In many cases, the children have secret wishes that don't come out until after a parent's death.

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The web will transform our lives by knowing what each of us eats, drinks, reads and where we go on holiday, and many more of our secret wishes and recondite idiosyncracies, as we surrender control of our being to an uncontrollable entity.

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But it's no secret that Beckham wishes to play for England in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

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That will be good for anyone who wishes to keep their communications secret whatever their motives.

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As Hotz describes it, the secret is to figure out how to speak to the device, then persuade it to obey your wishes.

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