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);

##</code><code>##

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