function [U,w] = read_uw(fname)
if strcmp(inputname(1),'fstr')
  % this is why i love matlab so much
  fstr = fname;
else
  fstr = file2str(fname);
end

ee = text2cell_adv(fstr,'',[char(13) char(10)]);

U = {};
w = [];

for i=1:length(ee)
  e = ee{i};
  % ignore entries not containing '='
  b = 1;
  b = b & ~isempty(findstr(e,'='));
  b = b & ~isempty(findstr(e,'['));
  if b
    cc = text2cell_adv(e,'','[]',1);
    u = cc{2};
    u = strrep(u,' ','');
    U{end+1} = u;
    cc = text2cell_adv(e,'','=');
    w(end+1) = str2num(cc{end});
  end
end
U=U(:);
w=w(:);
return