Let's not forget the good pasta metaphor:

Ravioli Code: Ravioli code is a type of computer program structure, characterized by a number of small and (ideally) loosely-coupled software components. The term is in comparison with spaghetti code, comparing program structure to pasta (From SO

They talk about it being an anti-pattern there, but I think the idea of keeping software components loosely coupled but related is a pretty good thing.

Hacker news, like others have said. For front-end web stuff, smashingmagazine.com is great. For these fast moving javascript frameworks, I find it's easiest to stay on top of the news by joining their slack channels. You can get info on them at chitchats.co

I think both you and Tuxy make valid points; I recently used a copy of "C Primer Plus" to brush up on my C, but C doesn't change too much :) In comparison, the book I got last year on Node is already out of date -- let alone the Manning book on ember which must've become dated weeks after publication. I guess it depends on what you're trying to learn; the older mainstays such as C, COBOL, and and FORTRAN don't seem to change all that much (although, just as you said in your example, C++ changes every month, it seems).