# copied from http://snippets.dzone.com/posts/show/2992
class Object
  def self.subclasses(direct = false)
    classes = []
    if direct
      ObjectSpace.each_object(Class) do |c|
        next unless c.superclass == self
        classes << c
      end
    else
      ObjectSpace.each_object(Class) do |c|
        next unless c.ancestors.include?(self) and (c != self)
        classes << c
      end
    end
    classes
  end
end