Sudoku and nothing

Dan has given me an excellent way to look at research or other ideas, adapted from a David Letterman bit: is this something, or is it just nothing?

Here's one that seems to be nothing: a computer scientist has come up with an algorithm for Sudoku. And (surprise!) the algorithm is exactly how everyone already solves Sudoku puzzles. Nor is this strategy very interesting algorithmically, as it ends up being a regular old constraint satisfaction search.