diff --git a/aliases/functions b/aliases/functions
index 6b6ba47..72738ac 100644
--- a/aliases/functions
+++ b/aliases/functions
@@ -10,16 +10,14 @@ alias lll="ls -hla"
 alias ds="du -sh"
 alias :q="exit"
 
-alias rget="rsync -avP --rsh=ssh --append-verify --inplace"
+alias rget="rsync -rvP --rsh=ssh --append-verify --inplace"
 alias 7zu="7z a -t7z -m0=lzma -mx=9 -mfb=64 -md=32m -ms=on"
 
+alias sudo="sudo "
 alias S='sudo $(history -n -1)'
 
 alias rm="rm -I"
-
-gg() {
-    paragrep "$@" -- **/*
-}
+alias v="xdg-open"
 
 fork() {
 	( $* &>/dev/null & )
@@ -54,41 +52,13 @@ cd(){
 
 #}}}
 
-#################################################################################
-# administration and init scripts
-##############################################################################{{{
-
-toggle() {
-	if [ -z $2 ]; then
-		/etc/init.d/$1 status |
-			grep started &&
-			sudo /etc/init.d/$1 stop ||
-			sudo /etc/init.d/$1 start
-	else
-		sudo /etc/init.d/$1 $2
-	fi
-}
-
-#}}}
-
 #################################################################################
 # filesystem stuff
 ##############################################################################{{{
-alias mkinitramfs='find . -print0 | cpio --null -ov --format=newc | gzip -9'
-
-# bidirectional rsync
-brsync() {
-	rsync -ur --progress $1 $2/..
-	rsync -ur --progress $2 $1/..
-}
 
 # count files in current or given directory
 count() {
-    if [ -z $1 ]; then
-    	ls ./**/*(.) | wc -l
-    else
-    	ls $1/**/*(.) | wc -l
-    fi
+	find $1 \( ! -path '*/.*' \) | wc -l
 }
 
 pumount() {
@@ -98,9 +68,9 @@ pumount() {
 		shift
 	done
 	if [[ "${1[1]}" == "/" ]]; then
-		=pumount "${params[@]}" "$1"
+		command pumount "${params[@]}" "$1"
 	else
-		=pumount "${params[@]}" "/media/$1"
+		command pumount "${params[@]}" "/media/$1"
 	fi
 }
 
@@ -140,22 +110,6 @@ suffix() {
 
 #}}}
 
-#################################################################################
-# wrappers
-##############################################################################{{{
-lesswrap() {
-	out=$("$@")
-	((lim=$LINES-1))
-	numlines=$(echo $out | wc -l)
-	if (( $numlines > $lim )); then
-		echo $out | less
-	else
-		echo $out
-	fi
-
-}
-#}}}
-
 #################################################################################
 # audio video photo
 ##############################################################################{{{
@@ -217,15 +171,6 @@ alias :attachw="tdetachprep; tmux movew -t : -s"
 # global and suffix aliases
 ##############################################################################{{{
 
-# mplayer dvd drives
-alias -g DSR1="-dvd-device /dev/sr1"
-alias -g DSR0="-dvd-device /dev/sr0"
-alias -g SR1="/dev/sr1"
-alias -g SR0="/dev/sr0"
-
-# mplayer activate softvol
-alias -g SOFTVOL="-softvol -softvol-max 1000"
-
 # lazy shortcuts
 alias -g G="| grep"
 alias -g L="| less"
@@ -238,4 +183,33 @@ alias -g XC='$(xclip -o -selection clipboard)'
 alias -s log=vimpager
 #}}}
 
+#################################################################################
+# various small scripts
+##############################################################################{{{
+
+urlencode() {
+	local input
+        setopt extendedglob
+	if [ -n "$1" ]; then
+		input="$*"
+	else
+		input=$(</dev/stdin)
+	fi
+	# by jkramer, source: http://stackoverflow.com/a/187853/928769
+        echo "${${(j: :)input}//(#b)(?)/%$[[##16]##${match[1]}]}"
+}
+
+#}}}
+
+fasel-tunnel() {
+	if [[ -z "$1" || -z "$2" || "$1" == "-h" || "$1" == "--help" ]]; then
+		echo "Usage: fasel-tunnel <host> <port> [remote_port]"
+		return
+	fi
+	local host="$1";
+	local port="$2";
+	local remote_port="${3:-$2}"
+	ssh -L $port:$host:$remote_port fasel -N &
+}
+
 # vim: foldmethod=marker
diff --git a/aliases/portage b/aliases/portage
index 458d734..44d24e3 100644
--- a/aliases/portage
+++ b/aliases/portage
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 alias eud="emerge -vabuDN -j4 --keep-going world"
 alias fetchlog="tail -f /var/log/emerge-fetch.log"
-alias emerge="sudo emerge"
+alias emerge="noglob sudo emerge"
 
 nolto() {
 	pkgenvconf $1 nolto nolto
@@ -50,7 +50,3 @@ pkgenvconf() {
 	*) ;;
 	esac
 }
-
-
-alias eix="lesswrap /usr/bin/eix -F"
-
diff --git a/zshrc b/zshrc
index 565dfec..63a37dc 100644
--- a/zshrc
+++ b/zshrc
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ autoload -Uz zmv
 
 zmodload zsh/zftp
 
+function exists { command -v "$@" >/dev/null }
+
 for i in  ${ZDOTDIR:-/etc/zsh}/aliases/*~${ZDOTDIR:-/etc/zsh}/aliases/*.zwc; do
     . $i
 done
@@ -38,3 +40,5 @@ zstyle ':completion:*' verbose yes
 zstyle ':completion:*:descriptions' format ‘%B%d%b’
 zstyle ':completion:*:messages' format ‘%d’
 zstyle ':completion:*:warnings' format ‘No matches for: %d’
+
+exists todo && todo