title: Date difference includes Timezone offset, what's wrong?
body: <p>I have this code:</p>
  
  <pre><code>Date now = new Date();
  // the string is in UTC format, so a UTC date must be constructed, I don't know if that happens in this format
  Date measure = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss").parse(utcDateTime); 
  long diff = now.getTime() - measure.getTime();
   if (diff &lt; 1000* 60 * 15) {
     // measure is less then 15 minutes recent
     do some work
   }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>When I get the diff, it includes the timezone. I know the Date object internally is UTC.</p>
  
  <p>So what's wrong here?</p>