my $sec = 3;
$SIG{ALRM} = sub {
    warn "Time out message: timed out after $sec seconds\n";
    exit;
};
alarm($sec);
$MySocket->recv ($text,1000);
alarm(0);
[download]

Maybe you should localize the signal handler:

{
    local $SIG{ALRM} = sub { ...};
    alarm($sec);
    $MySocket->recv ($text,1000);
    alarm(0);
}
[download]

--shmem

_($_=" "x(1<<5)."?\n".q·/)Oo.  G°\        /
                              /\_¯/(q    /
----------------------------  \__(m.====·.(_("always off the crowd"))."·
");sub _{s./.($e="'Itrs `mnsgdq Gdbj O`qkdq")=~y/"-y/#-z/;$e.e && print}