I suppose it was bound to happen at some point… I made a coaster. Because reasons.

One of my favorite parts of “The Fifth Element” is the scene when Zorg is delivering his rather “flamboyant” sales pitch for the Zorg Industries ZF-1 pod weapons system.

So what if the Federal Government scattered your people into the wind? What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Your time for revenge is at hand. Voila, the ZF-1. [activates a ZF-1 and holds it] It's light; handle's adjustable for easy carrying; good for righties and lefties; breaks down into four parts; undetectable by X-ray; ideal for quick discreet interventions. A word on firepower. Titanium recharger; 3000-round clip with bursts of 3 to 300. With the replay button, another Zorg invention, it's even easier. [lights reveal a mannequin in a police armor] One shot... [shoots mannequin]...and replay send every following shot to the same location. [shoots at Mangalores but all the bullets go to the mannequin] And to finish the job, all the Zorg oldies but goldies. [fires every weapon at the mannequin as he mentions them] Rocket launcher... arrow launcher with exploding or poisonous gas heads, very practical... our famous net launcher... the always-efficient flamethrower, my favorite... [winks to the Mangalores] and for the grand finale, the all-new 'Ice-cube System'. [fires a cloud of liquid nitrogen which freezes the remains of the mannequin]

Now… my turn. Apologies in advance.

So what if your kids, pets, or visitors, scattered your old coasters into the wind? What doesn't clutter your tables leaves you room for better things. Your time for new coasters is at hand. Voila, the ZF-1 coaster. [pops a ZF-1 coaster off the printer and holds it] It's light; stacks quickly for easy storage; good for righties and lefties; step file in multiple parts; no need for manual painting; ideal for quick color assignment. A word on size. Standard coaster diameter; fits most mugs and glasses. With the scale button, another slicer invention, producing a larger size is even easier. [displays a typical large coffee mug] One quick change... [increases model scale for X and Y to 100mm each]...and the slicer now will send an appropriately sized version to your printer. [sends modified gcode for large coaster to the printer] And to finish the job, all the model oldies but goldies. [clicks through every setting as they are mentioned] Model has multiple objects... manipulate properties of each part of the model individually, very practical... the famous “arrange” option... the always-efficient "fill bed with copies" tool, my favorite... [winks to the crowd] and for the grand finale, the all-new 'Anti-Contamination System'. [slaps a freshly-printed large ZF-1 coaster on top of the large coffee mug, thereby blocking dust, dirt, sneezes, children's fingers, and fluffy paws from entering the mug*]

*Yes. I really do this.