Calling Cards

I haven't deleted all of mine but good portion. I am not sure truthfully.
I have been tempted few times just cause I am pretty anti-social guy sometimes.

The only use I put calling cards to at the moment is to check what friends are online at the times when Friends list is a column of "Waiting"s.

It's odd. Both Friends indicators and Calling Card updates are fed from the Presence system.
It must be that different message protocols are used, and that the Friends list is the poor relation. This seems a tad perverse.

The Inventory-searching process described in the Massively article seems over the top. I suppose many features of the Presence system were designed without considering the impact of a very large number of users (and very large Inventories)
A Just In Time ( or real time) approach to updating Calling Cards would be better that the current Just In Case.

The friends list probably downloads as a list of UUIDs that need to be resolved into actual names, if they don't resolve within a given time it seems to time out and ends up stuck as "waiting)" until something happens to cause the viewer to update the list. It's solely a viewer bug.

Calling card updates might be sent as inventory updates though, but that would create the possibility of having either be out of sync with the other (someone's calling card would show them online while the friends list shows offline or the other way around).

Glancing over the source quickly calling cards and the friends list seem to act on the same sim message(s).

DO NOT DELETE ALL OF THEM!

Serious answer this time

There was a bug, don't know if it still exists, that meant you couldn't invite people to any group without having at least one calling card in your inventory. So now I just keep one calling card.

Well this must have been fixed. I invite people to my group all the time, and i delete calling cards like the infected vermin that they are. Never had any issue.

The calling card system would work quite well as that sorta "Second tier" of contacts, if ppl would use it. Think of your friends list as kinda like the speed dial on your phone, and the calling cards like a ... physical list of.... calling cards (business cards) .. your Rolodex.

I take exception to one thing mentioned in the quoted article - the part where it says that caling cards might be in any folder at all. I have never seen a calling card residing anywhere except the proper system folder. Have you? Anyone?

The conference IM thing sounds good - I have been invited to conference IMs in the past and had now idea how it was done. Conference IM adds another layer of group communication. Suppose you are the Hangout:
LEVEL 1 - open chat.
LEVEL 2 - group IM, where conversation can be widespread among the group but to the exclusion of non-group individuals present.
LEVEL 3 - you and your 2 best friends can make fun of everyone else in conference IM while ...
LEVEL 4 - you schmooze your honey in 1/1 IM.

Hmmm... damn, I thought I had too many windows to keep track of already! My potential for an embarassing WW gaff just increased twelvefold I think.

I have found one good use for calling cards: to give an item you only need drop it on the person's calling card. It takes a lot less time than sending through their profile. Other than that I daresay I would not miss the calling card file at all.

Just like landmarks or anything else for that matter, they can be moved. I can see where it could be useful for business owners to have seperate folders for employees and contacts for each seperate venture especially for the conference IM's.

but to answer your question, no, I have not personally seen a calling in any folder but the default one. Nor have I ever moved one out of that folder other than to delete it.

Calling cards are an under utilized resource. Like so much of SL, I just never knew they could be used in the different ways mentioned here.

Yes - I have made a series of subfolders under the Calling Card system folder - lets me start group chats easy. Also, with the calling cards out of the root of the system folder, inventory opens a bit easier.

My point as that the article made it sound as if SL may drop them at random into various folders. IME that doesnt' happen, as Melissa confirmed directly and Koroko confirmed indirectly.

This is what calling cards do.

[Edit: Karl said it first. ]

[Edit 2: Hmm I thought that the Calling Cards also bolded onlines even if that person isn't on my friends list. Be interesting to check with my alt.]

I really hope they don't mess with caling cards, I confess I already delete some people of my friends list but keep the card, why? well, sometimes we are offered friendship and then we don't talk with them for ages, but we never know if in the future we find something that that person would like to know/receive, so I just go to my caling cards' folders and send it or see the profile... I have them all organized by folders and subfolders even in RL I have all my (almot 800 contacts organized in excel file, business and personal contacts) and frankly I think its a joke some of you are saying that deleting 200 or 300 callling cards will afect your inventory speed... you must be kiding for sure, lots of you have for sure fat packs of hair with 72 colors, I know at leats 2 brands that sell them.

I found them a good way to communicate with friends if search and groups are down, (I remember those days, and people say SL is at it's worst , Pffft!)
I wish I could give copies of other peoples calling cards to people, I usually delete all the ones for people I don't communicate with regularly.

Well, to add to this discussion - I deleted the 292 calling cards and my teleports have gotten MUCH faster, without making any other changes.

Connected? I don't know, but worth noting.