## A quick (and very much appreciated) solution by Fergal Daly in repsonce to a request by Lyle Hopkins

package Timeout;

sub import
{
  my $pkg = shift;
  my $timeout = shift;
  $SIG{ALRM} = sub {
    require Carp;
    Carp::confess("Script timed out after $timeout seconds");
  };
  alarm($timeout);
}

1;