How to let a loop run for a while before checking for break condition?

[Claudio Grondi]

Sorin Schwimmer wrote:
> to Fredrik Lundh
> I'm afraid Claudio Grondi can't use your solution, as
> he needs it hosted on Windows, which lacks
> signal.alarm.
> 
> to Claudio Grondi
> How about splitting your loop in two? The first loop
> would check for your boolean, which is changed by your
> timer, the second loop will check for your "normal"
> exit condition?
I don't understand your proposal. Do you mean using another thread?
I suppose, that wxPython provides something like what I am looking for, 
but using it only to speed up a Python loop is sure not an option.
Concluding from lack of responses related to a Windows version of 
Fredriks solution I suppose, that there is no way to achieve it with 
standard Python on Windows.

Claudio Grondi