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Following your passion is the key to becoming a sexy geek, according to Marina Orlova. She should know: The nerdy wordsmith has built an online empire with her Hot for Words videos that make philology more fun than a trip to the library.

"The ultimate thing that makes a geek sexy is that fact that the geek is really good at something," Orlova told Wired.com in an e-mail interview. "It's an undying passion for something [that's] usually perceived to be a waste of time." When computer nerds became billionaires in the '90s, everything changed, Orlova said. "Voila, geeks are now sexy!"

Orlova (pictured), a consistent force in Wired.com's annual Sexy Geeks competition, placed first in 2007 and second in 2008. With her YouTube videos racking up 350,000 views a day, a new Hot for Words book in stores and a TV show in development, Orlova is a poster geek for turning obsession into a money machine.

She has one geeky goal left: "I'm still trying to figure out how to turn World of Warcraft into a successful career," she said.

Vote for Sexy Geeks 2009 ————————

Vote for this year's sexiest geeks and nominate your own below. Voting ends at 12:01 p.m. PST Jan. 4.

Note: To avoid duplicate entries, please check the full list of nominees before submitting your own sexy geek. Dupes hurt nominees' chances.

Nominate a sexy geek ——————–

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