PHP transforming string "&note=" to "¬e="

Question

$to= array();
foreach($users as $v) {
    $to[(string)$v['address']] = (float)($v['amount']*100000);  
}

$guid            = "user";
$main_password   = "pw";
$second_password = "pw2";
$fee             = 60000;
$recipients  = urlencode(json_encode($to));
$from            = "address";
$note            = "public";

$json_url = "https://blockchain.info/merchant/$guid/sendmany?password=".$main_password."&second_password=".$second_password."&recipients=".$recipients."&shared=false&fee=".$fee."&note=".$note."&from=".$from;

echo $json_url;
die();

For some reason, when I echo $json_url;, the &note= is transformed to ¬e=. I can't find any PHP or HTML symbol that could be making that transformation.

Answer 1

That is ¬, or ¬ (mathematical not). Always use & to echo out an ampersand (even in URLs) if you're using HTML. Browsers are tolerant of sloppy coding, but in this case it can bite you.