>>I'd always wondered why on the Galactica (the late 1970s version) it takes so much typing by Omega at his console to raise sheilds and activate shipboard defense batteries... Was he using some sort of command-line interface based on COBOL? Or was he typing text messages to the other bridge officers to relay the command?
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>As that guy who made Babylon 5 said "it all happens at the speed of plot". You can see that on the example of the speed of light in Star Trek: if you fire an energy weapon inside a room, it takes about one second to travel to the other end of it. If you fire the same kind of weapon between ships, it again takes the same time to cover the few kilometers of distance. However, the simple room light shines on the whole room in 1/60th of a second (1/50th in Europe, where light is slower).

Ah... I see... All things happen in a way to either generate plot... That explains how a fully-loaded six-shooter can run out of bullets after firing less than six shots or fire more than six shots. Or how Rollin Hand can have several layers of disguises to peel off during the course of an episode. Or how the time it takes a musical cowboy to reach his destination (regardless of the distance) is exactly the time for him to sing or whistle "Happy Trails"...