"If I have a claim to fame, it's simplifying technology, because technology can be difficult. It was difficult 10 years ago and is equally if not more difficult today. That's why I try to simplify it, because if I find it a little difficult, well, what about the person on the Internet for only a few minutes?"

His approach includes a couple actions that seem counterintuitive. Leebow shuns search engines and the use of bookmarks. Instead, he uses print article and TV program suggestions to find experts in fields that spark his interest. It's especially rewarding when he finds amateurs chock full of knowledge and willing to share it online.

"There are so many people like that," Leebow said. "And that's what the Internet really started out as anyway. If you roll back in time, it was about people sharing information, and that's what a lot of people do.

"There are a lot of experts not on TV because maybe they're shy, but they can sit in front of their computer and make this amazing Web site."

He insists it's not difficult to determine if a site has been established by a knowledgeable person. "Weird motivations or agendas" are usually pretty obvious.

"And if they've taken that much time to create a Web site that looks pleasing and you click the links they have that take you to some other amazing Web sites, you can get a feel pretty quickly that the person knows what they're doing," he said.

As for bookmarks, in the scope of simplicity, he just puts a few useful Web sites on the desktop.

"Go to the things important to you on the Internet. If you really cull it down and get rid of all the junk out there and what any one person is interested in, you can probably narrow it down to about 10 Web sites, maybe 15 or 20. I don't even keep bookmarks. When people tell me they do, it can rather quickly get chaotic."

The size of the Internet, while one of its curses, also is one of its virtues. Leebow marvels at how matching-service Web sites can hook up people from 18 to 120. Marriages have sprung from online romances. People with odd interests find they're not alone. An example? Mall-walkers had 4,000 Web sites to choose from last year, and Leebow estimates it has topped 12,000 by now.

"If you like mall-walking, you've got friends out there. That's the beauty of it. Your interests may not be the same as mine, and whatever you're interested in it's out there, and whatever I'm interested in it's out there. There are 3 billion Web pages out there."

In his own life, he believes it is "mind-boggling" that he has used the Internet to instantaneously transfer money from his bank account to his college-attending son's.