From 8AM SLT today to 11AM, Linden Lab's published population statistics were offline due to periodic database load issues, however. The last reported figure for total signups at 7AM was 2,978,748. When the data feed returned at 11AM, the new figure being reported was 3,018,934, well into 3 million. This beats my flat-growth prediction by about a week and a half.It is to be noted, that this reflects signups, not paying subscribers (approximately 55 thousand on the 24th of January [Thanks, Zee Linden]), and Second Life's retention rate at last report was 10 percent at 90 days. Indeed, many people sign up for a Second Life account and do not log in within 60 days (back of the envelope calculations based on Linden Lab's published statistical data say around 8,500 per day sign up but don't log in).
