Temporarily disable your internet connection, like, switch off wireless or yank the ethernet cable out until you're done.
It's about the only way I know of to do so.
Direwolf20 does a modded Let's Play, if YouTube videos are more your thing. He also does spotlights on mods where he generally explains them in pretty good detail.
Don't double post, use the edit button if you need to add more information to a post.
And my expertise on the situation has been expended, so I'll leave you in the hands of someone who knows what they're talking about :P
Harvesting is better than nothing. I remember one of Direwolf's LPs, he spent ages talking about how much paper you needed for Thaumcraft, then ignored every reed he walked past and repeatedly passed his actual reed farm without harvesting any.
I dunno, I've never really watched Yogscast videos, but when they spend an hour espousing on how important it is to get reeds, do they then proceed to ignore every wild reed they see, and leave their reed farm unharvested for about 20 cycles worth?
There will be no chips until Jeb can get a consensus amongst the fanbase about what constitutes a chip.
Yanks are gonna go for crisps, brits are gonna go for chips.