subverting systems. When we wrote it, we came across a system we're all part of, and never notice. It sort of blew my mind because it's so obvious, and yet completely unnoticed.
Time for a thread.
November 22, 2024 at 7:17 PM
Every American is bilingual. EVERY American.
Just Evil Enough is a book about subverting systems. When we wrote it, we came across a system we're all part of, and never notice. It sort of blew my mind because it's so obvious, and yet completely unnoticed.
Time for a thread.
Just Evil Enough is a book about subverting systems. When we wrote it, we came across a system we're all part of, and never notice. It sort of blew my mind because it's so obvious, and yet completely unnoticed.
Time for a thread.
Some big news. I’ve been working on Just Evil Enough with Emily Ross over 7 years, a pandemic, and an ocean. It’s finally headed to print.
You can preorder it straight from us, at justevilenough.com.
When you do, we’ll sign you up for all sorts of content, events, and shenanigans.
You can preorder it straight from us, at justevilenough.com.
When you do, we’ll sign you up for all sorts of content, events, and shenanigans.
Home - JUST EVIL ENOUGH
justevilenough.com
November 13, 2024 at 3:49 AM
Some big news. I’ve been working on Just Evil Enough with Emily Ross over 7 years, a pandemic, and an ocean. It’s finally headed to print.
You can preorder it straight from us, at justevilenough.com.
When you do, we’ll sign you up for all sorts of content, events, and shenanigans.
You can preorder it straight from us, at justevilenough.com.
When you do, we’ll sign you up for all sorts of content, events, and shenanigans.
Reposted by Alistair Croll
My "the stars are not where they should be, but don't worry" headline has people asking a lot of questions already answered by the headline
Reminds me of my personal favorite headline
July 28, 2023 at 1:09 PM
My "the stars are not where they should be, but don't worry" headline has people asking a lot of questions already answered by the headline
Plenty of calls for AI watermarking but few practical ideas about how to implement it. Turns out the answer may be hiding in plain sight. Use Unicode to mark AI-generated text in a way that persists across apps, devices, and users.
I wrote a thing, but @alasdairallan.com beat me to sharing it.
I wrote a thing, but @alasdairallan.com beat me to sharing it.
Just got pointed at a piece in #Wired by @acroll.bsky.social. A simple hack for watermarking AI-generated text that allows us to edit the text while preserving markings. https://www.wired.com/story/to-watermark-ai-it-needs-its-own-alphabet/
To Watermark AI, It Needs Its Own Alphabet
It's getting harder to distinguish between AI- and human-generated content. But Unicode presents an elegant hack in the race to watermark AI-written text.
www.wired.com
July 27, 2023 at 3:35 PM
Plenty of calls for AI watermarking but few practical ideas about how to implement it. Turns out the answer may be hiding in plain sight. Use Unicode to mark AI-generated text in a way that persists across apps, devices, and users.
I wrote a thing, but @alasdairallan.com beat me to sharing it.
I wrote a thing, but @alasdairallan.com beat me to sharing it.
How might a benevolent AGI save humans without crushing our free will?
I wrote some speculative fiction.
https://acroll.substack.com/p/i-woke-up-tomorrow
I wrote some speculative fiction.
https://acroll.substack.com/p/i-woke-up-tomorrow
I woke up tomorrow
Day one of living with a benevolent AGI
acroll.substack.com
June 14, 2023 at 11:29 AM
How might a benevolent AGI save humans without crushing our free will?
I wrote some speculative fiction.
https://acroll.substack.com/p/i-woke-up-tomorrow
I wrote some speculative fiction.
https://acroll.substack.com/p/i-woke-up-tomorrow
The gap between a human and the Internet has been getting shorter every year. We’ve gone from a “last mile” to a “last millimetre” problem. We might even get below zero latency, into the weird world of anticipatory computing: https://open.substack.com/pub/acroll/p/the-last-millimetre-problem
June 8, 2023 at 11:40 AM
The gap between a human and the Internet has been getting shorter every year. We’ve gone from a “last mile” to a “last millimetre” problem. We might even get below zero latency, into the weird world of anticipatory computing: https://open.substack.com/pub/acroll/p/the-last-millimetre-problem
Just finished Cory Doctorow’s Red Team Blues. Great read, based on actual tech, with smart protagonists and familiar settings. Enjoyed it in a can’t-put-down way that happens less and less with fiction.
May 30, 2023 at 11:32 PM
Just finished Cory Doctorow’s Red Team Blues. Great read, based on actual tech, with smart protagonists and familiar settings. Enjoyed it in a can’t-put-down way that happens less and less with fiction.