>>> import numpy
>>> print numpy.version.version
1.3.0
>>> s = numpy.string_('ab\x00')
>>> print repr(s) # display bug, which I think is ticket 659
'ab'
>>> s == 'ab\x00'
True
>>> s == 'ab' # but the string is stored correctly
False
>>> print repr(str(s)) # this, however, is wrong
'ab'
>>> str(s) == s # and leads to this
False