Do you see a link in the upper right corner that says "Turn BG Images ON"? I'm using Emerald, but I think that was also an option in the normal SL viewer, as well. And now that you mention it, I'm not getting any images today, either. I know I saw them yesterday, and I didn't turn BG Images off. Turning them on isn't helping right now, either. Maybe SL is glitchy today. (I know, I know...hard to believe. But there's even lag now and again... )
As for Snowglobe, it's another viewer: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Snowglobe