If you ever listen to ron moore's podcasts you will realize there is no translation or contemporary connection. Ron simply wants to tell a story of humanity, period. Humanity to us has a certain look and feel. The target audience speaks English, therfore the BSG folks speak English. If ron had to dress up every truck to look futuristic, and put everybody in futuristic clothing it would lose the feel of humanness. Instead we'd be seeing something alien. By putting a guy in a tie instead of a uniform, you instantly know the guy is a civilian. Ron wants the audience to connect with him as a civilian, and he is perfectly content leaving the rest of the window dressing off. For me its kind of like a breath of fresh air. Simply tell the story, spend your limited budget on good storytelling, good acting, and the occasional viper/raider dance.

In my opinion BSG is the best show on tv. The look and feel is so gritty and real. The charachters are absolutely believable and imperfect. Exactly what humanity looks like offstage.