function [matrix] =  fread_mx(fname)
% matlab reads in COLUMN order, so that the dimensions are flipped for fread
% and the resulting matrix is transposed. 
fid = fopen(fname,'r');

c=fscanf(fid,'%c',1);
no_rows=fscanf(fid,'%d',1);
c=fscanf(fid,'%c',1);
c=fscanf(fid,'%c',1);
c=fscanf(fid,'%c',1);
no_cols=fscanf(fid,'%d',1);
c=fscanf(fid,'%c',1); % for the >
c = fscanf(fid,'%c',1); % for the newline.
matrix = fread(fid,[no_cols no_rows],'float'); % here is the invesre order
matrix = matrix'; % and the transpose