Breakup Etiquette - Don't Leave Like a Louse!

Breaking up is hard to do, often leaving behind mangled hearts and a bitter ex. So is there a way to break up without causing too many bad feelings? And what is appropriate breakup etiquette?

"Breakups hurt like a motherf*#ker," writes acclaimed author Greg Berhrendt in the tome It's Called a Breakup Because it's Broken.
And Annie Smith would know. The 24-year-old copywriter is currently experiencing her fourth breakup with her partner Vince in as many years.
"He says we need time apart to work out whether we really love each other or are we just together for convenience sake," sniffs Annie, "but I can't believe I'm actually going through this again. It still hurts like hell, even the third time around."
Just like Neil Sedaka sang all those years ago, breaking up is hard to do. Extremely hard. Yet open up any gossip magazine, and breakups seem de rigueur among the glamour set.
There's Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards whose messy breakup now includes a court order, a porn addiction and a bitter custody battle; Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey's split still remains a mystery (did she cheat? Did he cry?), and we continue to wonder if Jude Law and Sienna Miller are on again or off again. (Sorry, I lost count after breakup number nine.)

So the question remains; how to breakup with as little damage as possible?
Sarah, a regular blogger, posed the question about breakup etiquette after she was given the flick via the internet after a three-year relationship.
"Mr. We've-known-each-other-for-years-and-were-good-friends-before-the-relationship, was too coward to face me at the end of the day. I haven't even been able to get my stuff back. It sucked a lot and made me feel like dirt."
According to a straw poll of recently scorned dumpees, there are many rules when it comes to breaking up: there are to be no texts, emails or technological gadgets involved. (And don't think you can hire your relative or friend to do it for you either!) Silence, avoidance tactics, and bizarre behaviour in hope that they'll dump you first, wont work either.
The "it's not you, it's me" line is like, sooo over. Don't even try the "I'm moving overseas...indefinitely," (especially incase they spot you doing the grocery shopping the following week.)
So all that's left is the straight-up version of the truth: "I'm sorry, I just don't think we're compatible". Now who can argue with that?
What is appropriate breakup etiquette? Share with us your breakup tales.

(PS. Girls, not sure whether or not to pull the plug? Forget deliberating over red wine with your sympathetic gal pals)