So here is the question, in an increasingly connected world, is 15 minutes of fame still the rule? After all, the web has given us the dancing baby, the numa numa dance, the light saber kid, and so on. Who else? Ana Marie Cox, where are you now? My passion for Wonkette has been been trending south since the day she left, supposedly for greener pastures. How have those worked out? Hard to say – she has dropped off the political and zeitgeist maps all of a sudden – but remember when she was the hot new face of the web? Cool/savvy/smart/attractive web-centered view of the politics and media of the future. Now, 15 minutes later and she’s gone. Poof. What makes me think about this? Well, consider RocketBoom. Some people see the hype and froth around Amanda Congdon’s departure from this program as the breathless reshaping of the world talent market, yet another example of the democratization of the web, where real talent will be discovered sitting in front of PCs and then will become rich and powerful beyond their wildest dreams. Me? It’s 15 minutes of fame writ large, with Amanda in the role of the web’s latest “it girl,” soon to join Ana Marie Cox wherever she has gone.