Amid its quest for profits, Twitter Inc. has a proposition for programmers: Whisper a password, hand over five hundred dollars, and prepare to pound the microblogging startup's servers hard, all night.

That's the premise behind Twitter Chirp, also known as the first-ever Official Twitter Developer's

Conference, which will include a 24-hour programming marathon modeled on Yahoo's "Hack Day" events.

It looks like there will be plenty of booze to lubricate the proceedings; Twitter engineers to help with topics like "Streaming;" and a big bacchanal at the end. The vaguely erotic undertones are just a bonus.

To register, you need a modicum of technical expertise to figure out the password — how very underground! — and $470:



More than 90 people have signed in the last few hours alone, including Yahoo, Microsoft, shill brokerage Izea, software maker HootSuite and Zip Realty.

But we wouldn't expect Twitter Inc. to make much, if any, money on the even: Microsoft charges upwards of $2,000 for its own, more buttoned-down developers conference.

(Top pic: Twitter founders Ev Williams and Biz Stone, by Mathieu Thouvenin)