Developer Brett Terpstra has introduced StretchLink 1.0 (http://stretchlinkapp.com), his new URL utility for Mac OS X.

StretchLink was developed exclusively for expanding shortened URLs, removing redirects, and cleaning out referrer junk so that you can share URL without any baggage. Whether you're sending links to friends or publishing a blog, you want to protect your friends and readers from redirects and privacy issues that can be caused by unintentionally publishing a shortened link, says Terpstra.

StretchLink runs in the OS X menu bar. Click the icon to open the main panel from which it can expand and clean links on demand with a single click, or can be set to silently watch your clipboard.

StretchLink 1.0 costs US$1.99. An introductory sale of $0.99 (50% off) will take place through the month of May.

[Ed. Note: Expanding URLs can cause unintended issues as parameters, and even referrer information often is critical to displaying the right content on the page. Use with caution.]