Ndifreke Ekott

Thoughts, stories, ideas and programming

07 Mar 2026

The most desired and praised men are mostly those devoid of responsibilities

A father of two reflects on a quietly uncomfortable truth: the men society finds most magnetic and desirable tend to be those free from the weight of domestic responsibility. Through personal observation — at social gatherings, on dating shows, in his own mirror — he traces how fatherhood and the demands of providing gradually erode a man's time, identity, and social currency, leaving him with little to offer a room beyond talk of bills and children. He is not bitter about it. He has accepted that sacrifice is the price of purpose, framing his responsibilities not as a loss of self but as a discipline — a Samurai's devotion to the sword. The essay is honest, understated, and names something many men feel but rarely say out loud.

17 Feb 2026

Why Vibe Code a Clone When You Can Just Pay $10?

AI has made it tempting to clone any SaaS tool you use rather than pay for it — and if you're a developer, that temptation hits even harder. In this post, I walk through how I almost fell into that trap trying to replace Buffer with a vibe-coded clone, and why the real cost isn't the code — it's everything that comes after: hosting, pipelines, and the ongoing maintenance you never accounted for. Before you reach for the AI prompt, there are three questions worth asking yourself first.

16 Feb 2026

Reflection - Whenever purpose is unknown, there is bound to be abuse

Whenever purpose is unknown, there is bound to be abuse.Not always out of malice—often simply out of misdirection. When we don’t understand why something exists, we improvise uses that feel convenient in the moment, even if they slowly erode its value. The same is true of our time, our gifts, our relationships, and even our challenges.

11 Feb 2026

From AI-Assisted Coding to Agent-Driven Development - This Is The Way

If you are like me, you are tired of seeing 'AI' and 'Agent' plastered across every corner of the internet. My LinkedIn and YouTube feeds are drowning in it. Yet here I am, writing about how I went from skeptic to convert after adopting an agent-driven software development workflow.

04 Feb 2026
21 Nov 2025
09 Jul 2025

The Incremental Engineer: My Workflow for Building With AI

In this candid and practical blog post, I share my evolving workflow for building software with AI as a solo developer. From debugging cron job overlaps to designing multi-channel webhook systems, I explore how AI acts as a tech fact-checker, idea validator, and learning agent. With real-world examples and iterative prompts, this post highlights the joys and efficiencies of prototyping with AI—without the hype, just hands-on experience.

08 Jun 2025

The Hidden Price of Success

Explore the complex relationship between success, sacrifice, and sustainability in this thought-provoking article about the hidden costs of achieving our goals. This piece delves into the challenges of balancing professional ambitions with personal well-being, family life, and time management. Through personal experiences and insights, it examines how modern professionals navigate the demanding journey to success while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. The article offers valuable perspectives on making smart sacrifices, managing expectations, and finding sustainable approaches to pursuing success without compromising life's essential aspects.

02 Jun 2025

Lovable Plus Jetbrains Junie - A Love Story

AI is everywhere, but skepticism remains—especially when tech hype takes over. While many claim software development is easier than ever, seasoned professionals know the truth: it’s still a challenge. A recent struggle with a session-related bug proved that AI isn’t always the magic fix. After days of troubleshooting, the solution wasn’t in fancy code rewrites but in a small detail—a capitalization issue that completely changed how cookies were managed. A reminder that experience and collaboration still reign in problem-solving.

18 Mar 2025

Enforcing JSON Schema in Django JSONField

Learn how the introduction of JSON datatypes in relational databases has revolutionized data storage by enabling document-structured data handling without relying on NoSQL solutions like MongoDB. Discover the benefits of JSON columns in reducing complex table joins, optimizing queries in ORM-based applications, and simplifying the development of REST APIs with JSON-compatible databases. Explore the challenges, such as schema enforcement, and how they can be addressed effectively in Django using JSONField and custom schema validation, with an example showcasing real-world solutions. Perfect for developers looking to integrate flexibility and performance in their database design!