Re: What is a Stardate?

[staze <staze@teleport.com>]

>Greetings.
>
>stardate (noun) HovpoH [KGT p216]
>
>The Star Trek Encyclopedia CD-ROM defines "stardate" thusly:
>
>stardate
>Timekeeping system used to provide a standard galactic temporal 
>reference, compensating for relativistic time dilation, warp-speed 
>displacement, and other peculiarities of interstellar space travel.
>**
>To those interested in the minutiae of stardate computation and a lot of 
>other cool stuff about Star Trek, we shamelessly refer you to Appendix I 
>in the 1996 edition of our book, Star Trek Chronology: The History of 
>the Future, by Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda, also published by Pocket 
>Books.
>**
>
>Note: the text contained within the asterisks (*) originally appears as 
>italicized text denoting non-fictional comments from the Okudas 
>regarding the production of the series and films.
>
>The fact that the book, Klingon for the Galactic Traveler, includes a 
>Klingon word for 'stardate' proves that this concept in general is not 
>exclusive to the Federation, although there is little evidence that 
>Klingons use the same temporal reference (similar to the difference in 
>chronological measurements between the American nation and the Chinese 
>nation or other nations which use calendar systems other than our own).

however, Paramount and the StarTrek crew admit that there is really no 
rhyme nor reason to stardates.  There are some rumors as to what certain 
numbers mean... but, as I have had conversations with people on the 
startrek team, they have admitted that they are coincidences.

-StaZ