I implemented Yahoo BOSS as the backstop search engine for Serendeputy a couple of months ago.

When you do a search, I first look to see if I have a match among the pre-compiled topics. If you do, I bring you directly there. If you don’t have a direct match, I do a call to Yahoo BOSS’s news search and show you those results.

But now, Microsoft is handling all the search for Yahoo. What does this mean for the future of BOSS? I hope they keep it up and running. Here is the current news.

UPDATE: It looks like Yahoo’s developers don’t know what’s happening with it either.

What specifically does it mean for BOSS? Honestly the team is still absorbing the implications and we just don’t know. We can tell you that BOSS will remain live for the time being. There are many aspects still to be considered. Over the next several days we’ll be working hard to get clarity and will update the community as soon as we can.

Larry Cheng writes this morning about his affinity for “missionary CEO’s vs. mercenary CEO’s.”

Over this past year, I have come to appreciate why you invest in missionary CEO’s.  Despite one of the most challenging economic times in a century, all of my CEO’s exhibited incredible leadership, drive, and passion through thick and thin.  In the darkest moments of this past year, they all demonstrated unwavering commitment and enthusiasm that carried their companies through.  While I don’t know what the future holds for these companies or for the economy, I do know that I am very proud to be associated with each and every one of my CEOs.  They are all great leaders and even better people – worthy of being called missionary CEO’s.

I hope that I can qualify as a visionary CEO. I know what I want Serendeputy to be, and I’m keeping as close to that vision as possible. About 75 people are using it right now, and I hope it’s delighting them.

After reading the comments in Fred Wilson’s piece about American Express, I’m really nervous about continuing to work with them. I have all the servers automatically paid with my Corporate Amex card. If their systems are this brittle, I’m no longer sure that’s the best way to handle it.