Null character

The null character (also null terminator), abbreviated NUL, is a control character with the value zero. It is present in many character sets, including ISO/IEC 646 (or ASCII), the C0 control code, the Universal Character Set (or Unicode), and EBCDIC. It is available in nearly all mainstream programming languages.

The original meaning of this character was like NOP—when sent to a printer or a terminal, it does nothing (some terminals, however, incorrectly display it as space). When electromechanical teleprinters were used as computer output devices, one or more null characters were sent at the end of each printed line to allow time for the mechanism to return to the first printing position on the next line. On punched tape, the character is represented with no holes at all, so a new unpunched tape is initially filled with null characters, and often text could be "inserted" at a reserved space of null characters by punching the new characters into the tape over the nulls.

Today the character has much more significance in C and its derivatives and in many data formats, where it serves as a reserved character used to signify the end of a string, often called a null-terminated string. This allows the string to be any length with only the overhead of one byte; the alternative of storing a count requires either a string length limit of 255 or an overhead of more than one byte (there are other advantages/disadvantages described under null-terminated string).

Control (Janet Jackson album)

Control is the third studio album by American recording artist Janet Jackson, released on February 4, 1986, by A&M Records. Her collaborations with the songwriters and record producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis resulted in an unconventional sound: a fusion of rhythm and blues, rap vocals, funk, disco and synthesized percussion that established Jackson, Jam and Lewis as the leading innovators of contemporary R&B. The album became Jackson's commercial breakthrough and enabled her to transition into the popular music market, with Control becoming one of the foremost albums of the 1980s and contemporary music.

Containing autobiographical themes, a majority of the album's lyrics came as the result of a series of changes in her life: a recent annulment of her marriage to singer James DeBarge, severing her business affairs from her father and manager Joseph and the rest of the Jackson family, hiring the A&M executive John McClain as her new management, and her subsequent introduction to Jam and Lewis. The album has been praised by critics as both an artistic feat and as a personal testament of self-actualization.

Revelation (Peter Andre album)

Revelation is the sixth studio album released by Australian singer-songwriter Peter Andre.

Background

Following a further three years away from the music industry, Andre had been quietly writing and recording new material. Andre was offered a recording contract with Conehead Management following the success of his ITV2 fly-on-the-wall documentary, Peter Andre: The Next Chapter. Andre began recording with Conehead in January 2009. On 9 August 2009, "Behind Closed Doors" was revealed as the first single from Andre's upcoming album. The track was co-written by Andre, AC Burrell and Francesca Richard. "Unconditional" was revealed as the second and final single from the album, due for release on 9 November 2009. However, the track had already charted on the UK Singles Chart, following promotion and download sales. Upon the physical release, the track peaked at #50, Andre's second lowest charting single to date. The video for the track premiered on The Box on 16 October 2009. The album itself was released on 19 September 2009, peaking at #3 on the UK Albums Chart, and selling more than 300,000 copies to be certified platinum. The album's tracklisting was confirmed via Play.com on 14 August 2009.