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Bellin, David
Consultant
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
 
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David Bellin is a technology consultant with a special interest in the appropriate uses of Internet technology for nonprofit and international organizations. As a US Congress Fulbright scholar, Bellin developed technology courses and implemented practical systems in Honduras at the Escuela Agricola Panamericana. In 2000, Bellin was awarded a second Fulbright position in Nepal, where he trained faculty at Kathmandu University and helped develop that nation’s first graduate-level program in computer science. Fluent in Spanish, he has consulted internationally with the American Friends Service committee and at the Universidad Nacional Autonomia de Mexico (UNAM).

Bellin’s academic career includes positions at Pratt Institute in New York and at the University of North Carolina, A&T in Greensboro. As Director of Graduate Studies at A&T, he developed a master’s program from its inception in 1993 to an enrollment of 90 students with substantial funding and national recognition by the end of the decade. While he has devoted the past five years to working with the nonprofit sector and underrepresented populations, Bellin is currently considering the possibility of a return to an academic position. His primary areas of interest are the social implications of technology and the teaching challenges faced by addressing the needs of underrepresented populations at all levels of university study. He teaches in the areas of software metrics, object-oriented analysis, and the social implications of current technology.

Bellin’s commitment to social issues in computing bridges both his academic work (offering a social issues curriculum at the graduate and undergraduate level) and his publications. In addition to several technical books, Bellin edited Computers in battle, one of the first studies of the question of feasibility and ethics in the use of computer-based weapons. His doctoral dissertation, “Information commodities and the production process: How the introduction of CASE tools affects the software development life cycle” (City University of New York), addressed both the technical and the project dynamics of software development. A founder of the NYC chapter of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, he also suffers from way too many certifications, licenses, and hobbies!

David Bellin’s publications include numerous articles, as well as the following books:

The CRC card book (1997: Addison-Wesley), with Susan Simone, forward by Ward Cunningham.

Software maintenance: the small systems management guide (1991: Prentice Hall). Also published in Portuguese.

The structured systems development manual (1990: Yourdon - Prentice Hall), with Susan Suchman, forward by Meilar Page-Jones. Also published in Spanish.

Manual del desarrollo de sistemas (1988: Institute for Technology and Development), with Susan Suchman.

Computers in battle: will they work? (1987: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich), co?editor with Gary Chapman. Computer Press Association runner-up for best nonfiction book. Also published in Japanese and Italian.

The complete computer maintenance handbook (1986: Harper and Row). Also published in Japanese.

 
 
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- 10 of 66 reviews

   
   Religion and the technological future: an introduction to biohacking, artificial intelligence, and transhumanism
Mercer C., Trothen T., Palgrave Macmillan, Switzerland, 2021. 283 pp.  Type: Book (978-3-030623-58-6)

When a professor of religion in North Carolina and a professor of ethics in Canada walk into a bar--oops, make that a classroom--what do they talk about? Apparently, they are interested in the power of “biohacking,” defined a...

Dec 16 2021  
   The metric society: on the quantification of the social
Mau S., Polity Press, Medford, MA, 2019. 200 pp.  Type: Book (978-1-509530-41-0)

Most of the public chafes at the thought of being reduced to a number, but Steffen Mau argues that the mediation of mobile technology and social media is doing just that. While not a new argument, this analysis demonstrates that rating...

Nov 6 2019  
   Deception in the digital age: exploiting and defending human targets through computer-mediated communications
Malin C., Gudaitis T., Holt T., Kilger M., ACADEMIC PRESS, Cambridge, MA, 2017. 284 pp.  Type: Book (978-0-124116-30-6), Reviews: (1 of 4)

Psychology and sociology may be surpassing technology as the key to online deception. This book reminds me of the old adage that access through personal interaction is often more effective than other techniques in espionage. While not ...

Jul 11 2018  
   Financial analytics with R: building a laptop laboratory for data science
Bennett M., Hugen D., Cambridge University Press, New York, NY, 2016. 392 pp.  Type: Book (978-1-107150-75-1)

Billed as “a training resource for ... students and professionals,” this title is a sophisticated manual on financial data manipulation, statistics, and R programming. It is by no means for the beginner or the faint...

Jun 23 2017  
   Exploratory programming for the arts and humanities
Montfort N., The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2016. 328 pp.  Type: Book (978-0-262034-20-3)

This unusual title intends to introduce programming “to readers with a background in the arts and humanities.” It is based on Python and Processing free distributions....

Jan 18 2017  
   Private data and public value: governance, green consumption, and sustainable supply chains
Jarman H., Luna-Reyes L., Springer International Publishing, New York, NY, 2016. 206 pp.  Type: Book (978-3-319278-21-6)

This edited volume is in a series on “Public Administration and Information Technology,” while the bookstore filing recommendation over the barcode states “Social Sciences/Political Science.” The...

Oct 28 2016  
   We are big data: the future of the information society
Klous S., Wielaard N., Atlantis Publishing Corporation, Amsterdam, 2016. 133 pp.  Type: Book (978-9-462391-82-6)

A volume that appears to be edited and authored entirely in the Netherlands, this slim title from a little-known publisher reads largely as an advertising booster for those who seek little technical content or do not need to follow a r...

Oct 18 2016  
   The future of law and eTechnologies
Kerikmäe T., Rull A., Springer International Publishing, New York, NY, 2016. 233 pp.  Type: Book (978-3-319268-94-1)

With the exception of the brief introduction, every chapter in this esoteric volume appears to be authored by an Estonian academic. This fact explained to me the nation-centric nature of the material....

Jul 20 2016  
   Pro Docker
Vohra D., Apress, New York, NY, 2015. 256 pp.  Type: Book (978-1-484218-29-7)

Docker is not just a program but a whole system within the open standards community for distributed applications. In this title, Vohra reviews the build-ship-run cycle, including some installation tips and database integrations....

Apr 29 2016  
   Dashboards for Excel
Goldmeier J., Duggirala P., Apress, New York, NY, 2015. 572 pp.  Type: Book (978-1-430249-44-3)

Purnachandra Duggirala is well known in the advanced Excel community, especially through his website chandoo.org, so it is of interest that he is the coauthor of this title. While a user level is not explicitly stated on the cover, it ...

Apr 13 2016  
 
 
 
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