Ok, so now your most likely asking yourself.. What in the world... is a "Ham Tower"?...
When I first got this amazing game like so many others I had a horrible habbit of loosing my house before I got the chance/while I was off searching for sugar cane to make a map. Eventually I had an idea, I made myself a bunch of torches and would drop one every 5-6 blocks or so whenever I wondered off from my house so i could find my way back. Kind of like hansel and grettle and the bread crumps.
Eventually I got sick of picking them back up and a few times I forgot to set them down etc etc. So I devised a new idea, Ham Tower! (it wasnt called that at first)
The concept is simple, first make a spade and dig up some dirt, or make some wood blocks really anything you just want about 40+ blocks. Next find a pool of water near the location you have cosen to be your home. Then right on the edge of the water, start stacking said blocks in a single 1x1 tower by standing on top of it jumping and setting a block mid jump. Once the tower is as high as you want it jump into the water.
Now, no matter what you do you will allways be able to find your house from a considerable distance by just getting to a highpoint and looking in a circle for this giant tower. All you have to do is make sure you dont wonder off too far and outdistance your video cards ability to render it due to graphic restrictions.
History of why this is called "Ham Tower!"
Simple really, I play on a private server with 5-8 friends one of which owns the server and runs it. A day or so after making my tower he found it and as a joke/out of bordom he spawned a Pig ontop of the tower. It's been reffered to as "Ham Tower!" ever since and has came with me every time I have decided to move houses.
If you ever eventaully manage to make a map, you obviously have the ability to destroy the tower if you feel the need to do so. But even with a map its a good landmark to judge your distance from things.
Enjoy - Hope this helps some of you some time!