$them = $opt_h;
    $iaddr = inet_aton($remote);
    $paddr = sockaddr_in($port, $iaddr);
    $proto = getprotobyname('tcp');

    socket(SOCKET, AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, $proto) || die "socket error: $!";

    print STDOUT "connecting...\n\n";
    if (connect(SOCKET,$paddr)) {
         print STDOUT "Connected to host: $them, port: $port\n\n";
    } else {
         die "socket error: $!";
    }