Widget

"Widget" is a general-purpose term for any unspecified device, including those that have not yet been invented. It is commonly used in textbook and other examples where the identity of the product or function is irrelevant and could be distracting: students may be asked to design a business plan for the XYZ Widget Company.

The floating widget found in cans of the Irish stout beer Guinness is a hollow sphere, some 3 cm (1.2 in) in diameter. The can is pressurized by adding liquid nitrogen, which evaporates after the can is sealed, forcing gas and beer into the widget's hollow interior through tiny holes. When the can is opened, the pressure in the can drops, causing the pressurized gas inside the widget to jet out from the holes. The holes in the widget are angled slightly so that the widget spins, creating a creamy head inside the can. This imitates the foamy head created from draught beer. Developing and perfecting the floating widget cost more than £300,000.

Beers sold in widget cans include:

• Guinness Stout
• Beamish Stout
• Murphy's Stout
• Tetley's Ale
• Boddington's Ale
• Wexford Irish Ale
• Young's Oatmeal Stout

In programming, a widget is a graphical component such as a window or a text box. These are often packed together in widget toolkits. Programmers use widgets to build graphical user interfaces (GUIs).

In Marvel Comics, Widget is the name given to a robotic head built by Tweedledope of the Crazy Gang that is self-propelling and capable of generating portals to other dimensions out of its own construction. Widget is currently a member of the British super hero team Excalibur.