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Use your nose. What does the smoke smell like? NOTE: Don't do this too much, because carbon monoxide is in the exhaust and can kill you if you breathe much of it.
If the smoke smells sweet (you may be able to put your hand in the smoke and then smell it to avoid inhaling much CO) then you are burning coolant. That's a very significant problem.
If the oil seems thin, examine it. Water or coolant in it will separate out, because oil floats on water. Take a sniff of the oil. If it smells like gasoline, your oil has been diluted with gas, probably from running too rich or from plugs not firing or some such. Oil that is full of gasoline doesn't lubricate very well, so it should be changed if it smells a lot of gasoline.
-soD
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