Steve - actually I've never popped a head, but a friend tells me it doesn't pop, the hoop just pulls away from where it's wrapped and glued. Most modern plastic heads will last forever, unless you wear a hole in them with an untrimmed pinky, and even then I've heard some pretty good music from heads with "nail" holes in them.

Charcloth's approach is right. You feel around the top, like checking a melon. I like mine with just a slight bit of give. The tighter the head the brassier.

The way I was taught to tighten hooks was to start somewhere and then jump directly across the circle, and then back, sort of like doing opposing lug nuts on a car wheel to keep the tension even. (God it's been a long time since I changed a tire!) Siminoff has a nice little variation that I tried just recently: Tighten the two hooks on either side of the neck, then the two hooks on either side of the tailpiece, then go half way between on one side and do two more, then jump directly across and do those two, etc. Of course you don't tighten them hard-- each time, just slight pressure. You repeat this pattern several times, doing only 1/4 turn or so on each hook, bringing the head gently up to tension.