It is like fining somebody for leaving their door unlocked and they get burglarized.
I'm not sure I agree with your analogy. If someone owns something which is both desirable & dangerous (ie handguns, swimming pools, etc) they are required by either laws or insurance premiums to secure it.
I belive the same argument can be made for the internet. Sure the concequences aren't as severe (children having access to unfiltered content & computer virii instead of, well, death and injury), but neither are the punishments under this law with just a fine comparable to that of a speeding ticket.
Negligence is a crime, and negligent computer users are quite responsible for the botnets/internet congestion/virus outbreaks which affect us all in some way (though some, but certainly not all, of that blame can be directed at vendors). We won't see any changes until we hold users responsible for their (in)actions.
I'm aware of the rather rapid improvements, particuarly with the Gnome desktop and Ubuntu & Fedora distros. IMHO its become a quite usable desktop recently.
But it doesn't change the fact that OSS developers are still a couple years behind MS in the UI department, who is in turn a couple years behind Apple (I use all 3 daily). Frankly, it doesn't suprise me... consistency/usability/documentation are the most boring parts of software development (at least IMHO), its not the kind of work that I'd be doing without a nice fat paycheck.
is the open source community's biggest weakness. I don't see a group whose expertise does not include consistency and documentation working for free to save a clunky device which offers no price/performance advantage over the iPod (a $365 price tag).
WHere do you think we will be getting the energy for hydrogen seperation?
From electricity, I would imagine. The vast majority of which is produced using domestic coal (of which there is not a shortage of, at least not in the near future), and a reasonable chunk is hydroelectric & nuclear. The advantage of gasoline is merely portability, so it's used in transportation and generally not power generation.
The environmental effects of burning coal at power plants vs. burning gasoline in small engines is debateable (I really haven't the foggiest), but its certainly easier to regulate/maintain/upgrade a centeralized electric grid than the ungodly number of vehicles out there.
But bottom line, fuel cells can reduce our dependency on (finite) foreign oil, and that's huge. It means stable energy prices, American jobs (since power/refining is done locally), and reduced tension between ourselves in the Mideast (the exact reasons for all of our turmoil is also debatable, but certainly a reduced presence in the region would give them less things to be upset at us about).
I logon as a normal (i.e. limited) user, so unless there's an unknown security hole (every exploit known so far uses a known security hole and I patch quickly) then my whole system will not be compromised. My local account might be affected, but that concept applies to OS X too.
What you're saying is technicaly correct, but I'd have to agree with the OP. Limited accounts are not the default in Windows (so most people don't use them), and there are a lot of apps out there that either require Admin privleges to run or are not properly designed for multi-user environments.
Just what is the "Women's Institute"? And is there a "Men's Institute"?
'Women's Institute' is a euphemism for 'bored pseudo-intellectual activist housewives with no particular expertise'. I'm not sure what the male equivelent is. Maybe the Elk's club?
Re:Who's bloated and where?
on
OpenOffice Bloated?
·
· Score: 2, Informative
Anyone running OpenOffice on a Mac want to add another data point where MS doesn't have code "hidden" in the OS?
I've wondered that myself, but unfortunatley its rather difficult to make that comparison. MSO for the Mac uses Apple's native Quartz windowing system, whereas there really isn't a full port of OOo to the Mac yet - you have to choose between OOo for X11 or NeoOffice (Java-heavy OOo)... both of which tend to be incomplete and/or several versions behind. Since the X11 emulator and JVM are launched on demand of the apps, OOo will always feel quite sluggish, and its difficult do determine how much of the RAM footprint is due to that key difference. Its a real drag, which is why I abandoned OOo in favor of MSO on my powerbook, whereas OOo on my Linux & Windows PC's is just fine and dandy.
Kind of a tangent, but I would be interested to see the memory comparison of MSO to iWork. Of course, then we're trusting that Apple doesn't "hide" any code;)
It takes more energy to produce biofuel than you get from the biofuel
That's debatable, and IMHO doubtful. Besides, the energy yield doesn't matter that much, the advantage of biodeisel is that it is a substitute for gasoline (and uses the same infrastructure, etc). The fact that it costs more energy to make is irrelevant when the other energy source in question - electricity (via coal/nuclear) - is not in short supply.
Quick read
fuel cells are method of storage, what are you going to "charge" them with once we are on a decline curve?"
We have several hundred years worth of coal, more than a little bit worth of nuclear (don't know off the top of my head), and an unlimited supply of nautural renewable sources. The decline curve that we're forseeing is for gasoline, not coal, not nuclear, and not natural.
Almost all of France's power comes from Nuclear, and it's the one thing they seem to be better than us in;)
I would probably replace the word 'better' with 'more reckless', given the population density of the nation... there really aren't safe (ie uninhabited) places to put reactors in Europe. Nuclear seems to make more sense for the US/Canada/Russia/etc.
If you want a model energy grid, look at Iceland's geothermal plants or Denmark's wind generators... not France's half-assed solution.
Besides, in terms of pollution & fuel supply, the gasoline infrastructure is a much bigger problem.
Our ability to extract coal is entirely dependent upon cheap oil (makes/powers the mining and transportation equipment). If we pass the decline curve for oil, there will be alot of homes going without power along with other necessities.
No, gasoline is simply the most cost efficent portable fuel. There is no technical reason at the moment that it couldn't be replaced by biodesiel and/or electric power (fuel cells, etc)... its just not cost efficent - yet.
The closer we get to the decline curve, the more cost efficent alternate fuel sources become. Anyone who thinks that we will actually pass the decline curve isn't factoring in basic economics, or they seriously believe that either a) there aren't viable alternatives or b) we have grossly over-estimated current oil reserves (ie the artifically low prices are preventing transition, and when we realize the error there will be insufficient time/fuel to replace the infrastructure).
Very true. But I'm well aware of (and have traveled on) the European rail systems and the commuter rails/subways of Boston/DC/NYC/San Francisco.
I guess I should have been more specific. Why do you suppose it is that the rail system doesn't see more use in the US, outside of subways/short commuter rails? The initial thought is probably population density, but the US Northeast is quite densly packed.
The reason I don't take the train from home (Greater Boston) to NYC (a 3 1/2 hour train or bus ride) is simply cost. The train is USD $99, wheras the same bus is $30, and driving to a Metro North commuter rail stop in CT $20 in gas, $5 in train fare, and $8 in overnight parking.
Anways, I was wondering if the US rail system is just horribly mismanaged, or if its a function of population/geography, and what the Chinese/Tibetan border is like in comparison...
but what advantage does the railroad have over trucks/busses or planes? I was under the impression that they're rather dangerous and costly in comparison. I mean, here in the US Amtrak is struggling because of the derailings and the fact that it just isn't cost efficent... am I missing something?
I'm guessing: You have done no reading. You are using verbal devices to avoid seeing that your government needs serious attention from you.
Well, it's a rather poor guess. I've done a lot of reading. I do my best to get a variety of sources in there, but most of my mornings are spent on the NY Times, BBC and Wikipedia over coffee. But reading changes nothing, so I try to stay active as much as I can. It's a little frustrating watching Florida and Ohio decide our future when I live in a hard blue state (Rhode Island) and don't have any serious gripes with my reps voting record (Senators Chafee & Lincoln, and Reps. Langevin & Kennedy).
But I'd like to see more vocal opposition to some of the abuses in Washington and the piss-poor execution of the Iraq war, so I'll be supporting Jenifer Lawless (a professor at Brown University challenging Langevin) in Newport come midterms next November. I'm crossing my fingers that the famously anti-pork-barreling Senator McCain runs for president, but its a little soon and IMHO the neo-con reign of terror will be over before then, given the simultaneous (but independent) corruption charges facing Karl Rove, Bill Frist, and Tom DeLay and the problems in New Orleans & Iraq.
Kind of an aside, but "your government"? If you don't live in the US as well, which nation to you happen to hail from that is so free of corruption that you're time is best spent researching & trying to improve someone elses country?
Are you suggesting that those that have power occasionaly abuse it? Shocking.
I mean I'm glad you're aware of some of the nonsense that's going on, but making vauge blanket statements with little proof (I don't consider Andy Rooney & what appears to be your website which lists Michel Moore as a reference to be authoratative sources) and no suggestions on how to imporove the situation is rather unhelpful, not to mention offtopic, isn't it?
everyone else is still ahead with core features like integrity
I've heard a lot of complaints regarding MySQL integrity. For the record proper transactions have been around for ages, and 5.0 has largely corrected the remaining integrity problems with triggers and the Server Mode variable (options to prevent the insertion of 'bad' data). IMHO, it's the most important new feature. Why they haven't made a bigger deal about it is beyond me...
And we need to stop saying "everyone is ahead of MySQL" when the only valid comparison is Postgres. The difference isn't that huge these days, they're both great products. To anyone who thinks Postgres is better across the board, I say 'vaccum'.
You're equating intellegence with poor social skills, hygene, and appearance. A big mistake really.
The reall issue is that law & buisness - though largely unhelpful to society as a whole - is more lucrative in the West, and therefore draws a LOT of talent that would be better used elsewhere. Until scientists have the same job security, paycheck, and respect/decision-making power as said buisness criminals, the field will only be able to draw dedicated (though not nessicaraly more intellegent) people.
Don't equate a skeptic and a fundamentalist - the key difference being a skeptic will change/re-evaluate his position when given new evidence. Having a group of people who don't listen to reason in charge of the show doesn't help society progress - its divisive and only results in more fundamentalists on both sides.
That is exactly the point of bicameral systems. If everything was representative then people in California will be getting all the pork they want, while smaller states will descend into political meaninglessness
Of course I'm aware of the intentions of the bicameral system. I used the word 'antiquated' because the system was based on two key assumptions which are no longer true, namely:
That the scope of federal power would be fairly narrow (army, currency, etc), with most legislation at the state level.
That population densities and percentage of large vs small states would not change significantly.
Thanks Bush for being such a dork that even Iran, China, and some African countries to be named later have more pull in the UN that us.....
And that is exactly why the UN has failed as a decision making body. Its great to have a place where every nation can voice its concerns; the open dialog very well may have prevented larger conflics (particularly during the Cold War).
But to actually have the UN vote and try to regulate things is absurd. Nevermind the fact that the UN cannot deploy troops or embargo (thus any 'resolution' is merely a suggestion), it isn't even cose to a real representative democracy. Example: Africa has about 2.5 times the population of the US (not to mention a fraction of the economy and education/human rights/etc), but it gets 54 times as many votes due to the sheer number independent states within the continent. Is it really a suprise that the UN is so anti-US & anti-Israel, and has yet to really achieve anything in regards to improving human rights around the world?
Incidentaly, an antiquidated representative scheme is the reason that the US has that retard in office in the first place. California has 33 million people, 53 reps, 2 senators. Wyoming has a half million people, 1 rep, and 2 senators. Sooooo.... a Californian's representative vote is worth about 67 times less that of a (statisticaly less educated) Wyoming resident's vote in the Senate, and 3.5 times less in the presidental election.
Now that Postgres has a pretty easy to use Windows installer, the benefits of MySQL are gone (though it befuddles me that *Windows*, of all things is what made MySQL successful in the first place).
The obvious counter argument is now that MySQL 5.0 supports strict data integrity, stored procedures, triggers, cursors, information schema, and database links, the benefits of Postres are gone.
But that too would be an oversimplification. Really, they're both excellent products, and which one you use is a matter of buisness needs and personal preference.
The US didn't invent the world but they want to control that.
Come on now, enough with the hyperbole. The US has been a superpower for 60 years, the beginning of which was marked with rebuilding Europe and Japan insead of enjoying the spoils of war, then turned to creating international organizations like NATO and the UN as a response to Soviet expansion, and then worked to clean up hotspots like Yugoslavia, Kuwait, and Bosnia.
I can't say I approve every US action in that span of time (particularly in South America and Southeast Asia), but the basis of comparison is the Europeans. This is a group of people who, when they had the power to, raped and pillaged the rest of the planet for 500 years, before just about destroying themselves in two wars. Now suddenly they're the moral compass for the rest of the planet?
PM TB has said that the climate isn't right for the Euro in the UK yet, well no shit.
The translation to the "the climate isn't right yet" is "the Pound is stronger than the Euro at the moment";)
Whenever I visit the states and I inform a local i'm British the response is often "I'd love to goto Europe one day" or some such thing, not regarding the UK at all. This is like calling Canadians or Brazilians, 'Americans', geographically it's correct, but at the same time it seems very odd and people from these nations might even be slightly offended
Its a flawed analogy. Calling a Brit a European is geograhpicaly and culturally correct, wheras the phrase 'American' is shorthand for 'United States Citizen'. Canada and the US are geographicaly large enough that there is no need for a blanket term for them (though they are culturaly similar, so a mix up isn't an issue), and the Spanish/Portugese influenced nations are collectivley referred to as 'Latin America', an individual from said nation is said to be 'Hispanic' or 'Latin'.
Perhaps it bothers you when I use the more general term, but then again, you effectivley refered to me as an 'American' instead of the more specific 'New Englander' which I more closely associate with. 'Old' England isn't much bigger than New England;)
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It is like fining somebody for leaving their door unlocked and they get burglarized.
I'm not sure I agree with your analogy. If someone owns something which is both desirable & dangerous (ie handguns, swimming pools, etc) they are required by either laws or insurance premiums to secure it.
I belive the same argument can be made for the internet. Sure the concequences aren't as severe (children having access to unfiltered content & computer virii instead of, well, death and injury), but neither are the punishments under this law with just a fine comparable to that of a speeding ticket.
Negligence is a crime, and negligent computer users are quite responsible for the botnets/internet congestion/virus outbreaks which affect us all in some way (though some, but certainly not all, of that blame can be directed at vendors). We won't see any changes until we hold users responsible for their (in)actions.
I'm aware of the rather rapid improvements, particuarly with the Gnome desktop and Ubuntu & Fedora distros. IMHO its become a quite usable desktop recently.
But it doesn't change the fact that OSS developers are still a couple years behind MS in the UI department, who is in turn a couple years behind Apple (I use all 3 daily). Frankly, it doesn't suprise me... consistency/usability/documentation are the most boring parts of software development (at least IMHO), its not the kind of work that I'd be doing without a nice fat paycheck.
is the open source community's biggest weakness. I don't see a group whose expertise does not include consistency and documentation working for free to save a clunky device which offers no price/performance advantage over the iPod (a $365 price tag).
WHere do you think we will be getting the energy for hydrogen seperation?
From electricity, I would imagine. The vast majority of which is produced using domestic coal (of which there is not a shortage of, at least not in the near future), and a reasonable chunk is hydroelectric & nuclear. The advantage of gasoline is merely portability, so it's used in transportation and generally not power generation.
The environmental effects of burning coal at power plants vs. burning gasoline in small engines is debateable (I really haven't the foggiest), but its certainly easier to regulate/maintain/upgrade a centeralized electric grid than the ungodly number of vehicles out there.
But bottom line, fuel cells can reduce our dependency on (finite) foreign oil, and that's huge. It means stable energy prices, American jobs (since power/refining is done locally), and reduced tension between ourselves in the Mideast (the exact reasons for all of our turmoil is also debatable, but certainly a reduced presence in the region would give them less things to be upset at us about).
I logon as a normal (i.e. limited) user, so unless there's an unknown security hole (every exploit known so far uses a known security hole and I patch quickly) then my whole system will not be compromised. My local account might be affected, but that concept applies to OS X too.
What you're saying is technicaly correct, but I'd have to agree with the OP. Limited accounts are not the default in Windows (so most people don't use them), and there are a lot of apps out there that either require Admin privleges to run or are not properly designed for multi-user environments.
Just what is the "Women's Institute"? And is there a "Men's Institute"?
'Women's Institute' is a euphemism for 'bored pseudo-intellectual activist housewives with no particular expertise'. I'm not sure what the male equivelent is. Maybe the Elk's club?
Anyone running OpenOffice on a Mac want to add another data point where MS doesn't have code "hidden" in the OS?
;)
I've wondered that myself, but unfortunatley its rather difficult to make that comparison. MSO for the Mac uses Apple's native Quartz windowing system, whereas there really isn't a full port of OOo to the Mac yet - you have to choose between OOo for X11 or NeoOffice (Java-heavy OOo)... both of which tend to be incomplete and/or several versions behind. Since the X11 emulator and JVM are launched on demand of the apps, OOo will always feel quite sluggish, and its difficult do determine how much of the RAM footprint is due to that key difference. Its a real drag, which is why I abandoned OOo in favor of MSO on my powerbook, whereas OOo on my Linux & Windows PC's is just fine and dandy.
Kind of a tangent, but I would be interested to see the memory comparison of MSO to iWork. Of course, then we're trusting that Apple doesn't "hide" any code
It takes more energy to produce biofuel than you get from the biofuel
That's debatable, and IMHO doubtful. Besides, the energy yield doesn't matter that much, the advantage of biodeisel is that it is a substitute for gasoline (and uses the same infrastructure, etc). The fact that it costs more energy to make is irrelevant when the other energy source in question - electricity (via coal/nuclear) - is not in short supply. Quick read
fuel cells are method of storage, what are you going to "charge" them with once we are on a decline curve?"
We have several hundred years worth of coal, more than a little bit worth of nuclear (don't know off the top of my head), and an unlimited supply of nautural renewable sources. The decline curve that we're forseeing is for gasoline, not coal, not nuclear, and not natural.
Pfft, what's the problem? Uranium's half life is only ~760 million years. It'll be gone before you know it.
Almost all of France's power comes from Nuclear, and it's the one thing they seem to be better than us in ;)
I would probably replace the word 'better' with 'more reckless', given the population density of the nation... there really aren't safe (ie uninhabited) places to put reactors in Europe. Nuclear seems to make more sense for the US/Canada/Russia/etc.
If you want a model energy grid, look at Iceland's geothermal plants or Denmark's wind generators... not France's half-assed solution.
Besides, in terms of pollution & fuel supply, the gasoline infrastructure is a much bigger problem.
Our ability to extract coal is entirely dependent upon cheap oil (makes/powers the mining and transportation equipment). If we pass the decline curve for oil, there will be alot of homes going without power along with other necessities.
... its just not cost efficent - yet.
No, gasoline is simply the most cost efficent portable fuel. There is no technical reason at the moment that it couldn't be replaced by biodesiel and/or electric power (fuel cells, etc)
The closer we get to the decline curve, the more cost efficent alternate fuel sources become. Anyone who thinks that we will actually pass the decline curve isn't factoring in basic economics, or they seriously believe that either a) there aren't viable alternatives or b) we have grossly over-estimated current oil reserves (ie the artifically low prices are preventing transition, and when we realize the error there will be insufficient time/fuel to replace the infrastructure).
But having said that, what personal information have you actually sent to Google (searching habits excluded)?
Um, does all of my Gmail count?
Very true. But I'm well aware of (and have traveled on) the European rail systems and the commuter rails/subways of Boston/DC/NYC/San Francisco.
I guess I should have been more specific. Why do you suppose it is that the rail system doesn't see more use in the US, outside of subways/short commuter rails? The initial thought is probably population density, but the US Northeast is quite densly packed.
The reason I don't take the train from home (Greater Boston) to NYC (a 3 1/2 hour train or bus ride) is simply cost. The train is USD $99, wheras the same bus is $30, and driving to a Metro North commuter rail stop in CT $20 in gas, $5 in train fare, and $8 in overnight parking.
Anways, I was wondering if the US rail system is just horribly mismanaged, or if its a function of population/geography, and what the Chinese/Tibetan border is like in comparison...
but what advantage does the railroad have over trucks/busses or planes? I was under the impression that they're rather dangerous and costly in comparison. I mean, here in the US Amtrak is struggling because of the derailings and the fact that it just isn't cost efficent... am I missing something?
I'm guessing: You have done no reading. You are using verbal devices to avoid seeing that your government needs serious attention from you.
Well, it's a rather poor guess. I've done a lot of reading. I do my best to get a variety of sources in there, but most of my mornings are spent on the NY Times, BBC and Wikipedia over coffee. But reading changes nothing, so I try to stay active as much as I can. It's a little frustrating watching Florida and Ohio decide our future when I live in a hard blue state (Rhode Island) and don't have any serious gripes with my reps voting record (Senators Chafee & Lincoln, and Reps. Langevin & Kennedy).
But I'd like to see more vocal opposition to some of the abuses in Washington and the piss-poor execution of the Iraq war, so I'll be supporting Jenifer Lawless (a professor at Brown University challenging Langevin) in Newport come midterms next November. I'm crossing my fingers that the famously anti-pork-barreling Senator McCain runs for president, but its a little soon and IMHO the neo-con reign of terror will be over before then, given the simultaneous (but independent) corruption charges facing Karl Rove, Bill Frist, and Tom DeLay and the problems in New Orleans & Iraq.
Kind of an aside, but "your government"? If you don't live in the US as well, which nation to you happen to hail from that is so free of corruption that you're time is best spent researching & trying to improve someone elses country?
Are you suggesting that those that have power occasionaly abuse it? Shocking.
I mean I'm glad you're aware of some of the nonsense that's going on, but making vauge blanket statements with little proof (I don't consider Andy Rooney & what appears to be your website which lists Michel Moore as a reference to be authoratative sources) and no suggestions on how to imporove the situation is rather unhelpful, not to mention offtopic, isn't it?
everyone else is still ahead with core features like integrity
I've heard a lot of complaints regarding MySQL integrity. For the record proper transactions have been around for ages, and 5.0 has largely corrected the remaining integrity problems with triggers and the Server Mode variable (options to prevent the insertion of 'bad' data). IMHO, it's the most important new feature. Why they haven't made a bigger deal about it is beyond me...
And we need to stop saying "everyone is ahead of MySQL" when the only valid comparison is Postgres. The difference isn't that huge these days, they're both great products. To anyone who thinks Postgres is better across the board, I say 'vaccum'.
You're equating intellegence with poor social skills, hygene, and appearance. A big mistake really.
The reall issue is that law & buisness - though largely unhelpful to society as a whole - is more lucrative in the West, and therefore draws a LOT of talent that would be better used elsewhere. Until scientists have the same job security, paycheck, and respect/decision-making power as said buisness criminals, the field will only be able to draw dedicated (though not nessicaraly more intellegent) people.
Fundamentalists *help* science
Don't equate a skeptic and a fundamentalist - the key difference being a skeptic will change/re-evaluate his position when given new evidence. Having a group of people who don't listen to reason in charge of the show doesn't help society progress - its divisive and only results in more fundamentalists on both sides.
Of course I'm aware of the intentions of the bicameral system. I used the word 'antiquated' because the system was based on two key assumptions which are no longer true, namely:
Thanks Bush for being such a dork that even Iran, China, and some African countries to be named later have more pull in the UN that us.....
And that is exactly why the UN has failed as a decision making body. Its great to have a place where every nation can voice its concerns; the open dialog very well may have prevented larger conflics (particularly during the Cold War).
But to actually have the UN vote and try to regulate things is absurd. Nevermind the fact that the UN cannot deploy troops or embargo (thus any 'resolution' is merely a suggestion), it isn't even cose to a real representative democracy. Example: Africa has about 2.5 times the population of the US (not to mention a fraction of the economy and education/human rights/etc), but it gets 54 times as many votes due to the sheer number independent states within the continent. Is it really a suprise that the UN is so anti-US & anti-Israel, and has yet to really achieve anything in regards to improving human rights around the world?
Incidentaly, an antiquidated representative scheme is the reason that the US has that retard in office in the first place. California has 33 million people, 53 reps, 2 senators. Wyoming has a half million people, 1 rep, and 2 senators. Sooooo.... a Californian's representative vote is worth about 67 times less that of a (statisticaly less educated) Wyoming resident's vote in the Senate, and 3.5 times less in the presidental election.
afte all, where would MS be if Apple patented its UI's for the past ten years?
Now that Postgres has a pretty easy to use Windows installer, the benefits of MySQL are gone (though it befuddles me that *Windows*, of all things is what made MySQL successful in the first place).
The obvious counter argument is now that MySQL 5.0 supports strict data integrity, stored procedures, triggers, cursors, information schema, and database links, the benefits of Postres are gone.
But that too would be an oversimplification. Really, they're both excellent products, and which one you use is a matter of buisness needs and personal preference.
The US didn't invent the world but they want to control that.
Come on now, enough with the hyperbole. The US has been a superpower for 60 years, the beginning of which was marked with rebuilding Europe and Japan insead of enjoying the spoils of war, then turned to creating international organizations like NATO and the UN as a response to Soviet expansion, and then worked to clean up hotspots like Yugoslavia, Kuwait, and Bosnia.
I can't say I approve every US action in that span of time (particularly in South America and Southeast Asia), but the basis of comparison is the Europeans . This is a group of people who, when they had the power to, raped and pillaged the rest of the planet for 500 years, before just about destroying themselves in two wars. Now suddenly they're the moral compass for the rest of the planet?
PM TB has said that the climate isn't right for the Euro in the UK yet, well no shit.
;)
;)
The translation to the "the climate isn't right yet" is "the Pound is stronger than the Euro at the moment"
Whenever I visit the states and I inform a local i'm British the response is often "I'd love to goto Europe one day" or some such thing, not regarding the UK at all. This is like calling Canadians or Brazilians, 'Americans', geographically it's correct, but at the same time it seems very odd and people from these nations might even be slightly offended
Its a flawed analogy. Calling a Brit a European is geograhpicaly and culturally correct, wheras the phrase 'American' is shorthand for 'United States Citizen'. Canada and the US are geographicaly large enough that there is no need for a blanket term for them (though they are culturaly similar, so a mix up isn't an issue), and the Spanish/Portugese influenced nations are collectivley referred to as 'Latin America', an individual from said nation is said to be 'Hispanic' or 'Latin'.
Perhaps it bothers you when I use the more general term, but then again, you effectivley refered to me as an 'American' instead of the more specific 'New Englander' which I more closely associate with. 'Old' England isn't much bigger than New England