Three methods are disclosed for protecting software applications from unauthorized distribution and use. The signal processing circuit decides luminance values to be displayed during sub-frames, and further decides the luminances of the light sources andor the transmissivities of the liquid crystal during each sub-frame so as to produce the average illumination in the image signal data. Messages, information, commands, responses, and notification are constructed and transmitted between the RFID reader and the RFID reader control unit. The processor is programmed to receive the generated signal, using a flow model of the piping system and the received signal, iteratively track the progress of a plurality of discrete volumes flowing through the piping system, and control the flow of fuel using the flow control devices. The request includes information sufficient to identify the real estate properties to be compared. In a liquid feeding apparatus, the pipette chip is controlled to insert the opening section into the supply port.