#!/usr/bin/perl
#   stream_read.pl - Read, parse & print data as it's available
use strict;
use warnings;

use File::Tail;
my $IFH = File::Tail->new(
    name=>"the_stream.dat",
    tail=>-1,  # Start at the beginning
);
while (defined(my $line = $IFH->read)) {
    chomp $line;
    my $cur_time = time;
    my ($old_time, $cnt) = split /,\s*/, $line;
    print "$cur_time  data: $old_time, $cnt\n";
}