Anyone with an optical mouse read this:

[TheWumpus]

In the effort to improve my aiming skills for FPS games I have been doing some experimenting. If you play CounterStrike this is one sure way to improve your headshot ratio. First if you don't have an optical mouse you should definitely consider getting one. They are about 1/3rd the weight of a standard "ballsy" mouse and you never have to clean them. You may have had a bad experience with a first generation optical mouse, as they had a problem where if you moved it too fast it would jerk and sometimes move in the opposite direction you intended. This has been corrected with the newer optical mice that take more pictures per second.

If you have an optical mouse and one of those mousepads with the cloth surface try this. Put a thin layer of talcum (baby powder) on the top of the mousepad, and then bang it against something to get rid of any excess powder. You will find that your optical mouse now glides almost frictionless over the mousepad. I even put a bit of powder on the wrist of the hand holding the mouse. I have been doing this for several weeks and haven't had a single problem with powder getting on the lens or anything. Try it and see if you like it.