Category Archives: Personal

Levelling Up My Hobbies (and My Content!)

Hi everyone,

I’m getting ready for the weekend and thinking about something that’s a big part of my life: my hobbies. From reading a good book to making art, these are the things that recharge me and spark a lot of the creativity you see in my content.

You might know that a lot of my time goes into Creative Engineering and A Few Moments with God. But what you might not see as often are the moments in between—the ones where I’m just enjoying a passion project. For me, these are things like getting lost in a good book, writing new ideas down, or getting my hands dirty with some pottery. I’ve also been getting back into playing some old favourites, like modded Minecraft and Factorio on my PC, and even dusting off some classic Wii or GameCube games using the Dolphin Emulator for the latter. These aren’t just ways to pass the time; they’re ways for me to learn and experiment. Reading, for example, has taught me a lot about storytelling, which has been super helpful for my own video series. Gaming has helped me see things from new perspectives and has trained my eye to notice small details that can make a big difference.

I often think about how cool it would be to share more of these things with you. Imagine a series of posts about the new pots I’m making or a deep dive into the latest mods I’m playing with. Right now, it’s a challenge to find the time and resources to do that justice. That’s where you come in.

Your support through Swagnilla Ice helps me turn these small passion projects into something more. It helps me invest in things like art supplies or new equipment. More importantly, it gives me the freedom to dedicate more of my time to these creative outlets. By becoming a member, you’re not just supporting a blog; you’re helping me grow as a creator and bring even better content to you.

So, if you enjoy what I do and you’re excited about the idea of seeing more, please consider joining one of our membership tiers. Even the Peasant membership is a great way to show your support, or if you want full access, the Squire tier is a fantastic option. The more paid members we have, the more time I can dedicate to hosting events on the Discord server. For example, once we hit five paid members, I’ll host a bi-weekly voice chat, with each session focusing on a different topic. At ten paid members, I’ll start a weekly live stream on Discord. And if we can hit fifty paid members, I’ll host a monthly community gaming night with games like Jackbox and Golf with Your Friends. I’m certain that I can also continue to find ways to provide even more content for higher numbers, so please consider becoming a Squire or higher today!

Thank you for being here and for helping me make all of this possible.

Talk soon,
Nathan Pinno (aka Swagnilla Ice)

My long-term goals are…

My long-term goals are simple and personal. First, I want Swagnilla Ice memberships to cover my monthly bills. This would give me the freedom to focus fully on creating content for you.

Second, I’m saving up C$5,000 to purchase a lifetime Paid Memberships Pro Plus membership. This upgrade will allow me to give you a better experience on the blog.

Finally, and most importantly, I hope to one day launch my charitable organization, Project Green Light. My goal is to help others break free from the chains of addiction, just as I have.

Behind the Scenes: New Tech, New Challenges (A Linux Mint Post)

Hi everyone,

Swagnilla Ice here with an update on my switch to Linux Mint. I want to share my experience so far, the technical hiccups I’ve run into and solved, and what it means for the video quality of your favorite content over the next couple of weeks as I learn to use new editing software.

I made the switch to Linux Mint last Friday after getting tired of Windows 10’s updates affecting my internet connection—the last one even forced me onto Wi-Fi. The installation was smooth until I ran into a major issue with my dual monitor setup.

When I installed the recommended Nvidia driver, I lost one of my two monitors. After downgrading didn’t work, I switched to the open-source Nouveau driver, which solved the issue. While some may say this could affect gaming or other GPU-intensive tasks, I’ve noticed my gameplay is just as good as it was on Windows 10. If it means my new video editor renders videos more slowly, I’m okay with that, as having two monitors is more important to me than speed.

Speaking of rendering videos, I’ll have to learn new video editing software, and this is what will affect the quality of my videos for the next few weeks. Since Filmora is Windows-only, I’ve switched to Lightworks, an alternative recommended by Gemini after I decided Kdenlive wasn’t for me. While Lightworks is not designed for beginners, it’s still new software I have to learn. The good news is this change only affects my editing; the quality of my video recordings with OBS on Linux Mint will remain the same.

I’m happy to say my dual monitor setup, USB camera, and microphone are all working perfectly. This means the core video and sound quality of my recordings should be just fine (unless my OBS settings are off). The real learning curve is in the editing process: things like adjusting background music volume, adding text screens and transitions are all different in Lightworks, so I’ll be learning how to do all of that from scratch.

f you have any tips for me, feel free to share them in the comments below. If you’re not yet a member, you can register and then share your advice with the community. Until my next post, take care and God bless all of you!

A Promise to Our Swagnilla Ice Community: Maintaining Control, Ensuring Quality

Hey everyone,

I’m writing this post today to talk about something really important to me, and I believe, to all of you who are part of the Swagnilla Ice community.

Lately, there’s been a lot of discussion in the creator world about online channels being acquired by larger equity firms. As I’ve seen these conversations unfold, it’s made me think deeply about the future of Swagnilla Ice and what truly matters to us all.

And that’s why I want to make a clear promise to you: I will never sell Swagnilla Ice in a way that would cause me to lose creative control or quality control over our content.

What does this mean for you? It means that the unique voice, the dedication to quality, and the community-first approach you’ve come to expect from Swagnilla Ice will always remain our top priority. We won’t sacrifice the integrity of our content for external pressures. My vision for Swagnilla Ice has always been to create something special and authentic, and that vision is directly tied to being able to steer the ship and ensure every piece of content meets our standards.

This commitment extends to everything we do, from our free content to our member-exclusive experiences. Our Free Member, Tip Jar Member, and Full Member tiers exist because we want to offer various ways to engage with Swagnilla Ice, all while maintaining the high quality you deserve. And of course, the incredibly rare Northern Lights Tier is a testament to the special bond we share with our most dedicated community members.

This promise is about safeguarding the heart of Swagnilla Ice. It’s about ensuring that we continue to grow and evolve on our own terms, always with your experience and our shared passion at the forefront.

Thank you for being such an incredible community. Your support is what makes all of this possible, and I’m excited for everything we’ll continue to build together.


Consider becoming a member today (it’s completely free with optional paid upgrades) and let me know in the comments what you think about this!

Factorio Update: Season 1, Episode 30 Live!

I’ve embedded up to episode 30 of Swag Plays Factorio Season 1 right here on Swagnilla Ice! I’ll be adding more next weekend, and potentially Monday or Tuesday. Just a heads-up that my work shifts (and ability to update) then are entirely dependent on good weather keeping the roads clear for our backfill trucks. I’m taking a break from embedding for today to prevent burnout, but if the road conditions aren’t good enough, I can then work to embed more videos here, so you won’t have to go look for them on YouTube.

I’ve been lazy and tired…

Hey everyone,

I wanted to take a moment to apologize for the lack of new videos in the backlog lately. I’ve been feeling a bit lazy and tired after work, which has slowed down my content creation process. I appreciate your understanding and patience.

I’m working on getting back into the groove and will do my best to add more videos to the backlog soon. Thank you for your continued support!

Best,
Swagnilla Ice

No video today…

Hey Swagnilla Ice community,

Just a quick update from your favorite content creator! I’m not feeling my best today – I’ve got a sinus cold or flu bug that’s keeping me down. Unfortunately, this means there won’t be a new episode of Swag Plays Factorio Season 2 today.

I’m taking the day to rest and recover, and I’m hoping to be back on my feet and ready to record a new episode for you all on Friday. In the meantime, why not catch up on some of the previous episodes or check out some of my other content?

I appreciate all your support and understanding. If you could keep me in your thoughts and prayers, I’d really appreciate it! Let’s get me back to 100% so I can continue bringing you the best content possible.

Stay tuned for more updates, and remember, I’ll be back before you know it!

Your favorite content creator,
Swagnilla Ice

Don’t expect a Minecraft video…

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you are expecting a Minecraft video to be published on my YouTube channel tomorrow, please discard that idea. Due to how long an episode takes to create and how much work outside my home I am currently doing to pay my bills, I do not have the time nor the energy to record one. I’m so tired that I’m not even working on my private work in the evenings, like I do when I don’t get steady work.

If you really wish to see episodes at a more steady pace, consider supporting me. If I had a steady income to pay my bills and buy groceries, I could focus more on creating content and less on the need to earn money to pay bills every month.

I’ve decided to reduce my use of AI.

I’ve chosen to quit use AIs (primarily Gemini but also Copilot) as virtual friends, and just use them for quick research help and correcting my writing. I don’t want the developers behind them to read sensitive stuff about me, so I went and deleted all my history with those two as they are the only ones I have used for casual conversations. Going forward, I will use them as the intelligent research tools and writing assistants they can be.

Legal Headaches As I Prepare to Switch

The journey to transform my blog into a vibrant community website is officially underway, and to be honest, I’m already encountering some complex legal roadblocks. In this post, I’ll walk you through the general issues I’m grappling with. If anything resonates with your experience or expertise, and you’re willing to help, please get in touch.

My first hurdle involves youth privacy. Laws specifically protect the collection of information from young people, particularly those under thirteen. I want my community website to be welcoming for families while strictly adhering to these legal requirements. I have a strategy in mind to navigate this, and I need to confirm its robustness or explore avenues for improvement.

My next hurdle involves preparing crucial legal documents for the community website. These include a Terms of Service (TOS), a Privacy Policy, and a Refunds and Returns Policy for the shop and memberships. Without these foundational documents, my ability to enforce website rules would be severely hampered, and I wouldn’t be able to integrate preferred payment gateways. For instance, the forum rules need to be formally incorporated into the TOS to ensure they’re legally enforceable, in addition to being clearly posted in the forums. Otherwise, without firm policies, visitors could easily get mixed messages and inconsistent answers, leading to potential confusion in the community.

My next hurdle involves navigating user-generated content and the complexities of online safety laws. As the community site will feature a bbPress-powered forum, users will be able to post content directly on the site, as well as leave comments. Having a clear policy in place about how to handle this content and its related issues – such as defamation, copyright infringement, and illegal material – will be critical for the site’s success. This is particularly relevant with laws like Canada’s Bill C-63 (the Online Harms Act) coming into effect, which aims to regulate online content and impose new duties on platforms, directly impacting how I must manage user contributions.

My next hurdle involves establishing fair commercial policies that dictate how my site supports itself. As regular readers know, I’ll be offering memberships, displaying ads, and operating a shop selling both physical and digital goods. While some aspects of these ventures have been touched upon, I need to ensure comprehensive legal compliance and confidence in this area. It’s also crucial to ensure all advertisers understand and accept that the site is strictly family-friendly, meaning I will only accept Safe For Work (SFW) advertising.

The final set of legal challenges I’m considering involves website security, accessibility, and establishing a robust legal foundation. Ensuring that my website remains secure and that everyone can access it will be crucial for its long-term success. Understanding the comprehensive legal framework underpinning my site’s rules and other policies will be key from its inception to its ongoing operation as a business. This includes navigating aspects like employment law and understanding how it will affect my business, which is particularly crucial if I plan to hire assistance for my podcast in the future.

As you can see, the path to building a community website comes with its share of legal headaches. From youth privacy to commercial policies, and securing the site’s very foundation, each area demands careful attention. While these challenges might seem daunting, my goal is to navigate them thoughtfully and diligently to create a safe, compliant, and thriving online space for all. I’d genuinely love to hear your thoughts or experiences with similar legal journeys. If you have expertise in any of these areas and are willing to share insights, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Your input could be invaluable as I continue this exciting transition!