> function defines
a limit on the amount of time the functions can block. When a timeout is
set and the specified amount of time has elapsed, the affected methods
give up and fail with an error code.
</p>

<p class="parameters">
The amount of time to wait is specified as
the <tt>value</tt> parameter, in seconds. The <b><tt>nil</tt></b> timeout
<tt>value</tt> allows operations to block indefinitely. Negative
timeout values have the same effect.
</p>

<p class="note">
Note: In UDP, the <a href="#send"><tt>sen