He does a lot of different things
“It is a challenge to capture the spirit, the history, the accomplishments. Change is constant, although the constant changes. I do many different things, with the main focus in flux — life is fun.”
On the radio
He has done broadcast work for all-volunteer WCOM-LP 103.5 FM in Chapel Hill and Carrboro since the station started. The first remote broadcast was at the dedication of Martin Luther King Boulevard in Chapel Hill in the spring of 2005, followed by the Shakori Hills music festival, and then “Carrboro Live” every Thursday evening from the lawn of Weaver Street Market through the warm months.
Earlier, in New York, he was sometimes on the air at WBAI-FM — Pacifica radio — with technology commentary. From the inception of WNCU-FM at North Carolina Central University in Durham he recorded regular ninety-second “Doctor Dave” commentaries for two years, and he has filled in as a DJ at WXDU-FM at Duke.
KE4YRA, and a locksmith’s hobby
His amateur radio interest is in emergency services and disaster relief rather than rag-chewing, though you will occasionally find him on the local nets and with the Durham FM Association. Active in the Red Cross, he happened to be in New York City on September 11, 2001, and as a First Responder spent several days below the line working at a shelter site and at Red Cross headquarters.
He is also a certified locksmith. That one is strictly a hobby — no commercial license, and no wish for one.
Building, and building community
A licensed general contractor and licensed real estate broker, he has years of experience in home renovations, remodeling and new construction across Orange, Durham, Alamance and Chatham counties. In 2006 he consulted to the Carrboro Collaborative Development Association and Giles Blunden Architect on building specifications and contractor relations for the Pacifica Cohousing development at the end of Hanna Street in Carrboro — where he then lived for many years.
He is bilingual, and trades under BUDDHA LLC — “Blue Collar Insight”.
Licensed Contractor and Licensed RE Broker (2026-2027)
Computer science
David Bellin holds a Ph.D. in computer science and spent his academic career on the faculty at North Carolina A&T State University, Pratt Institute in New York, and William Paterson University in New Jersey. His research looked at the relationship between program metrics and software quality, including work funded by IBM.
In the commercial world he directed several software projects and personally wrote the internals of two transaction systems. Shipped work includes a system for school photographers that was sold commercially, and custom systems for a blood bank, a department store Christmas club, and a wholesale glass fabricator and installer.
As a consultant on object-oriented development he is known for work at the front end of the process, with analysts and user groups, and he helped pioneer the people-centered CRC Card method through his book and through seminars. He is an editor at ACM Computing Reviews, covering the social implications categories.
R.I.P. Gary Chapman, 1952–2010
Computers in Battle: Will They Work? was co-edited with Gary Chapman, who died in December 2010. The book was a Computer Press Association runner-up for best non-fiction and was published in Japanese and Italian as well as English. Gary was a medic in the US Army Special Forces during the Vietnam period. He was a good friend and co-editor, and director of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility during it’s most active period.