Ways to greet others?

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One thing I've been thinking a lot about lately is how to appropriately greet people in public. I guess the wearing sunglasses trick to avoid someone doesn't cut it anymore, right?

If anyone has any tips to contribute,for when you see someone in passing on the street and shout a quick "hello!", what are some things to keep in mind? I'm talking eye contact, body language and things to say so that it doesn't drag on too much... when it does drag on, how long should the conversation be, and what kind of body language should be employed?

I'll start: I've found that, when you see someone you know coming, you look around a little and then make eye contact when you're about 10 feet away, so as not to make it too awkward...

I'll be writing about this in my blog (on my Blogspot account), and I will credit your comment with your username. I would be highly appreciative if any of you have some good advice! It's something I've been meaning to work on myself, and it could benefit others as well. So thanks in advance!

Give a smile and a wave. Ask what they are up to - that way you should get an idea how long the conversation should be. If they are on a short break and heading back to work, then obviously keep the conversation short. If they have just started their break it could go a bit longer or you could accompany them to lunch - if that isn't too much pressure on you.
Keep smiling, make eye contact, don't look over their shoulder, talk with your hands (not too much), nod and say a few words to show that you are listening i.e "I see, oh that is very interesting", etc. My friend always clarifies what I say to avoid any misinterpretation.
If you're in a hurry then just bring it up and end the conversation saying 'I've got to run' and giving a courteous farewell.
My problem is when someone is saying something that doesn't interest me it's hard to give a reply. My NT ex-boyfriend was really good at keeping a conversation going even if he wasn't interested in it. I could never understand why he even bothered or how he even bothered.
Sometimes when I do lose concentration I try to get it back by looking at the persons face and leaning forward, so I don't get any further distractions.

I almost never go out of my way to greet someone who isn't looking in my direction. I mean, if I'm walking down the aisle in the grocery store, and I pass another mom who I recognize from my kids' school, I'll smile and say hello if they happen to look in my direction, but I won't try to get them to turn around and see me. Actually, a few months ago, I saw one of my son's classmates with her mother. The girl had an exceptionally cute new haircut. I don't usually notice things like this, but her haircut was very flattering, and I decided to say so. So I did, and she said thank you. But then I was stuck in this horrendous "conversation" with her mother, which basically consisted of the mom badgering her kid to say thank you (which the kid had already done.) I wanted to say, "I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to your daughter.")

In general, I assume that if people want to be social, they will look around at people and make eye contact. If they aren't looking around at people, I assume they are happy in their own space, and I don't want to intrude. One in a while some pudgy old codger will come up to me, and invade my personal space to tell me that they went to high school with me, and they spend the next ten minutes listing off all the people they think I ought to remember. It's so tedious. I don't want to be like that, so mostly I ignore people.