It's called Hacker News. Didn't he hack his way into the restaurants?

It was an entertaining article, granted, but I disagree that greasing palms to get a table at a restaurant is a hack.

Maybe I'm just bitter at the overuse of the word nowadays.

"Dude! I totally hacked that cereal into my mouth with a spoon!"

I agree, the word "hack" is overused. But if you go by the jargon file definition, you can apply it to almost anything.

"hack [very common]

1. n. Originally, a quick job that produces what is needed, but not well.

2. n. An incredibly good, and perhaps very time-consuming, piece of work that produces exactly what is needed."

He got into the restaurant. Whether greasing palms is "not well" or "incredibly well" is up you ;)

Social engineering?

I think many HN readers dream of getting rich and dining at the best NY restaurants.