Why base 30? That's 10 digits and 26 letters, minus 6 vowels "to avoid the possibility of the algorithm inadvertently generating real words that could be offensive". Funny.
So it's useful. As far as I'm aware nobody's ever done it before, which makes it both non-obvious and novel. Those are the three tests of a patent. If you don't want to use it, keep using base 10. If you do want to use it, at least give Microsoft credit for coming up with a reasonably clever idea. As another poster pointed out, this is the type of patent MS usually uses defensively, so that nobody goes out and patents an idea they're already using in live software.
As for nobody ever doing this before, wrong (pretty much).
One application where I work had to write unique alpha-numeric labels on boxes. A LOT of them. For the USPS.
Of course, there were certain words that we were not allowed to generate. What were they? They could not tell us, as that would require them use the forbidden words. {sigh...}
What was settled on was alpha-numerics without the vowles, so that words could not be generated by accident.
So, while person 'X' may have never though of or heard of this before, chances are person 'Y' thinks this is old hat.
Slashdot Mirror
One application where I work had to write unique alpha-numeric labels on boxes. A LOT of them. For the USPS.
Of course, there were certain words that we were not allowed to generate. What were they? They could not tell us, as that would require them use the forbidden words. {sigh...}
What was settled on was alpha-numerics without the vowles, so that words could not be generated by accident.
So, while person 'X' may have never though of or heard of this before, chances are person 'Y' thinks this is old hat.