sub cmd_wrapper {
    my $cmd  = shift;

    my @out; 
    eval { 
        local $SIG{ALRM} = sub { die "alarm\n" };
        alarm 15;  # Give the command 15 seconds to return
        @out = `$cmd`; 
        alarm 0;
    };
    return wantarray ? @out : join '', @out;
}