As for #2, what you're seeing is actually a fix. It used to be a lot worse. Instead of making the interface look broken, it now displays a default avatar when the busy-img server goes down. Sometimes the server goes down, I believe they're working to make it better. But anytime you see that, it typically means the server is down and will be back up in a few minutes.
RE: High Five improvement suggestions for New Busy Interface #1