For a long time, software was considered by patent law as a form of applied math.

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He wanted to move on to college to study applied math and computer science.

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"Jeff has very strong applied-math capabilities, " says Andrew Braccia, an Accel Partners venture capitalist who worked with Weiner at Yahoo.

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Afterward, three upperclassmen an applied-math major from Queens, Divya Narendra, and twins from Greenwich, Connecticut, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss approached Zuckerberg for assistance with a site that they had been working on, called Harvard Connection.

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From the present vantage point, this seems bizarre, but remember that the math was simpler back then and always applied in a mechanical context.

FORBES: The Big Fix #3: How To Untangle The Mess With Software Patents