from perlfunc select (second select entry :) )

      The usual idiom is:

          ($nfound,$timeleft) =
            select($rout=$rin, $wout=$win, $eout=$ein, $timeout);
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select overwrites $rout (your $read) to indicate what's available. So, except in the simplist case (1 fd, quit when done, like your example), it needs to be reset to the original on each call. You would need to if, for instance, you uncomment your vec(...FILE2) line.

  p