I do have a final interview at a big and well-renown company soon, and its kind of acting as leverage. I didn't mean for it, but the recruiter asked me where else I was interviewing and I was honest about it. That sped up the interview process quite a bit.

I do feel like the place is a nice one to work at. I like many of the people i interviewed with. But honestly, I'm the kind of person who dedicates a significant effort to his job. And I just want to be compensated well for it.

Honestly, having an idea of the progression of salaries of good programmers would be something I would really be interested in, just to have something to compare against. Right now, I'm out in the dark: I have to ask friends, and they are very reluctant to disclose that kind of information.