Patrick Rafter, ebullient VP of communications at Bluesocket Inc., is leaving the world of wireless LANs for a position at Internet search startup Endeca Technologies Inc.

Rafter tells Unstrung he is leaving Bluesocket after three years on the job because he's looking for a new challenge.

"I'm more of an ideas guy and less of a maintenance guy," Rafter confesses. [Ed. note: 'Round here "ideas guy" is code for "lazy f***er."] "Business is good at Bluesocket," Rafter adds, anticipating the obvious questions about the status of the startup -- which develops appliances that can secure and manage networks of 802.11 access points -- in the increasingly competitive world of enterprise wireless LAN (see Bluesocket's Big Beast for more on the firm's technology).

Still, there appears to be something of a changing of the guard at Bluesocket. Rafter's departure follows that of CEO Eric Janszen last December. The firm is still looking for a new chief and has taken on Peter Smith as "executive chairman" to run the business in the interim (see Bluesocket CEO Unplugged ).

There's no word as yet on how Rafter will manage to maintain his position as a tennis god at Endeca.

New balls please!

— Dan Jones, Site Editor, Unstrung