Paul Allen is wiring together an empire.

Paul Allen the movie buff, renovated the Cinerama Theater. Paul Allen, the Jimi Hendrix fan, is building a museum as a tribute to the musician. Paul Allen, owner of a professional football team, is spending millions on a new stadium. But then there_s Paul Allen, investor, who lately has been spending billions, buying something every week or so, from Internet sites featuring Oprah Winfrey to cable companies in Georgia. What is the man once derided as an "Accidental Zillionaire" doing with his money? Following through with a decades-old idea, his supporters say. Internet link by Internet link, cable network by cable network, the Microsoft co-founder is assembling the building blocks of an electronic empire. If his hunches are right, he stands to create a global realm more influential than any of his projects that edge the Seattle skyline. In Allen_s futuristic "wired world," fast Internet connections plus easy-to-use technology and cheap computer devices will deliver a simple and universal way for people to shop, enjoy entertainment and communicate. People will call up "Seinfeld" reruns at will, buy a compact disc after watching a music video on TV, and send pictures to family members by punching a remote control. But so far, that wired world is one-third vision, two-thirds money. Since January, through his cable company, Charter Communications, and his investment firm, Vulcan Ventures, Allen has embarked on a $12 billion-plus spending spree, buying or investing in more than 20 Internet, cable and technology properties. With other challengers emerging on the national scene, Allen and his team are making an ambitious push to convert the sketches of his dream into hard-wired connections to a future with no certain arrival date... communicate with one another.