A: Hi Archman. good questions, and I'm by no means the foremost authority on the topics, but I'll offer my layman's definitions below and also point you to some folks who have greater depth on the topic.
Blog is short for Web Log, and it used to mean any form of regular online publishing by individuals (as opposed to estaablished media outlets). The lines have blurred somewhat in recent years as one-time individual publishers have grown into media brands in their own right (e.g., TechCrunch, GigaOm, Huffington Post, etc.). The number of blog formats and platforms has also proliferated, to the point that there are dozens of tools (some free and some paid) for text blogging, photo blogging, "microblogging", "lifecasting", and well, you get the idea.
For the authoritative definition, here's a link to the Wikepdia article on the topic.
In the context of blogging, a Widget is software component that's designed to perform a specific, narrowly-defined function, such as handling reader Q&A, powering blog text search, or displaying photos. Widgets allow non-technical users (which describes most bloggers) to add new features and capabilities to their blog without any coding skills, just by cutting and pasting code snippets into their blog template.
Again, Wikipedia does a much better job than I ever could with the topic here.
I hope that points you in the right direction - thanks for asking!
