Field notes from Puerto Galera
A weblog of essays, links, and book marginalia from David Krug — founder of 701am, written from the north coast of the Philippines.
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Essays are full-length pieces published here. Linkblog entries send you elsewhere — to the source. Choose your own adventure.
Linkblog · May 18, 2026
The Search Engine I Actually Use Daily
Kagi is what happens when search stops pretending to be an advertising business and starts acting like a utility again. No banners, no tracking maze, no SEO noise competing for attention. Instead, it’s a paid search engine where results feel intentionally stripped back—clean rankings, optional AI summaries, and a sense that the page you’re on isn’t trying to sell you anything beyond clarity.
Notes · May 17, 2026
I haven't been an entrepreneur in a long time
Low-risk years end in a reset from setbacks into founder mindset. Building 701am, AI media agency for attention, systems, hiring. Now shifting to ideas and sales, building a company to outgrow its creator. One life, no excuses, daily execution now!!
Notes · May 17, 2026
A Quiet Migration Away From the Default Internet Stack
A shift from Google/centralized platforms to a privacy-first stack, replacing core tools (search, email, docs, storage, analytics, publishing) with Kagi, Proton, Obsidian, Astro, and others for ownership and control.
Notes · May 17, 2026
A Cup from Mount Apo
Today's coffee comes from Mount Apo. My daily coffee routine varies. Depends on how much time I have or what I'm working on. This afternoon it called for another cup of coffee and I thought I'd make it a bit special.
Linkblog · May 17, 2026
Astro Rocket — a theme that already feels like a finished product
Astro Rocket isn’t really a “starter theme” in the traditional sense. It behaves more like a fully designed website that just happens to be open source. Built on Astro 6 and Tailwind, it ships with dozens of components, multiple visual themes, and a level of completeness that removes most of the usual “now I need to design everything” step from the process.
Linkblog · May 17, 2026
701am.com Built Using Astro
I built my new companies website using Astro and Decap with a custom theme.