What in the world is a widget?

So I in my perusing of various and asundry websites, I recently discovered something called a widget. I am not sure if there is a widget factory, as when I was growing up, a widget was a word alluding to something mass produced. Now however, widgets seem to be readily all over the internet for a number of purposes. Since Chelsea (and McKenna) seem to enjoy Brandon Rhyder, I decided that I would add the "widget" to her blog. I'm not sure how long it will remain, but as I learn new tricks, I will continue to revise/edit/modify. Who knows, maybe at some point I will record my own song and post to the blog. (Would that be self-promoting/egocentric?)