net_http_timeout_monkeypatch.rb

require "net/http"
require "uri"

module Net
  class HTTP
    alias old_initialize initialize

    def initialize(*args)
      old_initialize(*args)
      @open_timeout = @read_timeout = 1     # 1 second
    end
  end
end

uri = URI.parse("http://www2.census.gov/geo/tiger/TIGER2013/UAC/tl_2013_us_uac10.zip")

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
response = http.request(Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri.request_uri))
puts response.code