Gnome Disable Login Splash Screen

To remove the login Splash:

use the gconf editor. (The Ubuntu Package is called gconf-editor)

from the command line type:
(Note: do this as the user you want to apply this setting for not root)

gconf-editor

Then Navigate to: /apps/gnome-session/options/

and uncheck the show_splash_screen key

Alternately type this at the command line:

gconftool-2 \
--type bool \
--set /apps/gnome-session/options/show_splash_screen false