61: How do I disable backup files?

  You probably don't want to do this, since backups are useful.

  To avoid seeing backup files (and other "uninteresting" files) in Dired,
  load dired-x by adding the following to your .emacs file:

    (add-hook 'dired-load-hook
              (function (lambda ()
                          (load "dired-x"))))

  With dired-x loaded, `M-o' toggles omitting in each dired buffer.  You
  can make omitting the default for new dired buffers by putting the
  following in your .emacs:

    (setq initial-dired-omit-files-p t)

  If you're tired of seeing backup files whenever you do an "ls" at the
  Unix shell, try GNU ls with the "-B" option.  GNU ls is part of the GNU
  fileutils package, available at prep and its mirrors (see question 89).

  To disable or change how backups are made, see "Backup Names" in the
  on-line manual.

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