Base24 IDs and encodings

24-symbol character set.

Higher absolute values or higher-resolution divisions than decimal or hexadecimal expressions.

Randomized IDs are unique.

With 48 Base-24 characters, even offline-generated IDs are extremely unlikely to collide.

Standardized encodings are concise.

Extremely short expressions of common types of data like dates, times, and locations.

The “Bravo Niner” character set, BCDFGHJKLMNPQRSTVWXZ6789, is easy to use.

Easily read: no lookalike characters.

Whether handwritten or on screen, every character has a distinct shape. No differentiating between O and 0, or I and 1. These characters aren't in the character set.

Easily spoken: uses standard phonetic alphabet.

All military, pilots, radio amateurs, and many others already use the well-known ITU phonetic alphabet. That's why this character set is called “Bravo Niner,” for the characters from B to 9.

No vowels: no accidental words.

Whether randomly-chosen or sequential, no names or obscenities will appear in your IDs.

No special characters: letters and numbers only.

No punctuation, no escaping, and no case sensitivity.

Easy to infer from a few rules, even without references.

From all letters and numbers, omit the vowels (including Y), omit the numbers 0-5, and you're left with the 24 unique symbols of the “Bravo Niner” character set.

Sequences can be divided easily.

24 is evenly divisible by 12, 8, 6, 4, 3, and 2. Most people have an intuitive grasp on these divisions from the hours in a day.

Using “Bravo Niner” encodings and IDs:

Encodings: Location - Date/time - Text

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