Ludovic Bubner’s Mac and iOS setup
Every week we post a new interview with someone about what software they use on their Mac, iPhone, or iPad. We do these interviews because not only are they fun, but a glimpse into what tools someone uses and how they use those tools can spark our imagination and give us an idea or insight into how we can do things better.
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Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Ludovic Bubner. I’m a native French speaker. I’ve been living in Taiwan for 13 years where I teacher French at Alliance Française/Taida University. I also write and do some translation jobs during my free time. One of my books can be found here.
What is your current setup?
I’m using a late-2011 13″ MacBook Pro with 16 GB of memory and 750 GB hard drive. Most of my work with my Mac consists of editing copies from students and preparing classes. Buying a Fusion Drive would be welcomed, but it’s unnecessary. I don’t need much power. At school, I use an iPad 2 connected to a TV screen. The Apple ecosystem plays an essential role in my daily life.
Where can we find your OS X wallpaper?
My desktop picture changes every five minutes. I find all of my desktop pictures from Wallpapers Wide and NASA’s image archives.
What software do you use and for what do you use it?
I’ve been using TotalSpaces and TotalFinder for ages. However, System Integrity Protection (SIP) has to be disabled if you wish to run them on El Capitan and Sierra. It’s just a matter of time, though. Soon, both will be able to run on Sierra with SIP enabled. TotalSpace and TotalFinder bring back essential features (made by Steve Jobs) in Snow Leopard, Leopard, Tiger, and older OS X systems. Otherwise, Path Finder provides a decent replacement of TotalFinder with no need to disable SIP.
BetterTouchTool allows me to configure great gestures with the trackpad. I also use Automator to accomplish repetitive tasks, 1Password for password management, and 2Do. I’ve been using BusyCal (old version) for six years with his little brother BusyContacts. TimeTable helps me schedule and bill my private part-time tutoring.
At the university, half of my students use Windows and the other half macOS. Microsoft Word is a standard, so I purchased Microsoft Office 2011 a few years ago and still use it on a regular basis. Nevertheless, I prefer using Nisus Writer Pro to write novels. I also use a few dictionaries such as Antidote Druide, the Collins-Robert French-English, and Le Grand Robert. PDFpenPro is la crème de la crème with powerful features, and TextExpander saves me a great deal of time.
I prepare my French classes with Evernote and OneNote. Then, I go to the university with my iPad. It’s pretty handy. Most of my important files are saved in Dropbox and iCloud.
I’ve tried many mail clients. At the end of the day, I found myself going back to Apple Mail and MailButler.
Safari is my default browser. For some reason I can’t identify, I love Opera. And the good news is that we can install Chrome extensions in Opera. I also use Pocket and Reeder. And PopClip, Yoink, and Nuke are useful utilities. Time Machine makes a backup of all the files every hour, and SuperDuper! clones the entire system once a week.
I also installed KnockKnock, TaskExplorer, RamsomWhere?, OverSight, and Dylib Hijack Scanner for security concerns.
How would your ideal setup look and function?
I’m pretty satisfied with my setup, though a bigger screen would be welcomed. I might purchase an iMac in three/four years.
What iPhone do you have?
I own a silver iPhone 6 Plus, 64 GB, and I love it. The big screen is awesome, and it would be a pain to go back to a smaller phone.
What apps do you use the most, and why?
Pretty much the same apps are found in my iPhone, my iPad, and my Mac. I like Fantastical, and Overcast keeps me entertained with podcasts. Here in Taiwan and Japan, LINE is THE app used to communicate on regular basics.
Which app could you not live without?
It’s a difficult one. LINE for convenience, 2Do for productivity, and Fantastical for managing my calendar.
Which iPad do you have?
I use a silver iPad Air 2 with 64 GB of space.
How are you using your iPad on a daily basis?
I use this iPad on a regular basis at school. Most of the time, it’s connected to a TV screen. I must acknowledge that this tablet saves me a great amount of time in the sense that preparations, documents, videos, and audio files are accessible in a second. I also purchased the Universal Mobile Microsoft keyboard. Yes, Microsoft! It’s just awesome. It’s small, affordable, and provides a nice sense of productivity.
What apps do you use the most, and why?
Evernote and OneNote are both essential. I also use PDF Expert and PDF Converter to manage files. Opera is my main browser. In class, I use LinguaMate—Audio Player For Language Learning. This app is fantastic. It allows me to slow down the speed of any audio file, so I can train my students to listen and understand the French language. In normal speed, most of the time, it’s too fast for them to get what is being said.
Which app could you not live without?
Evernote, OneNote, and 2Do. Without these three apps, my iPad would be useless. Voilà!
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