This is actually a fairly clever and atypical approach to hiring. I agree that the meaning of "hacking" is often stretched, and maybe this is one of those case

This is actually a fairly clever and atypical approach to hiring. I agree that the meaning of "hacking" is often stretched, and maybe this is one of those cases, but it's hardly the worst. (However, like the Microsoft/Google brainteaser interviews, I could see these little extraneous tasks getting pretty annoying if they became widespread.)