&clear_stdin;

#/usr/local/bin/perl
$j=4;
for ($i=1; $i<$j; $i++) {
&clear_stdin;
print "response: ";
$response = <STDIN>;
print "\n response was: $response\n";

sleep 10;
}
exit;

sub clear_stdin {
getc while ($ans = &key_ready);
print $ans;
}

sub key_ready { # from perl FAQ number 2.8
local($rin, $nfd);
vec($rin, fileno(STDIN), 1) = 1;
return $nfd = select($rin,undef,undef,0);
}