# instead of simply reading on the socket filehandle, we'll
        # use IO::Select here to give us timeout capabilities.  
        # add the socket to our IO::Select object.
        #
        my $sel = new IO::Select ($sock); # $sock is a IO::Socket obj
        
        # now wait until our IO::Select obj tells us that one of its 
        # sockets (and we only added one) is ready to be read (or 
        # times out).
        #
        if (my @socks = $sel->can_read($timeout)) {
            $sock = shift(@socks);
            # ...read socket data, or print warning if the 
            # socket was closed remotely...
        } else {
            croak sprintf("Timed out, socket connection status: %d\n",
                              defined($sock->connected()));
        }