Where are people getting that rotating loading image?

Question

I keep running across this loading image

http://georgia.ubuntuforums.com/images/misc/lightbox_progress.gif

which seems to have entered into existence in the last 18 months. All of a sudden it is in every application and is on every web site. Not wanting to be left out is there somewhere I can get this logo, perhaps with a transparent background? Also where did it come from?

Answer 1

You can get many different AJAX loading animations in any colour you want here: ajaxload.info

Answer 2

I believe the animation came from the Mac OS X loading screen. Here's a similar one with a transparent background:

alt text http://homepage.mac.com/xraydoc/.Pictures/spinner.gif