Bitwise allows for animated GIFs right in Project Editor, so showing a popup with one for X amount of seconds is easy. I may put up a new splash image in the next couple days, however.

I have been working on a "media" collage graphic that could be used as a universal please wait splash, I could just add the text manually. it is actually pretty cool and I had other plans for it. The hourglass thing seems a bit overused.

Are you using Bitwise templates or do you create the projects yourself?