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Race to salvage fire-ravaged cargo ship drifting with thousands of supercars on board

Race to salvage fire-ravaged US-bound cargo ship drifting in the Atlantic with thousands of supercars on board including Porsches, Bentleys, and Lamborghinis with blaze fueled by batteries in electric vehicles The Felicity Ace caught ablaze on Wednesday and 22 of its crew members were airlifted to safety There are 4,000 cars onboard the ship including 189 Bentleys, 1,100 Porsches, and multiple Lamborghinis The cargo ship was carrying vehicles from Emden, Germany, to Davisville, Rhode Island Lithium-ion batteries in electric cars have caught fire and require specialist equipment to extinguish Rescuers are racing to salvage a US-bound cargo ship in the Atlantic engulfed in flames with 4,000 cars on board including Bentleys, Audis, and Lamborghinis. The operation is taking place off the Azores archipelago where the ‘Felicity Ace’ cargo ship caught ablaze at sea on Wednesday. Lithium-ion batteries in the electric cars on board have caught fire and the blaze requires specialist equipment to extinguish. Investigators are probing whether the batteries started the onboard inferno. The ship is still ablaze and plumes of white smoke are billowing from the vessel as a Portuguese navy ship works to stop it from sinking with the 3,965 Volkswagen AG vehicles on board, including 1,100 Porches and 189 Bentleys. One man said his custom-ordered Porsche Boxster Spyder, whose base models sell for at least $100,000 was on board the ship. Captain Joao Mendes Cabecas of the port of Hortas said: ‘The ship is burning from one end to the other… everything is on fire about five meters above the water line.’ What is on board the cargo ship? The Felicity Ace is believed to be carrying 3,965 vehicles on board on its route from Germany to the US. Volkswagen has not confirmed the number of cars on board, but Porsche said around 1,100 models are on the ship. Porsches range in price from around £45,000 to £200,000 for their standard models. Bentley said 189 of its cars were also on board. A new Bentley Continental GT V8 would set a driver back £157,000. There were reportedly 21 Lamborghinis on the doomed vessel last month, but the current number is unknown. A limited-edition Lamborghini can cost as much as £2.5million, while a standard SUV from the Italian supercar maker costs around £150,000. Rescuers believe the 650ft longship may be too large to be towed to a port in the Azores, which is more than 900 miles from the European mainland. Towing boats were en route from Gibraltar and the Netherlands, with three due to arrive by Wednesday. A sixteen-person salvage team from Smit Salvage, owned by Dutch marine engineer Boskalis, was sent to the ship to help control the flames. The Portuguese Air Force has rescued 22 crew members from the burning ship after they abandoned the vessel and were taken on board the Resilient Warrior tanker after it diverted its route to assist with the rescue. They were then airlifted to safety in a military helicopter and taken to Faial Island. The Felicity Ace sounded the alarm after a fire broke out in the hold, the Portuguese Navy said in a statement. The cause of the fire is not known. The ship was sailing from Emden in Germany and had left on February 10 and was heading to the Port of Davisville in the U.S. state of Rhode Island, according to online vessel trackers. The ship was originally expected to arrive at Davisville on February 23. Portugal’s navy said one of its patrol boats and four merchant vessels were helping with the rescue. The Portuguese Air Force aircraft were also mobilized. After transmitting the distress signal, a Portuguese Navy patrol boat together with four other merchant ships in the area headed toward where the distressed ship was located. The crew abandoned the ship and got into lifeboats. Eager Porsche buyers logging into the Track Your Dream service, which details the progress of the car’s delivery, stated how the company was ‘aware of an incident on the Felicity Ace carrying certain Porsche vehicles.’ Matt Farah, the man behind The Smoking Tire YouTube channel, posted Wednesday regarding his own Porsche that was apparently on board the ship. ‘I ordered a Boxster Spyder in August, and I was very excited to get it at the end of this month, and now it seems like it might become an artificial reef,’ said Matt Farah who runs the Smoking Tire YouTube channel, which has more than 1 million subscribers. ‘I’m only saying this because I know no one was hurt, which is obviously more important.’ Bentley said 189 of its cars were also onboard the blazing ship. That could work out at around a total loss of £22million in Bentleys alone. ‘We are working with the shipping company to find out further information,’ said a spokesman. Lamborghini has refused to comment on the number of its vehicles on board the doomed ship, but last month 21 supercars were being transported by the vessel. The majority of the rest are likely to be Volkswagens or Audis. On Wednesday, Porsche released a statement over the stricken ship. ‘Our immediate thoughts are of the 22 crew of the merchant ship Felicity Ace, all of whom we understand are safe and well as a result of their rescue by the Portuguese Navy following reports of a fire on board. ‘We believe a number of our cars are among the cargo onboard the ship. No further details of the specific cars affected are available at this time – we are in close contact with the shipping company and will share more information in due course.’ Volkswagen also released a statement: ‘We are aware of an incident today involving a cargo ship transporting Volkswagen Group vehicles across the Atlantic. At this time, we are not aware of any injuries. We are working with local authorities and the shipping company to investigate the cause of the incident.’ A Portuguese Navy spokesperson said there were no more details about the ongoing operation. Read more at DailyMail.co.uk
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Hidden Potential of ChatGPT: Amazing and Lesser-Known Functions of OpenAI’s AI Language Model

ChatGPT is an AI-powered language model developed by OpenAI. It is a conversational AI model trained on a vast amount of text data from the internet, allowing it to generate human-like responses to various text-based inputs. ChatGPT works by utilizing a deep learning technique called transformer architecture. The model processes the input text extracts relevant information and generates an appropriate response based on the input and its training. The model has been trained on a massive amount of data, allowing it to generate coherent and informative responses to a wide range of topics. To use ChatGPT, one inputs a prompt or question into the model, and it generates a response. The quality and relevance of the response depend on the specific implementation and the amount of training data available to the model. ChatGPT can be integrated into various applications such as chatbots, virtual assistants, and language translation systems. ChatGPT is an advanced AI language model that can significantly improve productivity and efficiency in an office setting. Automating repetitive tasks: ChatGPT can automate tasks such as data entry, document preparation, and email responses, freeing up time for employees to focus on more critical tasks. Improved customer service: ChatGPT can assist customer service teams by providing quick and accurate responses to common customer queries, improving the overall customer experience. Virtual assistance: ChatGPT can act as a virtual assistant, handling tasks such as scheduling appointments, sending reminders, and taking notes during meetings. Knowledge management: ChatGPT can be trained to answer specific questions and provide relevant information, reducing the time employees spend searching for answers. Enhancing productivity: ChatGPT can perform multiple tasks simultaneously, saving time and increasing productivity. ChatGPT has the potential to revolutionize the way offices operate by automating repetitive tasks, improving customer service, and increasing efficiency. Implementing ChatGPT into your office can help streamline processes, increase productivity, and provide a competitive advantage. ChatGPT is a highly advanced AI language model developed by OpenAI, and it has several amazing and not widely known functions. Text summarization: ChatGPT can be trained to generate concise summaries of long articles or documents, saving time and improving efficiency. Question Answering: ChatGPT can be used to answer a wide range of questions, from simple fact-based questions to more complex questions requiring analysis and interpretation. Text generation: ChatGPT can be used to generate text, such as articles, stories, and even poetry, by providing a prompt or topic. The generated text is coherent and often surprising in its creativity. Dialogue generation: ChatGPT can be used to generate engaging and realistic dialogue for use in video games, chatbots, and other applications. Sentiment analysis: ChatGPT can be used to analyze the sentiment of text, determining whether it is positive, negative, or neutral. Image captioning: ChatGPT can be used to generate captions for images, describing the objects and events depicted in the image. In conclusion, ChatGPT has many amazing and not widely known functions, from text summarization to image captioning, and much more. The versatility and potential of this advanced AI model are truly remarkable.
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Types of Bikes: The Ultimate Bike Buying Guide

Welcome to the Co-op’s own ‘I’m new to cycling and I don’t know what type of bike I should buy’ guide. Here you’ll find the main types of bikes that people tend to speak about, demystified. Think of it as the ultimate bike types guide for beginners! Bike Buying Guide: Different bikes for different activities We usually recommend that you buy a bike for the kind of activity you want it for – although if you want to buy a bike just because you like the way it looks, that’s fine too! Do you want a bike mostly for commuting? Do you want a versatile bike that can handle both tarmac and dirt tracks well? Do you want to dress head-to-toe in lycra and attempt the land speed record? Many people who are new to cycling often opt for a mountain bike, purely because it somehow sounds like the most familiar. However, there’s really no need to buy a mountain bike unless you a) really like mountain bikes for whatever reason or b) want to go mountain biking. Here at the Co-op we tend to divide our bike types into the following categories based on the activity they’re used for: Road bikes: Roads. Mountain bikes: Off road. Hybrid or Commuter bikes: A bit of everything. Cyclocross bikes: A bit of everything, but with a road bike feel. Folding bikes: Commuting, leisure or touring for the short-on-space. Electric bikes: An electric-assisted bit of everything. Touring bikes: designed for carrying loads over longer distances while remaining comfortable for the rider. Women’s bikes: All of the above, designed specifically for women. Kids bike: bikes for kids We’ll look at each of these in turn so you can get a better idea of what bikes are used for what. Road Bikes As the name suggests, road bikes are designed to ride on the road. Can’t all bikes ride on the road, you wonder? They absolutely can. But road bikes are optimised to make road cycling as efficient as possible, and because of that they’d perform terribly on a mountain dirt track. Instead, road bikes are designed to help cyclists get the most out of the road, including the particular geometry (i.e. frame shape) of the bike, the width of the tyres, and the weight of the components. And just in case you were wondering; You won’t be able to buy a road bike with skinny tyres and transform it into a mountain bike by putting big, knobbly tyres on. Mountain bike tyres just won’t fit on, full stop. Defining characteristics: A lightweight frame, skinny tyres, drop handlebars (those are handlebars which curve back down underneath themselves) and a high gear ratio (i.e. The gears are set up to favour the ones that help you go really fast, if your legs and lungs are up to it.) Get a road bike if: You want fast, efficient cycling on tarmac roads for commuting, competing, or for fun. Don’t get a road bike if: You want to take it off the road. Skinny tyres means you won’t really be able to use a road bike on anything other than tarmac. Icy roads can also be a problem for road bikes. If you’re after a road bike, reading up on What Kind of Road Bike Should I Get? might be a useful five-minute read. Mountain Bikes Mountain bikes are designed to go on mountains or on off-road trails, which means they’re chunkier, have knobbly tyres on them, and a frame geometry which makes them better suited for seriously uneven terrain. Defining characteristics: Wide, knobbly tyres for traction, and a wide range of gears to help you get up and over mountains or across fields. Some bikes have front suspension but are rigid at the back (‘hardtail’), and some have front and rear suspension for cushioning jumps and drops (‘full suspension’ or ‘full sus’). Others have neither. Here’s our Guide to full suspension vs hardtail. Get a mountain bike if: You want to go mountain biking or mainly off road. Don’t get a mountain bike if: You want to go fast on tarmac roads, cycle long distances, or mostly knock about town. Hybrid or Commuter Bikes Hybrid bikes, or commuter bikes as they’re also known, are essentially a mixture between road bikes and mountain bikes. They give you the versatility to do a bit of everything. What you sacrifice in terms of speciality, you gain by being able to do what you want, when you want. Defining characteristics: Hybrid bikes have flat handlebars instead of drop handlebars. Some models have front suspension to cushion bumps in the road or on the track, and others don’t. They’re designed with versatility and comfort in mind, so they have the comfortable geometry of mountain bikes but with slicker, narrower tyres. The tyres can be changed for super knobbly tyres if you want to do a bit of off-roading, or slicker tyres if you’re commuting on tarmac, or something in between. Get a hybrid/commuter bike if: Your main use for the bike will be commuting and/or knocking about town, as well as occasionally going off road or mountain biking. Don’t get a hybrid/commuter bike if: You want to go full lycra and ride as fast as possible on roads, or tear down mountain bike trails as dexterously as possible. Cyclocross bikes Also simply known as ‘Cross Bikes’, these are bikes which follow the tradition of road cyclists in the olden days, who would swap their slick road tyres for knobblier tyres and continue to train during the winter months. A cyclocross bike could be the perfect year-round bike for you if you’re looking for a fast road bike that will cope with off-road excursions. Defining characteristics: The easiest to spot is the drop handlebars like a road bike, instead of the flat handlebars of a hybrid. Like a hybrid, there’s also enough clearance (space around the wheel) for knobblier tyres and mudguards. A cross bike has more of a road bike feel >>Read more
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Philippines orders more than 25 million people into lockdown over Easter as Covid-19 cases soar

The Philippines orders more than 25 million people into lockdown over Easter as Covid-19 cases soar. Millions of people in the Philippines won’t be celebrating Easter as normal this year after the majority Catholic country imposed a strict lockdown in the capital and nearby provinces. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque announced the lockdown Saturday after the country reported 9,838 new Covid-19 cases — the country’s highest single-day increase, according to official state media Philippines News Agency. The Philippines has reported more than 720,000 coronavirus cases, including 13,170 deaths, making it one of the worst affected countries in Asia. The country has seen a steep rise in daily reported cases since February, and the country is now reporting more than 9,000 new cases a day. There are more than 105,000 active cases, according to the Philippines’ Department of Health. More than 25 million people across Metro Manila and nearby provinces Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal will be affected by the lockdown. The lockdown begins Monday and runs until April 4 — or Easter Sunday, a day when Christians often celebrate with special church services. Religious gatherings are not allowed during the holy week. That’s a blow for the Philippines, where more than 90% of the population are Christian, according to the CIA World Factbook. The measures include a curfew from 6 p.m. until 5 a.m. — tightened from the previous 10 p.m. curfew. Gatherings of more than 10 people outside are not allowed, and non-household members cannot gather indoors, the government said. Diners are not allowed to eat in restaurants, although take-out and delivery services can go ahead. The Philippine National Police has deployed thousands of officers in checkpoint areas to help enforce the rules, according to a PNA report. Vaccines are being rolled out to medical frontlines, and last week the Department of Health urged people who were not health care workers to refrain from jumping the queue. “Do not worry. Our goal is still to ensure that everybody will be vaccinated. But while we do this, the government is prioritizing healthcare workers as they are the most exposed and the most at risk of getting Covid,” National Task Force Against Covid-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar secretary Carlito Galvez said. “More vaccines will arrive, we are sure of that. We just have to wait for our turns to be vaccinated.” Source: CNN.com
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What is burial insurance?

“Burial insurance” usually refers to a whole life insurance policy with a death benefit of from $5,000 to $25,000. As its nickname implies, people buy this type of policy to provide money for funeral and burial costs for themselves and/or family members. It is possible to buy a policy after answering a few health-related questions on the application and with no medical exam. Premiums are payable weekly or monthly. The premium is usually collected at the policyowner’s home or workplace, and the premium is usually a small round number, such as $2 or $3 per week; the death benefit is whatever that premium will buy given the insured’s current age. For example, a $3 per week premium might buy a $6,000 death benefit for a 36-year-old man or an $18,000 death benefit for a 9-year-old boy. Burial policies may be designed to cover one person or everyone in a family. Under some state laws, funeral homes may be licensed to sell burial insurance, but it is mainly sold through brokers and agents of insurance companies licensed to sell life insurance. An approach that is similar to burial life insurance (and sometimes called burial or “pre-need” insurance) is pre-payment of your funeral arrangements. Under this program, you may select the funeral home, type of service, casket (or cremation), flowers, headstone, burial plot, the cost of digging and filling the grave, and other items, and lock in the prices for them by paying in advance.
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