Stardates Explained - 20010717.1359

You don't understand the startdates?

Take, for example, 20010717.1359

Let me stick some spaces in some helpful places:

2001 07 17 . 13 59

That better?

20010717 means 17th July 2001, and 1359 is in 24-hour clock format, IE 1:59PM

Stardates in the Star Trek universe work in an entirely different way. Wikipedia has a good explanation on how Stardates work.