What is the best way to do attribute/values?

Hi list,

I have a database with 1M "people" in it. Each person has about 20
attributes, such as height, weight, eye color, etc. I need to be able to
search for people based on these attributes. A search can be conducted
on one attribute, all attributes, or any number in between. How would
_you_ do this?

I have already attempted to answer this. My attempts are detailed here:

http://sh.nu/email.txt

This is the email I was originally going to send to this list. Since
it's so large, I decided to link to it instead. If you feel that it
belongs in a post to the list, let me know, and I'll post again.

I've discussed these attempts with people in #postgresql on
irc.freenode.net. Agliodbs (I presume you know who this is) was very
helpful, but in end was at a loss. I find myself in the same postition
at this time. He suggested I contact this list.

My ultimate goal is performance. This _must_ be fast. And by fast, I
mean, < 1 second, for every permutation of the number of attributes
searched for. Flexibility would be a bonus, but at this point I'll
settle for something that's harder to maintain if I can get the speed
gain I need.

Thanks,

Daniel Ceregatti