Where's everything at with the recent issues? There's a lot been going on -- not all of it, apparently, effective.

• Search > Places -- Still inoperable, though the other search functions have come back up.
• Partnering -- Still not fully functional.
• Group notices -- Not working, but fixed internally. Scheduled for a subsequent release.
• Database load issues -- A rolling update ran today from 15:20SLT to 17:25SLT. No word on whether that has caused any improvements. However, shortly after it finished at 18:10SLT we got notification of database issues affecting rezzing, teleportation, L$ balances appearing and presumably all the usual suspects.

Second Life is a complex group of interoperating pieces of software, and Linden Lab doesn't have the luxury of just closing the grind down for a week or two to do what must be done. Obviously, Linden Lab are not having fun right now. Neither are many residents.

"I am logging out until this blows over," said one new resident. Another, "This stinks. I don't know why I even bother logging in. Maybe next week."

Nobody Fugazi was more understanding, having been through similar things from the other side. "Being on the bleeding edge sucks sometimes," said Fugazi, "It's a matter of perceptions. Linden Lab is in uncharted territory, and I've sort of been in those shoes a few times... so I'm more relaxed about it. I didn't build my foundation on virtual property, so I expect the big businesses are REALLY crying... but they should expect this sort of thing now and then. It's one of the costs of doing business in a virtual world which is never complete."

"Can it scale indefinitely? Absolutely. It can scale to infinity. The underlying architecture of the Internet and of 'Second Life' is perfectly scalable." - Philip Rosedale, June 2006.

Less than six months on, that opinion looks to be on shakier ground.

"To infinity and beyond!" -- Buzz Lightyear, 1995.