ActiveRecord::Base.class_eval do

  def self.find_by_anything(identifier)
    matchable_columns = columns.reject { |column| [:binary, :boolean].include?(column.type) }
    query_clauses = matchable_columns.collect do |column|
      qualified_column_name = "#{table_name}.#{column.name}"
      is_mysql = connection.class.name =~ /mysql/i
      target_type = is_mysql ? 'CHAR' : 'TEXT' # CHAR is only 1 character in PostgreSQL
      column_as_string = "CAST(#{qualified_column_name} AS #{target_type})"
      "#{column_as_string} = ?"
    end
    bindings = [identifier] * query_clauses.size
    where([query_clauses.join(' OR '), *bindings]).first
  end

  def self.find_by_anything!(identifier)
    find_by_anything(identifier) or raise ActiveRecord::RecordNotFound, "No column equals \"#{identifier}\""
  end

end