diff --git a/.emacs.d/init.el b/.emacs.d/init.el
index 8f491fa..b708378 100644
--- a/.emacs.d/init.el
+++ b/.emacs.d/init.el
@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@
  '(show-paren-mode t)
  '(tool-bar-mode nil))
 
+;; Use UTF-8 for file name encoding
+(setq file-name-coding-system 'utf-8)
+(prefer-coding-system 'utf-8)
+
 ;; No fancy graphic stuff
 (if (fboundp 'scroll-bar-mode) (scroll-bar-mode -1))
 (if (fboundp 'tool-bar-mode) (tool-bar-mode -1))
@@ -62,17 +66,30 @@
 ;; No am/pm here
 (setq display-time-24hr-format t)
 
+;; enable some commands disabled by default
+(put 'narrow-to-region 'disabled nil)
+(put 'upcase-region 'disabled nil)
 (put 'downcase-region 'disabled nil)
-(custom-set-faces
- ;; custom-set-faces was added by Custom.
- ;; If you edit it by hand, you could mess it up, so be careful.
- ;; Your init file should contain only one such instance.
- ;; If there is more than one, they won't work right.
- '(default ((t (:family "DejaVu Sans Mono" :foundry "unknown" :slant normal :weight normal :height 98 :width normal)))))
 
+;; disable backups when using su or sudo 
+(setq backup-enable-predicate
+      (lambda (name)
+        (and (normal-backup-enable-predicate name)
+             (not
+              (let ((method (file-remote-p name 'method)))
+                (when (stringp method)
+                  (member method '("su" "sudo"))))))))
+
+;; save autobackups to ~/.emacs.d/backups
+(add-to-list 'backup-directory-alist
+             (cons "." "~/.emacs.d/backups/"))
+(setq tramp-backup-directory-alist backup-directory-alist)
+
+;; arduino mode
 ''(add-to-list 'load-path "~/.emacs.d/vendor/arduino-mode")
 (setq auto-mode-alist (cons '("\\.\\(pde\\|ino\\)$" . arduino-mode) auto-mode-alist))
 (autoload 'arduino-mode "arduino-mode" "Arduino editing mode." t)
+
 (add-to-list 'load-path "~/.emacs.d/lisp")
 (setq-default x-stretch-cursor t)