Fade in a GameObject Material?

How do you fade a material's opacity via a function?

http://answers.unity3d.com/questions/20338/fading-an-objects-opacity-over-time-via-script

http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/37796-Can-I-fade-an-object-with-no-alpha-component-in-the-Shader?p=243354#post243354