Stardates Explained - 20020312.1244

You don't understand the startdates?

Take, for example, 20020312.1244

Let me stick some spaces in some helpful places:

2002 03 12 . 12 44

That better?

20020312 means 12th March 2002, and 1244 is in 24-hour clock format, IE 12:44PM

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