diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ce1c144cd4..7707c01ef4 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ can skip the whole manual and just type in your favorite shell the
 following command:
 
 ```bash
-curl -L http://git.io/epre | sh
+curl -L https://git.io/epre | sh
 ```
 
 You can now power up your Emacs, sit back and enjoy Prelude,
@@ -279,7 +279,6 @@ Keybinding         | Description
 <kbd>F12</kbd>     | Toggle the Emacs menu bar.
 <kbd>C-x g</kbd>   | Open Magit's status buffer.
 <kbd>M-Z</kbd>     | Zap up to char.
-<kbd>C-c J</kbd> or <kbd>Super-></kbd>   | Switch between buffers with [`ace-jump-buffer`](https://github.com/waymondo/ace-jump-buffer)
 <kbd>C-=</kbd>     | Run `expand-region` (incremental text selection).
 <kbd>C-a</kbd>     | Run `prelude-move-beginning-of-line`. Read [this](http://emacsredux.com/blog/2013/05/22/smarter-navigation-to-the-beginning-of-a-line/) for details.
 
@@ -429,9 +428,9 @@ buffer. Passing prefix argument **BEFORE** =helm-M-x= **has no effect**.
 
 Keybinding         | Description
 -------------------|----------------------------------------------
-<kbd>jj</kbd>      | Jump to the beginning of a word(`ace-jump-word-mode`)
-<kbd>jk</kbd>      | Jump to a character(`ace-jump-char-mode`)
-<kbd>jl</kbd>      | Jump to the beginning of a line(`ace-jump-line-mode`)
+<kbd>jj</kbd>      | Jump to the beginning of a word(`avy-goto-word-1`)
+<kbd>jk</kbd>      | Jump to a character(`avy-goto-char`)
+<kbd>jl</kbd>      | Jump to the beginning of a line(`avy-goto-line`)
 <kbd>JJ</kbd>      | Jump back to previous buffer(`prelude-switch-to-previous-buffer`)
 <kbd>uu</kbd>      | View edits as a tree(`undo-tree-visualize`)
 <kbd>xx</kbd>      | Executed extended command(`execute-extended-command`)
@@ -500,6 +499,13 @@ Or you can use another theme altogether by adding something in `personal/preload
   install it from MELPA first (`M-x package-install RET
   solarized-theme`).
 
+Finally, if you don't want any theme at all, you can add this to your
+`personal/preload`:
+
+```lisp
+(setq prelude-theme nil)
+```
+
 ### Personalizing
 
 Fork the official Prelude repo and add your own touch to it. You're advised to avoid changing stuff outside of the
diff --git a/core/prelude-core.el b/core/prelude-core.el
index a9e1167c45..c59028e498 100644
--- a/core/prelude-core.el
+++ b/core/prelude-core.el
@@ -285,6 +285,22 @@ there's a region, all lines that region covers will be duplicated."
   (interactive)
   (byte-recompile-directory prelude-dir 0))
 
+(defun prelude-file-owner-uid (filename)
+  "Return the UID of the FILENAME as an integer.
+
+See `file-attributes' for more info."
+  (nth 2 (file-attributes filename 'integer)))
+
+(defun prelude-file-owned-by-user-p (filename)
+  "Return t if file FILENAME is owned by the currently logged in user."
+  (equal (prelude-file-owner-uid filename)
+         (user-uid)))
+
+(defun prelude-find-alternate-file-as-root (filename)
+  "Wraps `find-alternate-file' with opening a file as root."
+  (find-alternate-file (concat "/sudo:root@localhost:" filename)))
+
+(require 'ido)
 (defun prelude-sudo-edit (&optional arg)
   "Edit currently visited file as root.
 
@@ -295,15 +311,17 @@ buffer is not visiting a file."
   (if (or arg (not buffer-file-name))
       (find-file (concat "/sudo:root@localhost:"
                          (ido-read-file-name "Find file(as root): ")))
-    (find-alternate-file (concat "/sudo:root@localhost:" buffer-file-name))))
+    (prelude-find-alternate-file-as-root buffer-file-name)))
 
-(defadvice ido-find-file (after find-file-sudo activate)
+(defun prelude-reopen-as-root ()
   "Find file as root if necessary."
   (unless (or (tramp-tramp-file-p buffer-file-name)
               (equal major-mode 'dired-mode)
               (not (file-exists-p (file-name-directory buffer-file-name)))
-              (file-writable-p buffer-file-name))
-    (find-alternate-file (concat "/sudo:root@localhost:" buffer-file-name))))
+              (file-writable-p buffer-file-name)
+              (prelude-file-owned-by-user-p buffer-file-name))
+    (prelude-find-alternate-file-as-root buffer-file-name)))
+(add-hook 'find-file-hook 'prelude-reopen-as-root)
 
 (defun prelude-start-or-switch-to (function buffer-name)
   "Invoke FUNCTION if there is no buffer with BUFFER-NAME.
@@ -394,6 +412,7 @@ Doesn't mess with special buffers."
     "Press <C-Backspace> to kill a line backwards."
     "Press <C-S-Backspace> or <s-k> to kill the whole line."
     "Press <s-j> or <C-^> to join lines."
+    "Press <s-.> or <C-c j> to jump to the start of a word in any visible window."
     "Press <f11> to toggle fullscreen mode."
     "Press <f12> to toggle the menu bar."
     "Explore the Tools->Prelude menu to find out about some of Prelude extensions to Emacs."
@@ -403,7 +422,7 @@ Doesn't mess with special buffers."
 (defun prelude-tip-of-the-day ()
   "Display a random entry from `prelude-tips'."
   (interactive)
-  (unless (window-minibuffer-p)
+  (when (and prelude-tips (not (window-minibuffer-p)))
     ;; pick a new random seed
     (random t)
     (message
diff --git a/core/prelude-editor.el b/core/prelude-editor.el
index b116335ae9..65d84c7e0f 100644
--- a/core/prelude-editor.el
+++ b/core/prelude-editor.el
@@ -259,6 +259,12 @@ The body of the advice is in BODY."
 (setq projectile-cache-file (expand-file-name  "projectile.cache" prelude-savefile-dir))
 (projectile-global-mode t)
 
+;; avy allows us to effectively navigate to visible things
+(require 'avy)
+(setq avy-background t)
+(setq avy-style 'at-full)
+(setq avy-style 'at-full)
+
 ;; anzu-mode enhances isearch & query-replace by showing total matches and current match position
 (require 'anzu)
 (diminish 'anzu-mode)
@@ -298,6 +304,7 @@ The body of the advice is in BODY."
   (interactive
    (list (not (region-active-p)))))
 
+(require 'tabify)
 (defmacro with-region-or-buffer (func)
   "When called with no active region, call FUNC on current buffer."
   `(defadvice ,func (before with-region-or-buffer activate compile)
diff --git a/core/prelude-global-keybindings.el b/core/prelude-global-keybindings.el
index 5bfa1c3323..683a0a2cdb 100644
--- a/core/prelude-global-keybindings.el
+++ b/core/prelude-global-keybindings.el
@@ -112,10 +112,8 @@
 
 (global-set-key (kbd "C-=") 'er/expand-region)
 
-(global-set-key (kbd "C-c j") 'ace-jump-mode)
-(global-set-key (kbd "s-.") 'ace-jump-mode)
-(global-set-key (kbd "C-c J") 'ace-jump-buffer)
-(global-set-key (kbd "s->") 'ace-jump-buffer)
+(global-set-key (kbd "C-c j") 'avy-goto-word-or-subword-1)
+(global-set-key (kbd "s-.") 'avy-goto-word-or-subword-1)
 (global-set-key (kbd "s-w") 'ace-window)
 
 (provide 'prelude-global-keybindings)
diff --git a/core/prelude-packages.el b/core/prelude-packages.el
index ced3895ece..04eeca52a4 100644
--- a/core/prelude-packages.el
+++ b/core/prelude-packages.el
@@ -42,9 +42,8 @@
 (package-initialize)
 
 (defvar prelude-packages
-  '(ace-jump-mode
-    ace-jump-buffer
-    ace-window
+  '(ace-window
+    avy
     anzu
     browse-kill-ring
     dash
@@ -127,6 +126,8 @@ PACKAGE is installed only if not already present.  The file is opened in MODE."
 
 (defvar prelude-auto-install-alist
   '(("\\.clj\\'" clojure-mode clojure-mode)
+    ("\\.cmake\\'" cmake-mode cmake-mode)
+    ("CMakeLists\\.txt\\'" cmake-mode cmake-mode)
     ("\\.coffee\\'" coffee-mode coffee-mode)
     ("\\.css\\'" css-mode css-mode)
     ("\\.csv\\'" csv-mode csv-mode)
diff --git a/core/prelude-ui.el b/core/prelude-ui.el
index 3544051a45..bf59f5772d 100644
--- a/core/prelude-ui.el
+++ b/core/prelude-ui.el
@@ -68,7 +68,8 @@
                                           "%b"))))
 
 ;; use zenburn as the default theme
-(load-theme prelude-theme t)
+(when prelude-theme
+  (load-theme prelude-theme t))
 
 (provide 'prelude-ui)
 ;;; prelude-ui.el ends here
diff --git a/modules/prelude-common-lisp.el b/modules/prelude-common-lisp.el
index 718a9e5111..ae6ff2d4d4 100644
--- a/modules/prelude-common-lisp.el
+++ b/modules/prelude-common-lisp.el
@@ -54,14 +54,22 @@
         (sbcl ("sbcl" "--noinform") :coding-system utf-8-unix)))
 
 ;; select the default value from slime-lisp-implementations
-(if (eq system-type 'darwin)
+(if (and (eq system-type 'darwin)
+         (executable-find "ccl"))
     ;; default to Clozure CL on OS X
     (setq slime-default-lisp 'ccl)
   ;; default to SBCL on Linux and Windows
   (setq slime-default-lisp 'sbcl))
 
+;; Add fancy slime contribs
+(setq slime-contribs '(slime-fancy))
+
 (add-hook 'lisp-mode-hook (lambda () (run-hooks 'prelude-lisp-coding-hook)))
-(add-hook 'slime-repl-mode-hook (lambda () (run-hooks 'prelude-interactive-lisp-coding-hook)))
+;; rainbow-delimeters messes up colors in slime-repl, and doesn't seem to work
+;; anyway, so we won't use prelude-lisp-coding-defaults.
+(add-hook 'slime-repl-mode-hook (lambda ()
+                                  (smartparens-strict-mode +1)
+                                  (whitespace-mode -1)))
 
 (eval-after-load "slime"
   '(progn
diff --git a/modules/prelude-erc.el b/modules/prelude-erc.el
index 4a9c94bf0c..9f51938fb5 100644
--- a/modules/prelude-erc.el
+++ b/modules/prelude-erc.el
@@ -74,7 +74,8 @@
 (erc-truncate-mode +1)
 
 ;; enable spell checking
-(erc-spelling-mode 1)
+(when prelude-flyspell
+  (erc-spelling-mode 1))
 ;; set different dictionaries by different servers/channels
 ;;(setq erc-spelling-dictionaries '(("#emacs" "american")))
 
diff --git a/modules/prelude-evil.el b/modules/prelude-evil.el
index e0d705bac6..1998fbce6b 100644
--- a/modules/prelude-evil.el
+++ b/modules/prelude-evil.el
@@ -122,8 +122,8 @@
 
 (setq evil-shift-width 2)
 
-;;; enable ace-jump mode with evil-mode
-(define-key evil-normal-state-map (kbd "SPC") 'ace-jump-mode)
+;;; enable avy with evil-mode
+(define-key evil-normal-state-map (kbd "SPC") 'avy-goto-word-1)
 
 ;;; snagged from Eric S. Fraga
 ;;; http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-orgmode/2012-05/msg00153.html
diff --git a/modules/prelude-key-chord.el b/modules/prelude-key-chord.el
index d329ee069f..fbaf5b7bf7 100644
--- a/modules/prelude-key-chord.el
+++ b/modules/prelude-key-chord.el
@@ -35,9 +35,9 @@
 
 (require 'key-chord)
 
-(key-chord-define-global "jj" 'ace-jump-word-mode)
-(key-chord-define-global "jl" 'ace-jump-line-mode)
-(key-chord-define-global "jk" 'ace-jump-char-mode)
+(key-chord-define-global "jj" 'avy-goto-word-1)
+(key-chord-define-global "jl" 'avy-goto-line)
+(key-chord-define-global "jk" 'avy-goto-char)
 (key-chord-define-global "JJ" 'prelude-switch-to-previous-buffer)
 (key-chord-define-global "uu" 'undo-tree-visualize)
 (key-chord-define-global "xx" 'execute-extended-command)
diff --git a/modules/prelude-python.el b/modules/prelude-python.el
index 8b717019e4..7def5fd799 100644
--- a/modules/prelude-python.el
+++ b/modules/prelude-python.el
@@ -87,9 +87,8 @@
 (defun prelude-python-mode-defaults ()
   "Defaults for Python programming."
   (subword-mode +1)
-  (anaconda-mode)
-  (eldoc-mode)
-  (which-function-mode -1)
+  (anaconda-mode 1)
+  (eldoc-mode 1)
   (setq-local electric-layout-rules
               '((?: . (lambda ()
                         (and (zerop (first (syntax-ppss)))