GTA4 was over 110 bucks when it released here

@MarkHenderson $65?

110... teh fuck

@MattBear that's a bad thing?

@MarkHenderson well, the same game used is $50

and wtf, 110?

@MarkHenderson RAAAAAAAAPE!

@MarkHenderson I don't have any problems with bratty teenagers. I glare at annoying ones and then they go away. Of course, being 6'1 in riding boots, 185lbs, usually unshaven, and wearing dusty sport leathers may might help that.

@MattBear I would love to pay 65 bucks for a boxed game

Well, no I wouldn't because I don't buy boxed games

But if I were...

@MarkHenderson taxes causing the markup?

Let's see what Steam is going to rip me off with today'

@MattBear Nope, our tax system is pretty good. Low import duties. In fact, nobody knows why shit costs so much so there was a parliamentary enquiry into price gouging and of course it revealed nothing, because nobody cooperated with it

@MarkHenderson importers marking shit up?

So Metro Last Light - $USD69.99 on steam, which is about 74 bucks after exchange rates

@MattBear Distributors. It's the same with digital downloads, not just imported goods

@MarkHenderson thats about right, isnt the conversion rate .95?

In the US it's 49.99

@MarkHenderson oh snap...

Why such a big markup on steam?

@ShaneMadden Nobody knows, but publishers set their own pricing and they don't have to explain it to anyone

@MarkHenderson Weak.

steamprices.com/au/topripoffs

@MarkHenderson whats your minimum wage?

FACEPALM

@MattBear $15.96 per hour

@MarkHenderson thats why right there

ours is $8 per hour

@MattBear I don't think it costs any money in local wages to sell games on steam

@MarkHenderson nope, but it would start causing run away inflation

literally, your burger flippers make almost as much as I do

@MattBear Yeah but everything here costs twice as much

I bought a new pair of Nike running shoes the other week. First pair of brand name shoes I've bought in 10 years. Guess how much they cost

@MarkHenderson $300

@MattBear Close

$220

This is the exact same shoe that's half the price in the US

We pay about $10,000 per sq. meter if you buy an apartment near the city

@MarkHenderson but for the average joe, takes the exact same number of working hours to pay for

@MarkHenderson So quite a bit cheaper than San Francisco or Manhattan, then?

@freiheit Not an entirely fair comparision, as you have as many people living in manhatten as we have in a whole city

Also, not as desirable on a global scale

As you move into the suburbs it becomes more pronounced

What's the "dangerous critters that kill you if they look at you funny" density in the 'burbs vs the city?

And SF is surely inflated by cashed up IT startups

@freiheit About 3-4x as many in the 'burbs as the city

(it's australia, so I assume there's at least one deadly creature in every single square meter of the continent)

oh, look, beer o clock

@freiheit If only :P

im no economics expert, but raising minimum wages that high here, would by extension raise the cost of everything else because companies now have to charge more for their goods. It would devalue the dollar, and cause inflation. Which means everything else would cost more. Pegging the the US dollars conversion rate with other countries would then artificially hold down inflation for awhile, and then you would we see what your seeing, "price gouging"

@MattBear Except digital downloads do not cost more to produce, so there's no reason for them to cost more to purchase

if you think along the lines of; "that game would take someone working at McDonald's 8 hours of work to pay for in Australia, and the same person the same number of hours of work in the US" prices are really the same

@MarkHenderson except that you can afford it, and will pay it

@MattBear If you take a mcdonalds example. But not everything is equal. If I went to work in NY right now I could almost double my salary, because IT jobs are comparatively lowly paid here.

@MattBear And that there is the real reason. We've shown that we will pay it, so they do charge it

My wife as an RN earns as much money as I do, but she only works 3 days a week

@MarkHenderson its pretty much the same where I'm out

how much are you making?

What did I miss today?

@MattBear Entire package, including car and fringe benefits, is about $65k

Take-home cash is substantially less

@MarkHenderson wow, yeah thats pretty low

though more then me lol

between two jobs =/

@MattBear And yet here it's an acceptable IT salary. I wouldn't say its an attractive salary, but it's on-par with the average

The job I was interview at for Fog Creek a while ago was into 6 figures for basically the exact same position

Exactly!

Mo' money here

@ewwhite If my wife was willing to work in the US, our combined income (hers + mine + rental income from our house here) could have paid for NY rent and our mortgage here and maintained a car lease etc etc

But, whatcha gunna do

Keep trying!

@MarkHenderson Long distance rental never works

My working conditions here are on most days, pretty damn good

(not that you want to be in the US)

So I accept a salary hit to stay working here

@ewwhite I would go for the right job

But if I'm honest it would need to be a high profile company, like FC or SE or Google or Twitter or someone

Someone that I can use when I come back here without having to explain who they are

hmmmph... high profile

I just got a request from an AUstralian company expanding into Chicago

akunacapital.com

It has an option to move there.

Sydney, I think

I'm not sure how politically-correct Australia is.

@ewwhite Why does that matter?

@JoelESalas I'm not sure how colored people are treated in Australia.

Is it more like Toronto? New York? Chicago? or Alabama?

Who's got dot11ac?

ME, BITCHES

@MDMarra OH WOW!! (said noone ever)

@ewwhite I just got contacted for a job in chicago doing system center architecture for PLA

@MDMarra Is PLA like SEC or more like HSV?

Also, Google

@ewwhite I have no fucking clue

They're some kind of consulting firm

I politely declined

You mean, "no thanks, I heard it's dangerous for people in Chicago"

The new time capsule is very oddly shaped

Might be able to get into EMC sooner than later.

Like, to work there?

Yar.

oh cool

what have I missed

Previous manager has a Lead Sys Eng. interview with them (last of 3) next week for their lab for VNX.

@MDMarra How is it? I've been getting annoyed with my wifi router, figured if I replace it I should probably get one that does .11ac.

He said that they're in the midst of building a team - and they want to utilize that position to help them hire people

@ShaneMadden Well, I had the .11n version for about 3 weeks. It was awesome

I sweet talked them into letting me swap it for the new .11ac model

@MDMarra Haha, nice. Which device?

@MDMarra Kinda like a fleshlight?

@ewwhite butt plug.

@ShaneMadden 2TB Time Capsule

@Cole word up

good luck

@MDMarra thanks.

@MDMarra Ooh, fancy.

@MDMarra All Apple products are designed to be inserted into the gay male rectum.

Even the TB Display.

Need to finish rewriting my resume - in the midst of breaking up with my girlfriend.

Welp, those are some fleshlights alright.

I'm curious about the coin slot

@ewwhite Thanks for that, totally not at work right now

@MDMarra belly button play

@JoelESalas Well, you won't be for long, anyway

NON GENDER SPECIFIC FLESHLIGHT

lol at the anus one.